52 Account of a Fall of Meteoric Stones. 



On inspecting the mass, four distinct kinds of matter 

 may be perceived by the eye. 



1. The stone is thickly interspersed with black glo- 

 bular masses, most of them spherical, but some are 

 oblong and irregular. The largest are of the size of a 

 pidgeon-shot, but generally they are much smaller. 

 They can be detached with any pointed iron instrument, 

 and leave a concavity in the stone. They are not attracta- 

 ble by the magnet, and can be broken with the hammer. 



2. Masses of yellow pyrites may be observed. Some 

 of them are of a brilliant golden-colour, and are readily 

 distinguished with the eye. 



3. The whole stone is thickly interspersed with me- 

 tallic points, many of them evident to the eye, and they 

 appear numerous and distinct with a lens. Their co- 

 lour is whitish, and was mistaken by the discoverers of 

 the stone for silver. They appear to be mainly malleable 

 iron, alloyed with nickel. 



4. The lead-coloured mass, which cements these 

 things together, has been described already, and consti- 

 tutes by far the greater part of the stone. After being 

 wet and exposed to the air, the stone becomes covered 

 with numerous reddish spots, which do not appear in a 

 fresh fracture, and arise manifestly from the rusting of 

 the iron. 



Finally, the stone has been analyzed in the laboratory 

 of this College, according to the excellent instructions 



