which fell near Adair, in the County of Limerick. 27 



While engaged in this latter investigation, which I, at one time, supposed 

 likely to eventuate in something more important, I had a visit from my friend 

 Doctor Smith, one of our members, who informed me that he was just after read- 

 ing, in the number of the Journal De Pharmacie for February, an extract from 

 a paper by Berzelius, on the subject of meteoric stones. This information could 

 not fail to interest me much, and having received from him, on the evening of 

 the same day, the number of the journal in question, I opened it with the appre- 

 hension that I should find myself, as far as respected any novelty in the results 

 of my analysis, anticipated by the great Scandinavian chemist. My suspicions 

 proved to be well founded. Berzelius finds, in four distinct meteoric stones, the 

 first of which fell at Blansko in Moravia, the second at Chantonnay in La 

 Vendee, the third at Lontalax in Finland, and the fourth at Alais in France, 

 as also in the meteoric iron of Elbogen, preserved in the museum at Vienna, 

 and in the celebrated mass discovered by Pallas in Siberia, the following 

 substances : — 



1st. Cobalt, which I conceived I had been the first to notice. 2d. Tin. 

 3rd. Copper. 4th. Phosphorus, all in very small quantity, and in association 

 with the alloy of iron and nickel. 5th. Potash and soda, also in very minute 

 proportion. 



Thus far it will be seen there is no contradiction between my results and 

 those of Berzelius. The former, in fact, are, as far as they go, in complete ac- 

 cordance with the latter. There are, however, two important points, in refe- 

 rence to which we are at variance. In the first place, he assumes the chrome to 

 be present in the form of an alloy with iron ; whereas I consider it as existing in 

 its usual state, or in the form of oxide of chrome combined with protoxide of 

 iron. As the article in the Journal De Pharmacie is but an extract from a 

 German periodical, (Annalen der Physikund Chemie,) and merely gives results, 

 but none of the details of the analytic processes, I am quite ignorant of the 

 grounds of this opinion. The reasons that have suggested the view which I have 

 myself adopted are — 1st. That chrome often occurs in the form I have supposed. 

 2nd. That I am not aware of any such native alloy as that of chrome and iron. 

 I have never seen it, and it is not described in books. 3rd. If such existed, the 

 portion of the stone insoluble in acids would, while fluxing, in all probability in- 

 jure or destroy the platinum crucible, an effect which I have never witnessed. 



E 2 



