26 Dr. Walter Flight — History of Meteorites. 



This piece, it was found, descended about two miles and a half from 

 the point where the explosion occurred; it weighs about 12^ ounces. 

 Two men, who were looking in the direction of the explosions at the 

 time they took place, state that they saw a quantity of vapour much 

 like a volume of steam escaping from an engine-pipe, which was 

 violently agitated, and increased in bulk after each report, but dis- 

 appeared soon after the last of them. Some labourers close at hand 

 saw directly after the explosions something like a thin cloud cast its 

 shadow over the field in which they were. The stone, already 

 alluded to, and which was seen to strike the ground by two negroes 

 who happened to be at work about twenty paces distant, appears to 

 have come from the north-west, at an angle of about 30° with the 

 horizon ; it passed to a depth of ten inches into the soil. It has an 

 irregular, seven-sided form, the longest side being about 2f inches 

 long, and is covered with a black crust. The specific gravity is 3*65. 

 The explosion appears to have been heard over a region about 30 

 miles N.E. and S.W. and 50 or 60 miles N.W. and S.E. 



The fractured surface has a greyish aspect, and exhibits numerous 

 greenish spherules, with white granular interstitial matter, and occa- 

 sional particles of nickel-iron, troilite, or chromite. The nodules are 

 sometimes more than 3 mm. in diameter, with an imperfect fibrous 

 crystalline structure, the radiation usually commencing from one side 

 of the spherule ; they are more or less opaque, and of a dull, bottle- 

 green colour, with a hardness of about 6. Analysis of this selected 

 mineral gave the following results : — 



Oxygen Ratios. 



29-69 

 14-31 



ll'OU ) 



98-06 

 The formula of this mineral, with a portion of the silica replaced 

 by alumina, a not unfrequent occurrence in minerals like hornblende, 

 hypersthene, etc., is therefore EO,Si0 2 and it is probably a bronzite. 

 The nickel-iron has the composition : 



Iron = 86-92 ; Nickel = 12-01 ; Cobalt = 0-75 = 100 

 and that of the rocky portion is as follows : 



Si0 2 . A1„0 3 . FeO. MgO. CaO. Na 2 0. 



A. Soluble 41-08 0-32 18-45 41-06 — — =100-91 



B. Insoluble 56-03 5-89 15-21 21-01 0-10 2-97 =101-21 



The author deduces the following for the composition of the 

 stone : 



Nickel-iron 7'0 



Magnetic pyrites 6-1 



Bronzite, olivine, albite, or oligoclase, and chromite 86-9 



100-0 



1869, November 6th, 7 p.m. — Fawley, near Southampton. 1 



The correspondent observed two meteors within a few minutes of 

 seven o'clock on the evening of that day, which was a Saturday, and 

 1 A. T. Smith. The Standard, November, 1869. 



Silicic acid ... 



4862 ., 



. 29-9 



Alumina 



8-05 ., 



3-79 



Iron protoxide 



11-21 .. 



. 2-51 



Magnesia 



30-18 .. 



. 11-80 



