Chemistry, 36^9 



had been for two years placed at the door of the church at Caille, has 

 been in that village about 150 years. It was discovered in the mountains 

 of Audehert, a league off, and was drawn by four oxen into a court or gar- 

 den in the village, where it seems to have been forgotten ; but an inhabi- 

 tant having inclosed it in a wall, it was claimed as an object held in some 

 veneration ; the wall was pulled down by the authorities, and the enor- 

 mous mass was deposited in the principal street of the village, from which 

 it was removed to the spot which it now occupies. 



The form of the mass is very irregular ; its external colour blackish 

 brown, with a shade of lead colour ; it is shining, but occasionally spotted 

 with yellow rust ; its internal colour is whiter than that of common iron. 

 It weighs about 1000 or 1200 pounds. 



The mountain in which this mass was found is of considerable altitude, 

 and similar to those which surround it ; there are no appearances of iron 

 works having ever existed in the neighbourhood. 



This iron has the crystalline appearance which marks its meteoric ori- 

 gin, and Mr Laugier has found that it contains nickel. 



Application has been made for its removal to Paris, and this has pro- 

 bably been already accomplished. 



It was reported in the village, that two smaller masses were found with 

 it, which were used for making horses' shoes, nails, &c. It was also pro- 

 posed to heat this mass, and thus divide it, and apply it to the same pur- 

 poses ; fortunately for the interests of science, the greatness of the mBss 

 prevented the intended destruction. — Le Globe, Phil. Mag. 



At the sitting of the Academy of Sciences of the 17th November, the 

 minister of the interior announced, that, at the request of the academy, he 

 had destined the sum of 610 francs for the purchase of the above mass of 

 meteoric iron, and for its transport to the Museum of Natural History. 



II. CHEMISTEY. 



7. Diamonds made artificially in France — On the 10th November M. 

 Arago communicated a note from M. Cagnard de Latour, in which this 

 philosopher announces that he has succeeded in crystallizing carbon to form 

 the diamond, by methods different from those. of M. Gannal, and that a 

 sealed packet deposited in the secretariat in 1824 contains the details of 

 his first processes. 



M. Arago announces that he knows another person who has arrived at 

 similar results ; and M. Gay-Lussac declares, that M. Gannal spoke to 

 him more than eight years ago of his attempt. 



At the meeting of the Institute of 17th November M. Thenard gave 

 an account of his examination of the products obtained by M. Cagnard de 

 Latour in his crystallization of carbon. Such of the crystals as have no 

 colour scratch quartz, but they are scratched by diamond. They do not 

 burn ; and an accurate analysis has proved that they are not carbon, but 

 a silicate. We trust that an equally careful examination will be made of 

 the diamonds of M. Gannal, and those of the persons, more than one, 

 whom M. Arago mentions as having obtained similar products* 



VOL. X. NO. II. APRIL 1829- A a 



