Account of a Fall of Meteoric Stones. 51 



many of them, however, and chiefly on the large speci- 

 mens, may be distinctly perceived portions of the exter- 

 nal part of the meteor. 



It is every where covered with a thin black crust, 

 destitute of splendour, and bounded by portions of the 

 large irregular curve which seems to have enclosed the 

 meteoric mass. This curve is far from being uniform. 

 It is sometimes depressed with concavities, such as might 

 be produced by pressing a soft and yielding substance. 

 The surface of the crust feels harsh, like the prepared 

 fish-skin, or shagreen. It gives sparks with the steel. 

 There are certain portions of the stones covered with 

 the black crust, which appear not to have formed a part 

 of the outside of the meteor, but to have received this 

 coating in the interior parts, in consequence of fissures 

 or cracks, produced probably by the intense heat to 

 which the body seems to have been subjected. The 

 specific gravity of the stone is 3,6, water being 1. The 

 colour of the mass of the stone is mainly a dark ash, or 

 more properly a leaden- colour. It is interspersed with 

 distinct masses, from the size of a pin's head to the 

 diameter of one or two inches, which are almost white, 

 resembling in many instances the crystals of feldtspar in 

 some varieties of granite, and in that species of porphyry 

 known by the name of verd antique. 



The texture of the stone is granular and coarse, re- 

 sembling some pieces of grit-stone. It cannot be 

 broken by the fingers, but gives a rough and irregular 

 fracture with the hammer. 



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