Jntdlifience and Miscellaneous Articles, 159 



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FALL OF A METEORITE IN MORAVIA. 



At a quarter past six in the evening of the 25th of November 

 1833, M. Reichenbach witnessed the fall of a meteoric stone, ac- 

 companied by a briUiant light and a noise like thunder, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Blansko in Moravia. On account of the woody na- 

 ture of the country he was unable to discover the principal mass ;he 

 succeeded, however, in finding some fragments, weighing about half 

 a pound. These fragments resemble the stones that fell at Benares, 

 L'Aigle, Berlongville, &c., so closely that they cannot be distin- 

 guished from therti. According to Berzelius, 100 parts of the 

 stone contain 17' 15 meteoric iron separable by the magnet, con- 

 taining small quantities of nickel, cobalt, tin, copper, sulphur, and 

 phosphorus ; 42*67 silicate of magnesia and protoxide of iron, in 

 which the silica and base contain equal quantities of oxygen, toge- 

 tlier with some sulphuret of iron ; 39'43 silicate of magnesia and 

 protoxide of iron, mixed with silicates of potash, lime, and alumina, 

 in which the silica contains twice as much oxygen as the bases; 

 0*75 chromate of oxide of iron mixed with oxide of tin. These propor- 

 tions are subject to some variation in different portions of the stone. 

 100 parts of the meteoric iron contain 



Iron 93-816 



Nickel 5*053 



Cobalt 0-347 



Tin and copper. . . . 0460 



Sulphur 0*324 



A trace of phosphorus. 

 The remaining, or stony portion of the mass is partly soluble in 

 hydrochloric acid. One portion of it consisted of 515 soluble and 

 485 insoluble matter j another of 48*9 soluble and 5M insoluble. 

 The soluble part consists of 



Silica 33-084 



Magnesia 36*143 



Protoxide ofiron 26*935 



Oxide of manganese 0*465 



Oxide of nickel, containing tin and copper. . 0*465 



Alumina 0-329 



Soda 0-857 



Potash 0*429 



Loss (principally sulphur) 1*273 



The insoluble part contains 



Silica 57-145 



Magnesia 21 843 



Lime 3106 



Protoxide of iron 8*592 



Oxide of manganese 0-724 



Oxide of nickel, containing tin and copper. . 0021 



Alumina 5*590 



Soda 0-931 



Potash 0-OiO 



Chromate of iron, containing tin 1533 



Loss 0-505 



Poggendorff's Annalen. 



