24 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



tached. The surface, although irregular in some places, is rather smooth, with 

 only here and there thin coatings of rust, and, as might be expected, but very 

 feeble evidence of chlorine, and that only on one or two spots. The specific 

 gravity is 7.81. It is highly crystalline, quite malleable, and not difficult to cut 

 with a saw. Its surface etched with nitric acid, presents the Widmannstattian 

 figures, finely specked between the lines, resembling the representation we have of 

 the etched surface of Hauptinannsdorf iron. Schreibersite is visible, but so in- 

 serted in the mass that it cannot be readily detected by mechanical means. Hy- 

 drochloric acid leaves a residue of beautifully brilliant patches of this mineral." 



Prof. Smith, in a lecture on meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution, published 

 in the Annual Report for 1855, advocates the theory of their lunar origin. 



The Apparatus-room contains a large and valuable collection of instruments, 

 prominent among which is the munificent donation of Dr. Robert Hare, of Philadel- 

 phia, who, when he resigned the Chair of Chemistry in the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, which he filled with honor to himself and his country for nearly thirty years, 

 presented to the Smithsonian the instruments of research and illustration collected 

 and used by himself during his long and successful scientific career. The gift was 

 important, not only on account of its intrinsic value, but also as establishing a pre- 

 cedent which should be frequently observed by others. Besides the above, there is 

 a full set of pneumatic instruments, of superior size and workmanship, constructed 

 expressly for the Institution, by Mr. Chamberlain, of Boston; a set of ingenious 



THE APPARATUS ROOM. 



