OBSERVATIONS OP LUMINOUS METEORS. 381 



percentage volumes shows, which were obtained from 15-87 ciibic centims. of 

 the iron in successive intervals of — ■ 



2J bom's. 23^ hours. 9| hours. Total. Ilorscshoe-uail 



per cent. per cent, per cent. per cent. (Grabame). 



Hydrogen 22-12 10-52 3-19 35-83 35-0 



Carbonic oxide 15-99 11-12 11-22 38-33 50-3 



Carbonic acid 7-85 1-02 0-88 9-75 7-7 



Nitrogen 6-06 1-45 8-58 16-09 7-0 



^5^ 



52-02 24-11 23-87 100-00 100-0 



Beduced to the standard temperature, 60° F., and barometric pressure, 30 

 inches, the whole volume obtained was 50-40 cubic centims., or 3-17 times 

 the volume of the iron, while Grahame found 2-85 times its volume of mixed 

 gases occluded in the Lenarto iron. The quantity of hydrogen contained in 

 the Augusta-County iron is 1-4 times its volume, while ordinary terrestrial 

 iron only occludes about 0-42 or 0-46 times its volume; and the meteoric 

 origin of the mass is thus confirmed. But the quantities of carbonic oxide and 

 carbonic acid, especially, are much larger than the corresponding quantities 

 found by Grahame in the Lenarto iron, and more nearly resemble the pro- 

 portions found in a sample of a horseshoe nail. It cannot be siipposcd that 

 the Augusta- County iron has imdergone any artificial process to test or to 

 improve its quahty ; and hence it may be inferred that the atmosphere in 

 which it originated as a meteorite was more rich in carbon than that from 

 which the Lenarto iron was derived. 



Sidcrite of Ovifak, Greenland. — Among the discoveries made by Sir J. C. 

 Ross in his Arctic voyages, was that of some implements partly made of iron 

 by the Esqmmaux of Greenland, the metal of which was found on analysis to 

 be probably of meteoric origin. The ii'on used in their manufacture was 

 reported by the Esquimaux to exist on the shore of Cape York, some hundreds 

 of miles north of Disco Island, on the west coast of Greenland. During his 

 investigations of that coast in the year 1870, Prof. A. E. Nordenskiold, of 

 Stockholm, by offering rewards for its discovery to the Esquimaux, learned 

 the existence of such masses of native iron at Ovifak, on the south side of 

 Disco Isle. Arrived at this indicated spot, Prof. Nordenskiold was there 

 shown the largest piece of meteoric iron yet known to have been found. 

 Two other large, and many smaller fragments lay at no great distances from 

 it. Their site was between high- and low-water mark on the shore, among 

 sea-worn blocks of gneiss and granite at the foot of a high rock of basalt. 

 A Swedish vessel transported them to Europe ; and they are now deposited in 

 the Iloyal Museum at Stockholm. The largest one weighs about 50,000 lbs., 

 and the two smaller masses about 20,000 lbs. and 9000 lbs. ; the rest of tho 

 fragments together weigh about 1500 lbs. Nickel, cobalt, phosphonis, and 

 sulphur enter into their composition ; and the probability of their meteoric 

 origin is ably maintained bj' Nordenskiold in his narrative of this expedition 

 (" Eedogorelse for en Expedition till Gronland." Stockholm: 1871), and in 

 a later work on the history of the iron. Not many yards from the place of 

 then: discovery a siliceous stone, enclosing grains and lumps of metallic iron, 

 and a vein of that metal some feet in length and a few inches thick, projected 

 from the basalt breccia of the locality, and diifered in its trap-like composition 

 entirely from the stones among which it lay. A portion of this iron, together 

 with specimens of the larger blocks, was presented to Dr. F. Wtihlcr for 



