November 9, 1893] 



NA TURE 



Bombay presidency. Dr. J. W. Evans, the geologist 

 to the State of Kathiavvar, has kindly forwarded to me a 

 translation of the report sent in by the local ofticial. It 

 is curious that a fall of Xagali Jaowar (a kind of seed 

 used as food by the poorer people of the country) is 

 said to have occurred at the same time as the fall of the 

 stone. As suggested by Dr. Evans, the seed may have 

 been carried a short distance by the wind, which is very 

 strong on the coast of Kathiawar at the time of year 

 when the fall occurred. The spot where the fall took 

 place is a flat region of recent limestone. Dr. Evans 

 adds that the official report is interesting, as it is the ac- 

 count of a man who never heard of a meteorite, and to 

 whom the fall of grain is as probable as that of stones. 

 The report is as follows : — 



" There was thunder which lasted for a quarter of an 

 hour on the southern side at between a quarter to eight 

 and eight o'clock in the morning of April 28, 1S93. At 

 that time the sky was clear enough. It has been known 

 that the thunder was heard in nearly all the villages of 

 Babariawad. The reason for my giving you this trouble 

 is that Nagali Jaowar has rained with thunder on a small 

 pieceof ground near the outskirts of a village called 'Wad,' 

 situate on the eastern bank of a river named ' Dhatarwadi,' 

 and about two kosh (miles; distant from this place, but 

 there was not a drop of rain-water. A specimen of 

 Jaowar that has come down is sent herewith. A coolie, 

 named Hamo Shiyal, while working in his field on the 

 same day and at the same time, saw a stone about five 

 or seven tolas (a tola= 180 grains) in weight falling on to 

 the ground, about two fields distant, on the southern side 

 of a village called Covaya, situated south-west of, and 

 three kosh distant from this place, with the noise of 

 thunder. He picked it up, and came to the village with 

 it. While showing it to the people of the village, they 

 broke it to pieces. As a specimen, one piece of the stone, 

 out of the two pieces found by inquiry, is also sent here- 

 with. There was not a drop of rain, and the sky was 

 clear enough. Notwithstanding the clearness of the sky, 

 it has been said that there was a thunderbolt. Such were 

 the details of the occurrence on the morning of Friday, at 

 between a quarter to eight and eight. If any further 

 details come to notice, they will be reported to you. ' 



The original stone was shown by Dr. Evans' 

 investigations to have been 37 centimetres long, 2*9 

 centimetres broad, and 2'3 centimetres thick. It was 

 broken up by the villagers, and only the two largest 

 portions have been recovered by the officials. These 

 weigh respectively I7"4 and i6'3 grammes. The stone is 

 said to have been cold when picked up, and no hole in 

 the ground made by its fall was noticed. The larger 

 fragment of this meteorite has been entrusted to me by 

 my friend Dr. Evans, and Mr. L. Fletcher, F.R.S., of the 

 British Museum, has kindly made a preliminary examina- 

 tion of it, the results of which I give in his own words : — 



" The fragment of stone weighing 17 "42 grams (3 5ths 

 of an ounce), sent by Dr. Evans, is undoubtedly part 

 of a true meteorite, as is seen at once on examination of 

 the crust and the fractured surface. The crust formed 

 during the passage of the stone through the earth's at- 

 mosphere is dull black in colour, and in parts so rough as 

 to be scoria-like in te.xture. On direct comparison with 

 the stones from other falls preserved in the British 

 Museum it is seen that in these respects the Jafferabad 

 stone is very similar to parts of Pavlograd, Bachmut, 

 Middlesborough, Tourinnes-la-Grosse, Pohlitz, and Gross- 

 Liebenthal. The crust, however, is very remarkable for 

 its thickness, which a little exceeds a millimetre, and at 

 one part even reaches two millimetres : in most meteoric 

 stones the thickness of the crust does not exceed half a 

 millimetre, and in very few cases reaches a millimetre : 

 the thickness in this instance surpasses that of the crust 

 of any specimen preserved in this collection : of the 

 above-mentioned meteorites, Pavlograd approaches most 



NO. 1254, VOL. 49] 



nearly in this respect. The broken surface of the stone 

 is very white in colour, and shows the usual metallic 

 spangles of nickel-iron and troilite, white and tomback 

 brown respectively; the thin black veins, beginning at the 

 crust and traversing the stone in various directions of 

 former fracture, are unusually conspicuous, even more 

 than in the case of the stone which fell at Gross 

 Liebenthal in Russia on November 19, 1881, and which 

 is very similar in its general characters. The aspect of 

 the fracture is very uniform, and no round enclosures 

 (chondrules) are to be distinguished. This, however, is 

 often the case, even when chondrules are actually present, 

 and in all probability a microscopic section of the 

 Jafferabad stone, when allowed by the owner to be made, 

 will reveal their presence. The specific gravity of the 

 stone with crust is 3'55, and has an average value ; that 

 of Pavlograd, for instance, is 358." 



It will be seen from the foregoing account that the 

 Jaft'erabad meteorite presents some features of consider- 

 able interest ; and it is to be hoped that, in the interest of 

 science, his Highness the Nawab of Junagadh may 

 permit the specimen now in this country to be subjected 

 to a full microscopical and chemical examination. 



John W. Judd. 



NOTES. 

 The following is a list of names recommended by the Presi- 

 dent and Council of the Royal Society for election into the 

 Council for the year 1894, at the anniversary meeting on 

 November 30 (the names of new officers are printed in 

 italics) : — President : Lord Kelvin. Treasurer : Sir John 

 Evans, K.C.B. Secretaries: Prof. Michael Foster and Lord 

 Rayleigh, Foreign Secretary : Sir yoseph Lister, Bart. Other 

 Members of the Council : Prof. Isaac Bayley Balfour, Dr. 

 Andreiv Ainslic Common, Dr. Andrew Russell Forsyth, Richard 

 Tetley Glazebrook, Prof. Alexander Hen>y Green, Sir yohn 

 Kirk, K.C.B. , Prof. Oliver Joseph Lodge, Sir John Lubbock, 

 Bart., William Davidson Niven, Dr. William Henry Perkin, 

 The Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., Prof. J. S. Burdon Sander- 

 son, Adam Sedgwick, Prof. Thomas Edward Thorpe, Prof. 

 William Augustus Tilden, Prof. IV. Cazvthorne Unwin. 



It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Sir 

 Andiew Clark, Bart., on November 6, at the age of sixty- 

 seven. 



By the death of Prof. E. Lecouteux, France has lost one of its 

 foremost agriculturists. Lecouteux was born at Creteil (Seine) 

 in 1819. He was one of the founders, and afterwards a vice- 

 president, of the Societe des Agriculteurs de France. He was 

 also at one time president of the Societe Nationale d'Agricul- 

 ture. Many important additions to agricultural literature were 

 made by Lecouteux, and the effects of his beneficial influence 

 will be apparent in France for many years to come. 



The Municipal Council of Paris has had an elegant album 

 designed for M. Pasteur, containing the address presented to 

 him in the name of the city of Paris at the celebration of his 

 seventieth birthday in December of last year. 



Brussels University will shortly have a laboratory of 

 Psychological Physics, endowed by private munificence. The 

 Rector, Prof. M. H. Denis, has nominated Drs. G. Dv/elshauvers 

 and P. Stroobant to take charge of the researches and practical 

 work. 



Dr. John Andersox, F. R.S. , who for the past two years 

 has been collecting materials in Egypt for a work on the mam- 

 mals and reptiles of that country, is, we understand, again re. 

 turning to Egypt to continue his researches, proceeding in the 

 first instance to Suakin. 



