A CATALOGUE OF OBSEllVAflONS OF LUMINOUS METliOttS. 377 



the king's palace, the other two pieces were picked up at a coDsiderable dis- 

 tance. The fir^jt piece, forwarded to France by M. Lafou, Naval Surgeon, 

 residing at Pnompehu, is pyramidal, weighing about 2 lbs. (1 kilogr.). It is 

 covered Avith a black shining crust J^- inch in thickness, in which Jiickel- 

 iron is scattered in fine grains. The fracture is granitic, and speckled 

 with dark spots. The substance of tlie meteorite dissolved in muriatic acid 

 leaves a residue of graphite and of crystalline silicates. A portion was sent 

 to M. Pcyrcmol, Professor at the medical school at Rochefort, for more exact 

 analysis. (' Les Mondes,' ISGS, Kov. 20th.) 



]M"amur, Eelginm, 1SG8, July 5th, ll'> 45'° p.ir. (local time). 



During a violent storm a fireball fell on the roof of a house at Namur, and 

 broke a tile. The fall coincided with a clap of thunder. The only residue 

 found of the ignited body was a small meteorite weighing about a third of 

 an ounce (10 grammes) ; some grains of which were detached for analysis, 

 and the remainder now weighs 137 grains. It is entirely covered -with a 

 slight crust of olive-colour speckled with bright-yellow, but not crystalline- 

 looking points, giving evidence of its exposure to a glowing heat. The inte- 

 rior substance is a friable dark-grey cinder, interspersed with black and 

 yellow crystals, but without metallic grains. The density, 3-0004, is 

 rather less than that of ordinary aerolites. It exhibits opposite magnetic 

 poles at the two ends of its longest axis, and is highly magnetic. Attacked 

 by hydrochloric acid it is partly dissolved, disengaging siilphuretted hy- 

 drogen, and leaving a pretty abundant residue containing graphite and free 

 sulphur. The solution is found by the ordinary tests to contain iron, nickel, 

 and chromium. (' Les Mondes,' 2ud ser. vol xviii. p. 332.) 



Ornans, Doubs, Prance, 1868, July 11th. 



The following extract from a French newspaper of September last, an- 

 nounces the fall of an aerolite in central France. — " On the 11th of July in 

 the present year " [1SG8] " a meteorite fell at Ornans in the Department of 

 Do\ibs. M. Pisani has submitted it to analysis, aud he finds that it contains 

 a very small quantity of nickeliferous iron, a small quantity of chrome-iron- 

 ore, and magnetic irou-i^yrites ; it is besides very rich in peridot. Its struc- 

 ture is friable and poroiis, and its general aspect is of a deeper grey colour 

 than is commonly observed in aerolites." (See M. Pisani's analvsis, in 

 ' Comptes Eenclus ' for Sept. 28, 18G8, vol. Ix^-iii. p. GG3.) 



Sanguis, Mauleon, Basses Pyrenees, 1868, September 7th, 2'' 30" a.m. 



(local time). 



After a meteor of the usual appearance a report was heard as far as Irun, 

 on the Spanish border, 50 miles distant from Sanguis, where a meteorite 

 weighing 4i lbs. (2 kilog.) fell into a small stream, 30 yards from the church, 

 and broke into pieces. The pieces, which were further broken by those who 

 found them in search of a supposed hidden treasure, were sent to the Museum 

 of Geology in Paris, and analyzed by M. Stanislas Meimier. They closely 

 resemble those of the meteorite of Casale, which fell (on the 29th February) 

 six months and seven days before the present occurrence, appearing therebj- 

 to indicate two nodes of this meteoric orbit, intersecting the earth's orbit at 

 180° apart. The siliceous mass contains grains of nickel-iron, troihte, and 

 chromite. (Heport of M. A. Daubre'e, ' Comptes Eendus' for Nov. 2, 1868 ; 

 and ' Les Mondes,' Nov. 5th, 1868.) 



