558 Intelligence and Miscellajieous Articles. : — Dr. G. O. Rees 



which had struck the tree. It is to be hoped that further search 

 will be made for other portions of this meteorite. 



The total weight of all the fragments which Mr. S. has brought 

 home, is 973 grains. The specific gravity of one of the small frag- 

 ments is 3*5 ; but diflferent portions of the stone may vary slightly in 

 this respect, as they may contain more or less of the metallic matter. 

 The resemblance between this meteorite and those of Tennessee, (Sil- 

 liman's Jour. xvii. 326.) of Georgia, (lb. xviii. 389,) and of Weston, 

 Conn., is very close, and one might almost imagine that they were 

 all parts of the same original mass. The cohesion of the stone is 

 not great, as it crumbles under a moderate blow. Two of the frag- 

 ments retain portions of the crust or exterior coating. This is a fif- 

 teenth of an inch thick, and bears evidence of intense ignition and 

 partial fusion. It is black, with a wrinkled or cellular surface, and 

 is traversed with seams. The general colour of the interior is an 

 ash-gray. The whole mass is studded with metallic particles, (vary- 

 ing from the size of small shot down to mere j^oints,) and presents 

 numerous rusty spots, and occasional small spheroidal concretions 

 which do not appear to differ in materials from other parts of the 

 stone. The little metallic masses (doubtless of nickeliferous iron) 

 are attracted by the magnet, and are generally permeated by the 

 earthy matter. They are mostly of an iron- white colour, but several 

 are yellow and slightly iridescent. One of these minute masses 

 being removed from the stone, it was by the hammer at once extend- 

 ed into a thin lamina, and was evidently malleable. An analysis 

 may be expected hereafter. 



Sept. 25, 1839. E. C. Herrick. ^ 



Remark. — Having been familiar with meteorites and examined 

 many of them, I hesitate not to say that I am perfectly assured of 

 the genuine meteoric origin-of the fragments described above, even 

 without any reference to the testimony. — Sen. Ed. [Dr. B. Silli- 

 man] Sillimans Journal, vol. xxxvii. p. 385. 



ON THE SUPPOSED EXISTENCE OF FLUORIC ACID IN ANIMAL 



MATTER. BY G. O. REES, M.D., F.G.S. 

 In the year 1802, Morichini published a paper, in which he de- 

 clared fluoride of calcium to be an ingredient in human teeth : he 

 was led to examine that substance, from having succeeded in de- 

 tecting the fluoride in a specimen of fossil ivory. Mons. Gay-Lussac 

 repeated these experiments : and in the 55th volume of the " Annates 

 de Chimie," he states, that the fluoride exists in recent as well as 

 in fossil ivory ; and that he had also succeeded in detecting it in 

 the tusks of the wild boar. Fourcroy and Vauquelin subsequently 

 published a memoir in the 57th volume of the " Annales de Chimie," 

 in which they positively denied the existence of fluoride of calcium 

 as an ingredient either in recent ivory or the enamel of teeth : they 

 found it, however, in the fossil ivory of Argenteuil and Lourque, 

 though it did not appear to exist in specimens from Siberia and 

 Layo. 



