No. 1.] GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 53 



"These masses of iron from Ovifak are remarkable, not only from 

 their large dimensions, but also from their chemical constitution, in 

 which latter point, as well as in other physical characters, they are 

 totally distinct from the general type of meteorites as at present 

 known. The sharpness of the crystals of the silicates contrasts 

 strongly with the confused crystallisation common in meteorites, to 

 such an extent indeed that it is even possible to detect the cleavage 

 and crystalline form characteristic of certain felspars, and by the aid 

 of the microscope and polarized light to recognize an arrangement of 

 the crystals such as is seen in labradorite ahd some varieties of dole- 

 rite. Again, the large quantity of soluble salts and calcium sulphate 

 is another distinctive character, as is also the fact that, although in 

 meteorites, the iron is frequently combined with sulphur, phosporus, 

 Ac, it is rarely if ever combined directly with oxygen, which latter 

 is, in the present instance, the principal form of combination of the 

 iron. This circumstance, as well as the presence of carbon, both free 

 and combined, allies these specimens to the minerals known as car- 

 bonaceous meteorites. 



" On the other hand, they differ still more widely from terrestrial 

 species, such as dolerites and basalts, mure especially since they con- 

 tain nickel, cobalt, and ferrous sulphide. 



" The author is inclined to think that these masses of iron are not 

 of meteoric origin, but that they have been formed from basaltic rock, 

 and erupted from exceptionally great depths. These basaltic rocks 

 frequently contain as much as 20 per cent, of ferric oxide, and it is 

 not impossible that during their passage to the surface, this oxide 

 may have been partially reduced to the metallic state ; at all events, 

 such a supposition would account for most of the phenomena ob- 

 served. This reduction would be especially probable in Greenland, 

 where large deposits of lignite occur, and the presence of carbon in 

 the masses might perhaps be accounted for m a similar manner. 

 Against this must be set the fact that these specimens contain matter 

 which decomposes or volatilises at a very moderate heat, which would 

 be incompatible with their passing through such a highly heated 

 region, as the presence of crystallised and anhydrous silicates would 

 seem to imply. 



" It has been noticed by Stammer and others that carbonic oxide, 

 in presence of iron or iron oxide, produces, under certain circumstan- 

 ces, a deposit of carbon, of which a certain portion combines directly 

 with the iron, 



" This reaction the author has endeavoured to utilise as a syntlieti- 

 cal method, not so much with the intention of preparing artificial 

 meteorites, as to be enabled, by studying the phenomena which occur, 

 to explain perhaps more satisfactorily the circumstances which at- 

 tend the natural formation of masses of native iron." 



