l8 JOURNAL OF THE 



Alexander county, and had been given to him by a Mr. 

 Andrews. The piece was evidently a fragment that had 

 been broken from a larger mass, was rather smoothly 

 rounded upon its broadest surface, and, though wholly de- 

 void of a proper crust, the exterior was quite protected 

 from further oxidation upon that side by the alteration 

 produced from weathering. It did not in any part show 

 any evidence of the pittings common to all classes of me- 

 teorites. Its structure is coarsely granular, or made up of 

 polygonal fragments, lightly adherent, with intervening 

 thin folias of Schreibersite and cracks or veins of iron 

 oxide, cementing the mass together. In some instances 

 the Schreibersite also forms small blocks, with rounded out- 

 lines. The limited area of the surface cut is only sufficient 

 to show that it belongs to the Braunite type of Meunier, 

 or the "Grobe Lamellen of Brezina. " It has a density of 

 7.635 and its composition, as shown by Venable, is 



Irou 91-70 



Nickel 5.86 



Cobalt .63 



Phosphorus . 095 



Oxygen and loss 1.72 



100.00 



Where the iron is free from the Schreibersite it cuts eas- 

 ily, takes a good polish, is very light in color, and upon 

 etching it shows neither the Newmann lines nor the figures 

 of Widmanstiidt, but it quickly blackens upon applying the 

 acid, and is very slowly corroded. In grains it is quite 

 malleable, but rather brittle in mass. It is most probable 

 that the fragment in my possession came from near the 

 surface of the main mass, and it may present different con- 

 ditions from the interior portions, which have been pro- 

 tected from the action of the soil or atmosphere. From 

 comparison with examples of the other North Carolina 

 meteoric irons, it is seen to differ essentially from all of 



