252 Description and Analysis of a Meteoric Mass. 
parts. In some it is black, and has no metallic lustre ; in others, 
it has a brilliant metallic lustre, and is then always much whiter 
than steel or common iron. It is then but little susceptible of 
being tarnished when exposed to the action of the air; the black 
part being merely tarnished, may be rendered white by a file; 
in some places it is covered with a kind of black varnish. 
The substance which constitutes the greatest part of the re- 
mainder of the mass, is graphite. This substance is not easily 
distinguished from the common graphite or plumbago, except 
that it is a little harder than the common granular and compact 
varieties, and is also rather blacker, and makes a finer, blacker, 
and more distinct line upon paper than common plumbago. 
When rubbed with a hard body it assumes a bright metallic lus- 
tre. It is not pure graphite, but rather a mixture of graphite and 
metallic iron. The iron can be partly removed by a magnet 
when the graphite is reduced to powder, but a considerable pot- 
tion remains mixed with the graphite, which, when acted upon 
with hydrochloric acid, is dissolved with a brisk effervescence of 
hydrogen gas. 
The sulphuret of iron, or pyrites, occupies the smallest portion 
of the mass. This pyrites is not attracted by the magnet, nor 
does it seem to act upon the magnetic needle. It can easily be 
cut with a knife, and is consequently softer than common pyrites. 
It does not give sparks when struck with steel, another property 
which distinguishes it from common pyrites. It is easily soluble 
in diluted hydrochloric acid, with a brisk evolution of sulphuret- 
ted hydrogen gas, leaving a mixed powder of white and black in 
the fluid. It has a more or less sub-lamellar structure, in which 
no regularity can be perceived, and a color between bronze yel- 
low and copper red, often tarnished. 
The hydroxide of iron, which forms part of this mass, is a 
heterogeneous mixture of the varieties of the ore generally know? 
under the names of brown iron ore and yellow ochre, and resem 
bles this terrestrial mineral. Its color is generally brownish black, 
passing into liver brown. 'The external surface of the mass }§ 
covered here and there with the yellow earthy variety (yellow 
ochre); how far this covering extended, I am not able to say, 
the mass was too roughly handled before any part of it came into 
my possession. Its fracture resembles that of the common com 
pact brown iron ore. The blackish brown variety is so Very 
hard, that the best file is immediately dulled upon it, and leaves 
