VOL. XXIX.] PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIONS. 105 



the Adriatic Sea as from Dalmatia : that it crossed over nil Italy, being nearly 

 vertical to Rimini and Savigniano on the one side, and to Leghorn on the other: 



are exactly of the same nature, consisting of the same simple substances arranged in similar com- 

 pounds, in nearly the same proportions, and in the same manner combined, so as to form heteroge- 

 neous aggregates, whose general resemblance to each other is complete. We are hence also war- 

 ranted in another important inference, viz. that no other bodies have as yet been discovered on our 

 globe, which contain the same ingredients; and that the analysis of these stones has brought us ac- 

 quainted with a species of pyrites not formerly known, nor any where else to be found. 



The general analogy between these stones and the masses of native iron, that have been found in 

 different parts of the world, was too striking to escape the notice of the eminent inquirers who have 

 investigated this subject. They resemble each other in their external character, though not so closely 

 as the stones themselves; but in one circumstance of their chemical composition they have a notable 

 similarity, both among themselves, and to the stony substances. M. Proust had before proved that 

 the enormous mass of native iron found in South America, contained in its composition a large por- 

 tion of nickel. Mr. Howard has been led to the same conclusion by analyzing another portion of the 

 same ; and he has also found that the like solitary masses discovered in Siberia, Bohemia, and Senegal, 

 contained a mixture of the same metal with iron, though in various proportions. The Bohemian iron 

 is an alloy, of which nickel forms 18 parts in 100 j in the Siberian iron it forms 17} and in the 

 Senegal iron 5 or 6. But what is still more strikmg, and tends to put the similarity of their origin 

 beyond all doubt, the Siberian mass is interspersed with cavities, containing an earthy substance, of 

 the very same nature as the earthy cement and globules of the Benares stone; and the proportions of 

 the ingredients are also nearly alike, except only in the oxide of iron, which is considerably less in 

 the Siberian earth. This remarkable fact greatly strengthens the idea, that the Siberian iron owes its 

 origin to the same causes which formed and projected the different stones that have fallen through the 

 air on the earth ; and, joined to the other details of the analysis, it naturally leads us to conclude, 

 that the masses of native iron, as they are called, differ in no respect from the metallic particles, or 

 the alloy of iron and nickel, which constitute one of tlie four aggregate parts in every stone of this 

 kind hitherto examined. 



Concerning the Siberian iron, there exists a general tradition of tlie Tartars, that it formerly fell 

 from the heavens. In addition to which, a pretty authentic testimony has been lately found, to prove 

 the fall of a similar body in India. The Eight Hon. Charles Greville has communicated to the Royal 

 Society (Philos. Trans. 1803, pt. 1) a very interesting paper, translated from the emperor Tchangire's 

 Memoirs of his own Reign. The prince relates, that in the year l(j20, of our aera, a violent ex- 

 plosion was heard at a village in the Punjaub, and at the same time a luminous body fell through the 

 air on the earth. That the officer of the district immediately repaired to the spot where it was said 

 the body fell, and having found the place to be hot, he caused it to be digged, on which he found the 

 heat kept increasing till they reached a lump of iron violently hot. That this was sent to court, where 

 the emperor had it weighed in his presence, and ordered it to be forged into a sabre, a knife; and a 

 dagger; that, after trial, the workmen reported it was not malleable, but shivered under the hammer: 

 and that it required to be mixed with one third part of common iron, after which the mass was found 

 to make excellent blades. The royal historian adds, that on the incident of this iron of lightning 

 being manufactured, a poet presented him with a distich, that, " during his reign, the earth attained 

 order and regularity ; that raw iron fell from lightning, which was, by his world-subduing authority, 

 converted into a dagger, a knife, and two sabres." 



The exact resemblance of this occurrence, in all its essential circumstances, to the former accounts 

 of fallen stones, and the particular remark on the unmalleable nature of the iron, give a high degree 



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