150 -^n Account of a Meteor. 



side of the meteor, but to have received this coating m 

 the interior parts, in consequence of fissures or cracks, 

 produced probably by the intense heat, to which the body 

 seems to have been subjected. These portions are very 

 uneven, being full of little protuberances. The specific 

 gravity of the stone is 3.6, water being 1, The specif- 

 ic gravity of different pieces varies a little ; this is the 

 mean of three. 



The colour of tlie mass of the stone is mainly a dark 

 ash, or, more properly, a leaden colour. It is inter- 

 spersed w^ith distinct masses, from the size of a pin's 

 head to the diameter of one or two inches, which are al- 

 most white, resembling, in many instances, tlie crystals of 

 feldt-spar in some varieties of granite. The texture of 

 the stone is granular and coarse, resembling some pieces 

 of grit stone. ' It cannot be broken by the fingers, but 

 gives a rough and irregular fracture with the hammer, to 

 which it readily yields. On inspecting the mass, five 

 distinct kinds of matter may be perceived by the eye. 



1. The stone is thickly interspersed with black or grey 

 globular masses, most of them spherical, but some are 

 oblong. Some of them are of the size of a pigeon shot^ 

 and even of a pea, but generally they are much smaller- 

 They can be detached by any pointed iron instrument, 

 and leave a concavity in the stone. They are not attract- 

 able by the magnet, and can be broken by the hammer. 

 If any of them appear to be affected by the magnet, it 

 will be found to be owing to the adherence of a portion 

 of metallic iron^ 



2. Masses of yellow pyrites maybe observed. Some 

 of them are of a brilliant^golden'coiour, and are readily 

 clistinguishable by the eye. Some are reddish and some 

 whitish. The pyrites appear most abundant in the light 

 colored spots, where they exhibit very numerous and 

 brilliant points, which are very conspicuous through a 

 lens. 



3. The whole stone is interspersed with malleable iron, 

 alloyed with nickel. These masses of malleable iron 

 are very various in size, from mere points to the diame- 

 ter of half an inch. They mxay be made very conspic- 

 uous by drawing a file across the stone. 



4. The lead-coloured mass has been described already:^ 



