METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 229 



The following table gives the relative proportions of the gases obtained at different temperatures, the nitrogen 



ncr rJpt.prminpH n.s a rpsifhip* 



No hydrocarbon compounds of the defiant series, capable of absorption by fuming sulphuric acid, were found, 

 nor any marsh gas, sulphurous oxide, hydrogen sulphide, or chlorine. A small amount of water vapor was driven off 

 by the heat, but not more than the ordinary quantum of hygroscopic moisture which such a substance would absorb 

 from the air. 



It will thus be readily seen that the iron and the stony meteorites show a marked distinction as to the gases which 

 they contain. For, while hydrogen is the principal gas of the irons, in the Lenarto specimen amounting to 85.68 per 

 cent; in those of the stony kind, if this one may be taken as representative of the class, the characteristic gas is carbon 

 dioxide, and this, with a small proportion of carbonic oxide, makes up more than nine-tenths of the gas given off at 

 the temperature of boiling water, and about half of that evolved at a low red heat. 



The spectrum of the gases consisted of the hydrogen and carbon spectra together, resembling in a general way 

 that of the gases from iron meteorites, but differing from them in the greater relative intensity of the parts due to car- 

 bon compounds. At a few millimeters' pressure, indeed, the hydrogen spectrum was almost overpowered by them. 

 The three middle carbon bands, those in the yellow and green were very bright, that in the green being most intense of 

 all. In the broad part of the tube these constituted nearly the whole of the spectrum visible, the green hydrogen 

 line being scarcely discernible, and the others not at all. These are precisely the three bands observed in the spec- 

 trum of some of the comets, and they have the same relative order of intensity. * * * 



Irish 4 made a thorough and careful study of the course of the meteor and the phenomena 

 of its fall. A part of his account follows : 



From the first the light of the meteor could hardly be tolerated by the naked eye turned full upon it. Several 

 observers who were facing south at the first flash say that upon looking full at the meteor it appeared to them round, 

 and almost motionless in the air, and as bright as the sun. Its light was not steady, but sparkled and quivered like the 

 exaggerated twinklings of a large fixed star, with now and then a vivid flash. To these observers, all of whom stood 

 near the meteor's line of flight, its size seemed gradually to increase, also its motion, until it reached a point almost 

 overhead, or in a direction to the east or west of the zenith, when it seemed to start suddenly and dart away on its 

 course with lightninglike rapidity. 



The observers who stood near to the line of the meteor's flight were quite overcome with fear, as it seemed to 

 come down upon them with a rapid increase of size and brilliancy, many of them wishing for a place of safety, but 

 not having time to seek one. In this fright animals took part, horses shying, rearing, and plunging to get away, and 

 dogs retreating and barking with signs of fear. The meteor gave out marked flashes in its course, one more noticeable 

 than the rest, when it had completed about two-thirds of its visible flight. All observers who stood within 12 miles 

 of the meteor's path say that from the time they first saw it, to its end, the meteor threw down " coals ' ' and " sparks. ' ' 



Thin clouds of smoke or vapor followed in the track of the meteor and seemed to overtake it at times and then 

 were lost. These clouds or masses of smoke gave evidence of a rush of air with great velocity into the space behind 

 the meteoric mass. The vapor would seem to burst out from the body of the meteor like puffs of steam from the funnel 

 of a locomotive or smoke from a cannon's mouth, and then as suddenly be drawn into the space behind it. The 

 light of the meteor's train was principally white, edged with yellowish green throughout the greater part of its length, 

 but near to the body of the meteor the light had a strong red tinge. The length of the train was variously estimated 

 but was probably about 9°, or from 7 to 12 miles, as seen from Iowa City. The light about the head of the meteor at 

 the forward part of it was a bright, deep red, with flashes of green, yellow, and other prismatic colors. The deep red 

 blended with and shaded off into the colors of the train at the part following; but the whole head was inclosed in a 

 pear-shaped mass of vivid white light next to the body of the meteor, and the red light fringed the white light on the 

 edges of the figure and blended with it on the side presented to the eye. 



From three to five minutes after the meteor had flashed out of sight, observers near the south end of its path heard 

 an intensely loud and crashing explosion, that seemed to come from the point in the sky where they first saw it. 



This deafening explosion was mingled with, and followed by, a rushing, rumbling, and crashing sound that seemed 

 to follow up the meteor's path, and at intervals, as it rolled away northward, was varied by the sounds of distinct 

 explosions, the volume of which was much greater than the general roar and rattle of the continuous sounds. This 

 commotion of sounds grew fainter as it continued, until it died away in three to five explosions much fainter than the 

 rest. 



From one and a half to two minutes after the dazzling, terrifying, and swiftly moving mass of light had extinguished 

 itself in five sharp flashes, five quickly recurring reports were heard. The volume of sound was so great that the 

 reverberations seemed to shake the earth to its foundations, buildings quaked and rattled, and the furniture that they 



