Native and Meteoric Iron. 369 



The iron afforded me the following results : 



Iron, - - - - - - 99.68 



Silicon, - = ---. 0.20 



Calcium, 0.09 



Aluminium, in traces, . - - 



99.97 

 The hard and brittle ore attached to the mass, does not appear 

 to differ essentially from ordinary magnetic iron ore. It contains 

 traces of silicic acid and of lime. 



The source of this iron, must probably for the present, remain 

 a subject of doubt. The secondary country in which it was 

 found, no less than the peculiar configuration of the mass, would 

 lead us to doubt its terrestrial origin, either as a product of nature 

 or of art ; while the absence of nickel in its composition, sepa- 

 rates it widely from meteoric iron. Future observations may re- 

 lieve it from the isolated position it now appears to hold. 



Meteoric Iron from Guilford County, North Carolina, 



In the year 1830, I gave, in Vol. xvii, p. 140, of this Journal, 

 a hasty notice of two small fragments of iron from North Caro- 

 lina, which had been presented to the American Geological So- 

 ciety, by Prof. D. Olmsted, of Yale College. Having had occa- 

 sion to bestow a renewed attention to the subject recently, I find 

 I had adopted an erroneous opinion respecting the specimen from 

 Guilford County. It contains both chlorine and nickel; and 

 consequently can no longer be regarded as possessed of terres- 

 trial origin. 



The structure of this iron, as developed by the recent attempt 

 to detach a few grains for analysis, reminds me forcibly of that 

 exhibited by the Buncombe, (N. C.,) meteoric iron. Like this, 

 it cleaves into tetrahedral, octahedral, and rhomboidal fragments, 

 and presents the same foliated texture, and pinchbeck tarnish. 

 It cleaves, however, with greater difficulty than the Buncombe 

 iron. 



In effecting its solutioii in nitro-hydrochloric acid, I observed 

 a very slight residuum of a greyish black color. It was removed 

 from the solution, and finely pulverized in a mortar. It present- 

 ed the appearance of magnetic iron, and on treating it with a con- 

 centrated portion of the mixed acids, it entered into solution af- 



