METALS IN THE ATMOSl»HKRK. 239 



were rccouiii/cd :is foniis of the iiicdil cxiictlv !Uiiil()<j;(ms (o (liOi^e 

 IouihI ill llu' snow ;i( Slocklioliii and odicr parts of Sweden. I*'ur- 

 Ihernioiv, there was collected on the (joatinii- i<'^' <''l Spitzhei-iicn a 

 Uiay ])()W(ler containing little magnetic grains of iron coate<l with 

 iron oxides. 



In examining some carhonaceous dust collected in ISTO on the snow 

 and ice of the Inlandis glacier, a sea of ice in (Jreenland, at 80° north 

 latitude, there was found ferruginous corpuscles in which was deter- 

 mined the presence of nickel and cobalt. M. flung has vei-ihed these 

 observations by his i-esearches on the snows of (Jeneva. He noted the 

 pi'esence of iron in the storm of ISSIJ at (Icneva, on the Saleve, and on 

 the Great St. Bernard Pass, 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 black'ish [)owder containing the characteristic 

 globules and irregular fragments susceptible to the magnet. The 

 evaj)oration of 15 liters of water from melting this snow gave M. 

 Jung a residue formed A the same particles, which, treated with hy- 

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

 insigniiicant weight of the matter collected made it impossible for 

 him to establish clearly the presence of nickel or cobalt. M. Norden- 

 skiold likewise observed some dust which fell at an altitude of 0,850 

 feet, near San P\n-nando, Chili, in November, 1883. The (^ordilleras, 

 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 i^articles, hard but slightly nuilleable. 



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

 i-e(l(lish-l)rown globular grains soluble in hydrochloric acid and 

 l)rownish- white grains insoluble in that acid and made u\) of a silicate- 

 like feldspar. The hrst named was composed of oxide of iron, 74.()0; 

 oxide of nickel with traces of col)alt, (i.Ol ; silica, 7.(')0; magnesia. J^.88; 

 with small (piautities of phos])horic acid, aluminum, chalk, and traces 

 of coi)[)er. The richness of the material in iron, nickel, magnesia, 

 and i)hosphoric acid is remarkable. In contrast to this discoxei'v, 

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

 (hi Mont (Manche), was able to obtain l-2i milligrams of cor- 

 puscles susceptible to magnetic influence, wdiich. under the action of 

 hvdrochloric acid, left only an insignificant residue of sillica, and 

 found a solution in which annnonia precipitated an abundance of 

 ii-on oxide. suli)hocyanide of potassium gave an intense clear color, 

 and even the yellow pru.ssiate of potash a deposit of Prussian blue. 

 The li(iu()r separated from the iron gave with auunouium 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 

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

 feet at Montreux on the border of Lake Geneva; 1^,300 feet at the 



