156 An Account of a Meteor. 



have attempted something hke a complete analysis of 

 each of the constituent parts of the stone. If circum- 

 stances permit, this may still be done ; but, in the mean 

 time, a few observations of perhaps some utility may be 

 offered. 



II. Of the Pyrites. 



In the stones in our possession, very few masses of 

 pyrites of any considerable size are to be found ; and 

 they are generally so friable, that it was only with great 

 difficulty, and patience, that 20 grains could be collected 

 from 200 or 300 pieces. Their powder is blackish. I 

 digested these 20 grains for 12 hours, in muriatic acid, 

 somewhat diluted, hoping to separate the sulphur, so as 

 to collect it as Mr. Howard had done. But, in this I 

 was disappointed. Only a very few minute portions of 

 sulphur appeared ; they did not, as with Mr. Howard, 

 float, but subsided among the earthy sediment ; and only 

 enough of them was collected to decide the existence of 

 sulphur, by their burning with the peculiar smell of that 

 substance. During the solution, the smell of sulphuret- 

 ted hidrogen gas was emitted. As the stone, or, at least, 

 some parts of it, emits the smell of sulphur, when heated, 

 I attempted to procure the sulphur by sublimation. A 

 portion of the powdered stone was placed in a coated 

 glass tube, the upper part of which was kept cold, v/hile 

 the coated part was ignited for an hour, but no sulphur 

 was obtained. 



I caused the gas which arose from the solution of tlie 

 metallic part of the stone in the sulphuric and muriatic 

 acids, to pass into a solution of caustic potash — only a 

 small portion of it was absorbed ; the potash became 

 slightly hidro sulphuretted, since it precipitated the acetat 

 of lead, black, and deposited a little sulphur upon the 

 addition of sulphuric acid. 



As I had already robbed the specimens of almost eve- 

 r}^ tangible mass of pyrites, and injured them consider- 

 ably, by the extraction, I was compelled to relinquish 

 the idea of obtaining the exact proportion of the sulphur. 



Mr. Howard, in the analysis of the stone of Benares, 

 states the sulphur at 2 parts in 14 of the pyrites, or, 



