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IV. Notice as to ihe supposed Identity of the large Mass of Meteoric Iron now in the 

 British Museum, with the celebrated Otumpa Iron described by Rubin de Celis in 

 the Philosophical Transactions for 1786. Communicated in a Letter from Wood- 

 bine Parish, Esq. F.R.S. to Charles Konig, Esq. Foreign Secretary of the 

 Royal Society. 



Received and read November 21, 1833. 



As the identity of the large mass of meteoric iron in the British Museum with the 

 celebrated Otumpa iron, described by Rubin de Celis in the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions for 1786, has been the subject of frequent inquiry, the following- short historical 

 notice, relating to that mass, is communicated by Woodbine Parish, Esq. F.R.S., by 

 whom, when His Majesty's Charge d' Affaires at Buenos Ayres, it was sent to England. 



" London, 

 ,, T^ ^ August 10th, 1833. 



" Dear Sir, ^ 



" Agreeably to my promise, I have taken some trouble to ascertain the precise 

 history of the large mass of native iron which I sent home to Sir Hbmphry Davy 

 from Buenos Ayres, and which is deposited in the British Museum. There is no doubt 

 of its coming from the same place as that described by Rubin de Celis, though 

 whether it be a fragment of that particular mass upon which he made his report, or 

 a smaller one in its immediate vicinity, I am not able to say, for there certainly is 

 an impression at Buenos Ayres that there is not only one, but that several masses of 

 this iron are to be found in that part of the Gran Chaco referred to by Rubin de 

 Celis. I was under the impression that it had been sent for in order to be forwarded 

 to Madrid ; but in this I was led into error ; and I have only lately ascertained 

 through Mr. Moreno, the Buenos Ayrean Minister, that the real history of its being 

 at Buenos Ayres is as follows. 



" After the people of that country had declared their independency of Spain, they 

 were blockaded by a naval force, which cut off their communication with Europe, 

 and especially prevented their receiving what they were in great need of, viz. arms 

 and other warlike stores. In this dilemma it was suggested that muskets might be 

 made if they had but the material ; and it was then that the iron formerly described 

 by De Celis was recollected as existing within their own territories, and people were 

 sent to the Gran Chaco to bring away at least a part of it, that it might be ascer- 

 tained how far it was fit for the purpose ; and thus this particular mass was brought 

 to Buenos Ayres. By the time it arrived there, early in 1813, the necessity for using 



