January 24, 1902. ] 



SCIENCE. 



151 



that 'they were of the most superior kind and 

 temper' has a rather amusing sound. It is 

 well known to scientists that meteoric iron 

 quite refuses to yield to successful forging — 

 its grain being too 'short' for a durable cut- 

 ting edge. The excellency of the weapons re- 

 turned to the Sultan confirms the suspicion 

 that his messenger pocketed the proceeds of 

 the sale, yet had the grace to visit Sheffield 

 for the swords and simitars.^ ' The two masses 

 of Nejed were identical in composition, as 

 they were closely similar in size, weight and 

 general external appearance. When a 

 polished section of this iron is etched with 

 acid or with bromide-water its surface dis- 

 plays excellently the Widmanstatten figures, 

 the straight long beams of Kamacite forming 

 the approximately equilateral triangle pattern 

 according with the octahedral crystallization 

 of the mass. 



Mr. Fletcher has analyzed the iron, and has 

 shown its near similarity in composition to 

 the iron of Trenton (Wisconsin), Toluca 

 (Mexico) and Verchne Udinsk (Siberia). 

 The relation of the four irons is as follows: 



Iron 



Nickel 



Cobalt 



Copper 



Phosphorus 



Sulphur 



Insol. Besidue 



Nejed. Trenton. Toluca. V.TJdinsk 

 91.04 91.03 90.74 91.05 



8.62 



7.43 7.20 7.78 



0.66 0.53 0.72 



trace trace 0.03 



0.10 0.14 0.24 trace 



trace 0.03 trace 



0.59 0.45 0.34 0.58 



99.79 99.35 99.88 100.15 



This close similarity of composition in 

 masses fallen in widely separated parts of 

 our earth, at different dates, and coming per- 

 haps from heavenly bodies infinitely distant 

 from each other in space, is one of the many 

 wonders revealed by these cosmic messengers. 

 Lockyer has also shown that the spectra of the 

 two meteorites, ISTejed and Obernkirchen, closely 

 agree as to both the number and the intensity 

 of the lines. The specific gravity of the Nejed 

 was determined by Fletcher at 7.863. Cohen 

 and Brezina both speak of its very slight 

 veranderungszone. This surface decomposi- 

 tion being less than 1 mm. in thickness, to- 

 gether with the general sharpness and bright- 



ness of the iron, lends probability to the story 

 of the Arabian that Nejed was seen to fall. 

 Indeed Fletcher says of it in his earliest 

 description, "The mass is thus one of the 

 small group of meteoric irons, numbering at 

 most nine or ten, of which the fall has been 

 actually observed; and of these it is the larg- 

 est." But in a later paper he expresses doubt 

 as to the fall having been seen. We at least 

 know that it fell in some quite recent period, 

 and at the point where it was found. And 

 Nejed, attractive in its peculiar history, is 

 also interesting as being like Veramin of 

 Persia (described by the writer in the Decem- 

 ber number of the American Journal of 

 Science), one of the isolated, outlying meteor- 

 ites. The great countries of Arabia and of 

 Persia have each received, so far as recorded, 

 but one of these celestial gifts. India, of al- 

 most exactly the area of these two countries 

 combined, has the full number of fifty. The 

 density of population in the Indian peninsula 

 has doubtless something to do with the ob- 

 serving of these falls and the preserving of 

 the stones. But this cannot account for the 

 enormous disparity of the meteoric distribu- 

 tion. Nejed remains a grand and unique rep- 

 resentative of isolated individuality. 



Henry A. Ward. 



ROCHESTEE, N. Y. 

 PRECAUTION IN THE USE OF GASOLINE. 



In those laboratories where gasoline is in 

 use, it is necessary to observe a certain pre- 

 caution with regard to the employment of 

 rubber tubing, to which so far as I know, 

 attention has never been directed. This pre- 

 caution is that tubing which has been in use 

 on burners should not be used afterwards for 

 conducting gases, unless it has been very thor- 

 oughly washed out, or left to stand for some 

 time. Serious accidents may result if, for ex- 

 ample, a piece of tubing which has been used 

 for some time on a burner, is immediately 

 connected to a gasometer containing oxygen, 

 for transferring that gas to cylinders or flasks 

 for experiments. It would be natural to sup- 

 pose that in such a case the washing out of 

 the gasoline would be complete enough after 

 one had passed through the tubing a volume of 



