THE ORGUEIL METEOR. 353 



As these stones come from the heavens, our first curiosity naturally is to know 

 their chemical composition, and it is almost with disappointment that we learn 

 that they differ in no respect from earthly substances. The meteorite of Orgueil 

 has been analysed by M. Cloez : it is black, soft, of an almost pasty consistence 

 marks like a chalk, contains magnetic sulphuret of iron in little crystals which 

 sparkle through its mass, and has about five per cent, of charcoal which gives it 

 its color. The presence of carbon in aerolites had been previously established, 

 but it is of so rare occurrence that only three examples could be cited previously 

 to this. The carbon, however, is not in a free condition, but is combined with 

 hydrogen and oxygen, and (which is very singular) forms a combination almost 

 identical — so to speak — with the turf which is formed in bogs by the decom- 

 position of aquatic plants. As to the origin in such a situation of this curious 

 substance, it is clear that it is and possibly may always remain unknown. Lastly, 

 M. Cloez found in this new meteorite a large quantity of soluble salts which 

 served as a cement to bind the mass together and preserve its coherence, so that 

 on being immersed in water it becomes disintegrated, and falls to the bottom of 

 the vessel. The rains, therefore, will have caused such fragments as were not 

 picked up to crumble on the ground, and our globe will thus have gained, without 

 keeping the least trace of it, these masses borrowed possibly from other worlds. 



All these details, rather picturesque than scientific, are enough to • give a 

 general idea of the phenomenon, but they teach us absolutely nothing touching 

 its nature, origin, or course. A number of questions present themselves to the 

 mind, and to answer them, it is seen to be, above all, necessary to trace in the 

 heavens the path taken by the meteor, or, as philosophers call it, its trajectory. 

 M. Daubre^ has entrusted this part of the work to Commander Laussedat, Pro- 

 fessor in the Polytechnic School, whose speciality in mattei's of this sort has 

 been legitiirately gained, and he has applied himself to the task assiduously. 



la order to render intelligible the possibility of such an investigation, let ub 

 take a simple example. Imagine a telegraphic wire stretched parallel to the 

 course of the Seine at a certain height above the houses on the banks. An 

 observer who places himself at night on the right bank would see it projected in 

 the neighbourhood of certain stars in the South, while another on the opposite 

 side would see the black line of the wire towards the north across different stars. 

 It is certain that the visual lines which, starting from the eyes of each observer, 

 pass to the observed stars on each side, cross each other above the Seine upon 

 the wire itself; and that, if we could lay down or calculate the positions of the 

 stars, we could easily lay down or calculate the line of intersection of their 

 visual lines, that is the wire itself. Returning home, the two observers can 

 communicate their observations, and measure on a celestial sphere the direction 

 and height of the stars in question, as seen from the places of the observers at 

 the lime of observation. They will thus obtain the direction and inclination of 

 the visual lines. This done, they will mark on a map of Paris the stations they 

 severally occupied, and will thence draw lines in the direction of the visual lines, 

 and these will intersect in points situated on the trace of the wire at heights 

 which it is easy to calculate, and thus the position of our imagined telegraph 

 wire will be exactly determined. 



Vol. IX. Y 



