TEE STUDY OF METEORITES. 433 



meteorites to be material ejected at some past period from the earth's 

 volcanoes; some have regarded them of solar origin and still others as 

 fragments of a shattered planet. All of these theories may be said to 

 have been proved fallacious. The discovery reported by Hahn in 1880 

 of remains of sponges, corals and plants in meteorites excited for a time 

 eager inquiries into the possibilities of proving by the study of meteor- 

 ites the existence of life outside our own globe. No satisfactory evidence 

 of the existence of extra-terrestrial life has, however, as yet been obtained 

 from meteorites. The most positive and enduring results of the century's 

 study may, therefore, perhaps be summed up as the establishment of the 

 fact of the fall of solid cosmic matter to the earth and a sufficient knowl- 

 edge of its nature to distinguish it from matter of terrestrial origin. 

 Satisfactory conclusions as to the origin of this matter and its relations 

 to the visible bodies of the great outlying universe remain yet to be 

 drawn. 



VOL. LVIII.— 28 



