of Meteoric Iron \diich has yet been discoverfJ in Europe. 407 



lourless, this seemed to indicate that the precipitate of iron 

 contained no manganese. Tlie following experiment, how- 

 ever, was made, for greater certainty. 



8. A third quantity of the well-washed oxide of iron was 

 dissolved in muriatic acid, and after proper neutralization with 

 ammonia was precipitated by means of succinate of soda ; but 

 the fluid decanted from the precipitate showed no manganese. 

 It is to be observed, that a part of the fluid evaporated to 

 dryness left an entirely white mass of salt, which was found to 

 be common salt with the excess of succinate of soda. In this 

 residuum there was no trace of nickel ; which is the more re- 

 markable, as several of our most distinguished analysts have 

 found that the oxide of nickel precipitated at the same time 

 with oxide of iron by the ammonia, cannot be entirely ex- 

 tracted from the precipitating medium, although the latter be 

 added in ever such abundance. In conformity to this, we 

 might have expected to find oxide of nickel in the oxide of 

 iron employed for the above experiment ; but it was not the 

 case. 



II. Analysis of the Scoria. 

 The scoria, reduced to a fine powder in the steel mortar, was 

 dissolved in hot nitro-muriatic acid, leaving an earthy powder, 

 which it could answer no purpose to examine. This solution 

 showed scarcely a trace of nickel ; so that during the smelting 

 of the iron mass, the iron only, and not the nickel, had been 

 converted into scoria. A part of the sulphur, however, en- 

 tered the scoria; for muriate of barytes produced a precipitate 

 in the solution. The oxide of iron precipitated by ammonia, 

 being well washed, was examined in the above manner for 

 chrome but not a trace of it was to be detected; which shows 

 that chrome had not passed over to the scoria during the 

 smelting, as might have been expected. 



The result, therefore, of these experiments is, that the iron 

 mass consisted of iron, nickel, and S-Ot per cent of sulphur; 

 and that the scoria contained iron with an almost impercepti- 

 ble trace of nickel and sulphur: the earthy parts are to be 

 considered as accidental. These facts give rise to the follow- 

 ing remarks : 



1. All the accounts respecting the appearance, former shape, 

 and other mineralogical peculiarities of this mass, agree in 

 favouring the opinion that it is of meteoric origin. 



C?. The proportion of nickel lound in it by chemical analysis 

 is the more corroborative of this opijiion, as nickel is found 

 in all meteoric iron, but has not been met with in any earthy 

 mineral substances : besides this, the district of IJitburg does 

 not aflijrd any minerals which contain nickel, , nor has it been 



found 



