382 , REPORT— 1873. 



analysis, who found in its chemical composition the following approximate 

 ingredients : — 



Fe Ni Co Fefi^ FeS C P Total. 



46-60 1-19 0-47 40-20 7-75 3-69 0-15 100-05 



On heating- the iron strongly in vacuo, carbonic oxide and carbonic acid gas 

 are given off by the reaction of the free carbon on the magnetic iron oxide 

 with which it is in contact ; and the amount of oxygen present in the iron is 

 so great (11-09 of its weight of oxygen,being extracted from it when heated 

 in hydi'ogen gas), that no lower oxide of iron than that here assumed can be 

 regarded as its original mode of combination. As octahedra of magnetic 

 oxide were fovmd by Nordeuskiold in the larger siderites, the highly siliceous 

 stone appears to be of the same origin as the large iron masses ; and the ad- 

 mixture of free carbon and magnetic oxide of iron in its composition appears 

 to indicate that it has never been exposed to a very high temperature, since 

 its deposition in its present site. (F. Wohler's Analysis of the Ovifak 

 meteoric iron, Poggeudorff's ' Annalen,' July 1872). 



Montlivault, Loir-et-Cher, France, 1838, July 22. — This and the following 

 meteorite have lately been added by M. Daubree to the collection in the 

 Geological Museum of the Jardin dcs Plantes at Paris. The meteorite 

 weighs 510 grammes ; it has the form of a three-sided pyramid. Its mate- 

 rial is a finely granular mineral, consisting chiefly of olivine and augite with 

 grains of niekeliferous iron and magnetic pyrites belonging to the aerolitic 

 group to wliich the name of leucite has been given. (' The Academy,' May 

 15th, 1873.) 



Beuste, Basses-Pyrenees, France, 1859, May. — Two pieces of the stone 

 were found 700 metres apart, the larger weighing 1-4 kilogramme, and the 

 lesser one 420 grammes. The smaller stone penetrated the ground to the 

 depth of half a metre ; it is covered with a black crust half a millimetre 

 thick; and its specific gravity is 3-53. It belongs to the Chantonnite group, 

 and most nearly resembles the meteorites of Poultousk,. Its grey compact 

 mass is penetrated in every direction by veins of a black mineral, which 

 anastomose and exhibit irregular ramifications. (Ibid.) 



Shergotty, India, 1865, August 25, 9 a.m. (local time). — This stone was 

 recently analyzed and examined by Prof. Tschermak (' Jahrbuch fiir Mincra- 

 logie,' 1872, No. 7). The chief mass of the stone is a greyish brown augjtic- 

 looking mineral, of which, however, the following analysis shows that it does 

 not possess the true augitic composition : — 



Silica. Alumina, Iron protoxide. Magnesia. Lime. Total. 



62-3 0-2 23-1 14-2 10-4 100-2 



Another mineral having the percentage composition 



Silica. Alumina. Lime. Soda. Potash, Total. 



56-3 25-7 11-6 5-1 1-3 100-0 



forms small octahedral crystals with vitreous fracture in the mass ; and having 

 not been observed so definitely hitherto, it has received the name of Maslcelynite 

 as a new species. Bronzite, magnetic oxide, and sulphide of iron form the 

 remaining ingredients of the stone, whose mineral and chemical characters 

 strongly resemble those of the meteorites of Stannern, Juvenas, Jouzac, and 

 Petersburg, these stones as a class forming a group that is widely separated 

 from the great majority of ordinary aerolites. (Ibid.) 



