402 " Miscellanies. 
resembled. phosphate of iron, but were too small to be detached. 
Ihad no doubt on first seeing the mass, of its extra-terrestrial origin, 
which opinion was confirmed by the following analysis performed in 
my laboratory by Mr. C. H. Rockwell, one of my pupils. 
It dissolved quickly and completely in pure nitric acid, with the ap- 
plication of a gentle heat. The solution tested with nitrate of silver gave 
pump by an air-tight jar. After exposure to this humid atmosphere for — 
a week, it was taken out and washed with pure water into the capsule, 
which contained also water of condensation from the mass. These 
washings, tested with nitrate of silver, remained quite unclouded. After 
the heat to which the mass had been subjected in the smith’s forge, it 
could hardly be expectgd that we should find any traces of chlorine, if 
it ever existed. The solution of the iron in nitric acid yielded, with 
. the usual process for separating iron from nickel, : 
Metallic iron, - - - : ‘ 92-291 
Do. nickel, - - = to 8146 
437 
No traces of other substances could be detected in the iron. Specific 
gravity 7:501. 
With a view to obtain all the information possible in relation to this 
interesting meteoric iron, Mr. Herrick addressed a letter of inquiry to 
Dr. Pierce, which brought the following particulars. He says: “Th 
the year 1819, I procured some two or three masses of native iron 
(as it appeared to be) from the farmer who first turned it over with 
his plow, in a field near the north line of the town of Burlington, } 
Otsego Co., N.Y. These consisted of remnants of an entire mass | 
originally supposed to weigh between one and two hundred pounds, 
and found several years before. Before I had any knowledge of 
its existence, it had been in the forge of a country blacksmith, and 
the whole heated in order to enable him to cut off portions for 6 
manufacture of such articles as the farmer most needed. The smith 
assured me that he never worked stronger, tougher, or purer iron§ 
that it made the best horse-shoe nails. All the fragments that Te 
mained I immediately secured, and presented them to Prof. Hadley: 
whose lectures I was then attending. These were in two or three ree 
ular masses, in all some eight to twelve pounds, with the marks of the ae 
chisel used in cutting while in a heated state. In conversation wi! iis 
farmer who found the original mass, I could only learn that in plowing 
the field he found a stone very heavy, rusty on the top, which lay abot 
