)44 



Dr. J, H. Gladstone, 



[May 20, 



consisting of iron, which always contains a small quantity of nickel, 

 with phosphorus and sulphur, and often contains in addition cobalt, 

 and zinc, tin, lead, manganese, or chromium, with carbon or chlorine. 

 Other elements have also been mentioned as found in certain meteoric 

 stones. Three specimens were exhibited ; a broken piece of silicate 

 interspersed with metal, which fell at Triguerre, in France, and a huge 

 mass of supposed meteoric iron, the property of Prof. Tennant ; and a 

 fragment of a piece of iron found in Mexico, now in the Royal Insti- 

 tution, and which, from its chemical composition, is believed to be 

 meteoric. 



The cosmical theory is the only one capable of explaining the 

 known facts of these meteorites, though that is not without its 

 difficulties. It supposes that in the interplanetary spaces, at least near 

 the earth's orbit, there are a vast number of minute solid bodies 

 revolving round the sun, either singly or in streams, and that our 

 globe in its passage comes into collision with some of these, or 

 periodically cuts the orbit of these streams of planetary dust. The 

 small pieces of solid matter are supposed to become incandescent or 

 ignited by their rapid friction against the air. 



As to the colour of meteors, we have much information given in 

 the lists of the Chinese, in those of the Rev. Baden Powell, published 

 in the Reports of the British Association, and in those of M. Coulvier 

 Gravier. M. Poey of Havannah has taken the trouble of arranging 

 all these observations according to the colour, and the month of 

 appearance : and the totals of his tables form the basis of the accom- 

 panying table, in which however a little liberty has been taken with the 

 classification, all the recorded colours being referred to the six principal 

 divisions of the prismatic spectrum, and these combined with white, 

 and white itself. The Chinese colour observations are rather under, 

 and the English rather above a thousand, but for the sake of comparison 

 they have been reduced to that proportion. 



Red . . . 

 White-Red . 

 Orange . . 

 Yellow . . 

 White-Yellow 

 Green . . 

 White-Green 

 Blue . . . 

 White-Blue 

 Purple . . 

 White . . 



Total 



Chinese. 



5-1 



0-5 

 56*8 



0-6 



0»5 



0' 



0- 



0- 

 32- 



1 



2- 



100 -0 



English. 



12-2 

 4-9 



10*5 



14-2 

 1-8 

 0-6 

 0-6 



30-8 

 5-4 

 0*5 



18'5 



100*0 



French. 



4 

 6 

 4 

 7 

 1 

 

 1 

 

 41 

 

 3 



67 



The very apparent dissimilarities in these three lists are capable of 

 more or less explanation. The Chinese mention orange (or rather 



