METALS IN THE ATMOSPHERE. 289 



were reco<>-niztMl as t'orius of the metal exactly aiial(>i2:<)us to those 

 found ill the snow "at Slockholm and other parts of Sweden. Fiir- 

 theriiiore, there was-('()llected on the floating iee otf vSpitzberiren a 

 iiray powder containina' little magnetic <»;rains of iron coated with 

 iron oxides. 



In examinino- some carhonaceous dust collected in ISTO on the snow 

 and ice of the Inlandis olacier, a sea of ice in (Ireenland, at 80° north 

 latitude, there Avas found ferruiiinous corj)uscles in whicfi was deter- 

 mined the presence of nickel and cobalt. M. Jinig has verihed these 

 observations by his researches on the snows of (leneva. He noted the 

 presence of iron in the storm of 1883 at Geneva, on the Saleve, and on 

 the Great St. Bernard l*ass, at an altitude of S,1()0 feet. On the 

 surface of the great snow fields covering this lofty region he dis- 

 covered a very fine blackish powder containing the characteristic 

 glol)ules and irregular fragments susceptible to the magnet. The 

 evaporation of l.") liters of water from melting this snow gave M. 

 efung a residue formed of the same particles, which, treated with hy- 

 drochloric acid, made a solution with a strong iron reaction. The 

 insignificant weight of the matter collected made it impossible for 

 him to estal)lish clearly the presence of nickel or cobalt. M. Norden- 

 ski(">ld likewise observed some dust which fell at an altitude of 0,850 

 feet, near San Fernando, Ghili, in November, 188H. The Cordilleras, 

 which had been white with fresh snow, were covered in the space of 

 half an hour with a sheet of red, composed principally of minute fer- 

 ruginous ])articles. hard but slightly malleable. 



In this powder, which did not contain metallic iron, were found 

 reddish-brown globular grains soluble in hydi-ochloric acid and 

 brownish-white grains insolul)le in that acid and made up of a silicate- 

 like feldspar. The first named was composed of oxide of iron, 74.(50 ; 

 oxide of nickel with traces of cobalt, (i.Ol ; silica, 7.()0; magnesia, -i.88; 

 with small (juantities of jjliosphoric acid, aluininuin. chalk, and traces 

 of copper. The richness of the material in iron, nickel, magnesia, 

 and phosphoric acid is remarkable. In contrast to (his discovery, 

 M. Tissandier, ex])erimeiitiiig with rain waters collected at St. Marie 

 dii Mont (Manclie). was able to obtain I'il milligrams of coj-- 

 piiscles susceptible to magnetic influence, which, under the action of 

 hydrochloric acid, left only an insignificanl i-esi(hie of sillica* and 

 found a solution in which ammonia precipitated an abundance of 

 ii'on oxide, sul])hocyaiiide of potassium gave an intense clear color, 

 and even the yellow prussiate of potash a deposit of Prussian blue. 

 The liquor separated from the iron gave with ammonium sulphide a 

 light-black precipitate of sulphide of nickel, forming with borax lead 

 its characteristic pearl-violet color and turning to a brownish gray on 

 cooling. M. Jung also collected snow at different altitudes — at 1,225 

 feet at Montreux on the border of Lake Geneva ; 8,300 feet at the 



