388 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



the water boiled upon it with reddened litmus and turmeric. It gave an alkaline reaction in both instances, which 

 under the circumstances sufficiently proves that a fixed alkali was present. The deliquescence observed renders it 

 probable that it was owing to the carbonate of potassa, rather than to the carbonate of soda, although there is nothing 

 to disprove the presence of the latter alkali also. The condition in which potassium is present is of course only con- 

 jectural. It probably exists as an alloy with some of the other metals, which is not uniformly distributed throughout 

 the mass. Indeed, the artisan who superintended the division of the iron informed me that he detected a marked 

 difference in the softness and malleability of the metal in particular portions of the mass. 



Rammelsberg e gave a determination of nickel in filings from the iron. In those dissolved 

 in hydrochloric acid he found 7.6 per cent Ni, in those dissolved in chloride of mercury he 

 found 9.65 per cent Ni. The mean amount of Ni he gives as 8.62 per cent. 



Brezina 7 gave a positive and negative figure of an etched plate of the iron, showing Reich- 

 enbach lamellae, and remarked: 



Widmannstatten figures of medium width; metallic sheen; schreibersite abundant in the band iron and accom- 

 panying the Reichenbaeh lamellae. A lamella 17 mm. long is accompanied by much schreibersite, and is partially 

 inclosed by kamacite. 



Brezina, 8 in 1885, classified the meteorite in the Caille group, and remarked concerning it 



as follows: 



Ruffs Mountain is a very distinguished iron. The kamacite is quite spotted and granular, the borders of the 

 grains forming at the same time the borders of the spots (in the majority of cases). Taenite is subordinate; schreiber- 

 site is present as ribs in the kamacite ; troilite occurs as Reichenbaeh lamellae and as nodules, the latter quite dark 

 gray, apparently from the presence of graphite in abundance. Laminae 0.85 mm. wide. 



Meunier 10 classified the iron as caillite, and remarked concerning it as follows : 



This iron is slightly remote from the type, but only in secondary characteristics. The kamacite occurs in very 

 elongated bands, and is often more or less bent. Plessite is very abundant and the taenite constitutes, between the 

 other two alloys, single continuous bands. 



Brezina, 11 in 1895, gave a cut showing the etching figures of the iron and described, as 

 follows, a section through the entire mass acquired irom the Kunz collection: 



Bands long, straight, little grouped, puffy; tsenite well developed; fields predominating, filled with a mixture of 

 plessite and taenite which resembles kamacite, the taenite mostly in the form of scattered particles. The kamacite 

 and fields are very much spotted, especially on the fresh interior of the section, while the slightly attacked borders 

 are dull for a depth of about 1 to 2 cm.; grains and ribs of cohenite are abundant in the kamacite. Reichenbaeh 

 lamellae are abundant; there is also a lenticular appearance of gray troilite. In the Siemaschko collection there is a 

 specimen labeled Seneca Falls, and weighing about 15 grams, which doubtless belongs to Ruffs Mountain. It shows 

 the bands straight, grouped, somewhat puffy; kamacite much spotted, somewhat granular; cohenite loose and occur- 

 ing as ribs in the kamacite; fields full of combs and much spotted like the kamacite. 



Cohen X2 found the iron not capable of acquiring magnetism. 



The principal mass of this meteorite is in the Amherst collection (54 pounds), the remainder 

 (11,300 grams) is distributed. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1850: Shepard. Meteoric iron of Ruffs Mountain, Newberry, South Carolina. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 



1850, pp. 152-154; and Amer. Journ. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 10, p. 128. 



2. 1852: Shepard. On the probable date of the fall of the Ruffs Mountain meteoric iron. Proc. Amer. Assoc. 



Adv. Sci., 1851, pp. 189-191. 



3. 1853: Shepard. Notice of meteoric iron near Lion River, Great Namaqualand, South Africa; and of the detection 



of potassium in meteoric iron. — 2. Potassium in the meteoric iron of Ruffs Mountain, South Carolina. Amer. 

 Journ. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 15, pp. 5-6. 



4. 1855: Booking. Dissert. Gottingen, pp. 10-15. (Analysis; transparent blue grains.) 



5. 1858-1862: Von Reichenbach. No. 4, p. 638; No. 6, pp. 448, 452; No. 7, p. 552; No. 9, pp. 162, 174, 181; No. 10, 



pp. 359, 364; No. 12, p. 457; No. 15, pp. 114, 124, 126; No. 16, pp. 255, 261, 262; No. 17, pp. 266, 272; No. 18, 

 pp. 484, 487; No. 19, pp. 150, 155, 156; and No. 20, p. 622. 



6. 1870: Rammelsberg. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Meteoriten. A. Meteoreisen. — I. Ruffs Mountain, Newberry 



(or Lexington County), Sudcarolina. Mon.-Ber. Berlin. Akad., 1870, p. 444 (new analysis). 



7. 1880: Brezina. Reichenbach 'sche Lamellen. Denkschr. Wien. Akad., Bd. 43, p. 16 (illustration of etching). 



8. 1885: Brezina. Wiener Sammlung, pp. 200, 213-214, and 234. 



9. 1887: Sorby. On the microscopical structure of iron and steel. Journ. Iron and Steel Inst., 1887, pp. 255-288. 



10. 1893: Meunier. Revision des fers meteoriques, pp. 52 and 55. 



11. 1895: Brezina. Wiener Sammlung, pp. 277 and 278. 



12. 1895: Cohen. Meteoreisen-Studien IV. Ann. K. K. Naturhist. Hofmus. Wien, Bd. 10, pp. 83 and 85. 



