- of fusion appear, although the mineral evidently indicates the action of a 
high temperature. The tenacity of this iron is extremely great, but it is 
readily hammered and filed. It does not oxidize even when exposed to a 
analyses performed by M. Morren give us its composition— 
fron, . note ee ee 90.241 
Nickel, - 68 we 1 9959-100, 
This iron is remarkable on account of the large quantity of nickel; no 
trace either of copper, cobalt or manganese was discoverable. The spe- 
cimen is deposited in the museum of Angers.—Chronique Scientifique, 
#4 Feb. 1839, in Lond. and Ed. Phil. Mag. May, 1839. 
10. Encke's Comet.—During its recent return to the perihelion, this 
comet has been carefully watched by observers in various parts of Europe. 
At Breslau, it was first detected as early as the 19th of August, 1838, by 
M. Boguslawski. At Berlin, it was first seen on the 16th of September, 
and in England and France about the same time. At Marseilles, M. 
Valz observed with much attention the changes of the comet’s dimen- 
ns: He estimates its volume on the 10th of October to have been 826 
limes as great as on 24th of November following. He obtained a view of 
the body as late as the morning of the 12th of December, two days before 
its perihelion passage. The differences between the observed and the 
calculated places of the comet have been found very slight. According 
'o Gautier, they indicate that the mass of Mercury was assumed too large 
¥ M. Encke. 
Il. Remains of the Mastodon in Missouri.—In various parts of this 
"ast continent, remains of the Mastodon have been occasionally disin- 
terred.* J have recently obtained an uncommonly large, entire, head of 
the Mastodon, together with many of the other bones. The circumstan- 
“s attending its discovery are these : . 
€w weeks since, receiving information from a friend that many 
bones were found on the land of Captain Palmer & Co., about 
22 miles south of St. Louis, I immediately proceeded to the spot; and 
through the politeness and encouragement of Captain Palmer, commenced 
Perations, which proved more successful than my most sanguine antic 
Pations. The outside formation and peculiar construction of the upper 
Part of the head is different from that of any quadruped in Natural 
History that I am acquainted with. It is composed of small cells about 
ree quarters of an inch square, and about three inches deep, covered by 
* thin Cranium ; attached to the upper jaw is the snout which projects 
large 
* ce eS iaeece : ; F 
We have omitted a few lines in this place as being erroneous in fact, since 
a entire skeletons have been made up, and an entire head is described and 
‘ed in our Vol, 36, page 189. 
Miscellanies. 191 
moist atmosphere. Its specific gravity is 7.736. The mean of three | 
