Dr. Walter Flight — History of Meteorites. 121 



"Wohler was disposed to regard the oxygen, constituting so consider- 

 able a portion of an apparently metallic mass, as present in the form 

 of a diferrous oxide, Fe 2 0, were it not that, according to this view, 

 there would be no iron provided for combination with the sulphur 

 and carbou. As, however, Nordenskjold found magnetite in or near 

 other Ovifak irons, Wohler regards that constituting the veins as an 

 intimate mixture of magnetite, of which there would be 40-20 per 

 cent., with metallic iron, of which there would tben be 46-60 per 

 cent., the sulphide, carbide, and phosphide, as well as the alloys 

 with nickel and cobalt, and some carbon in isolated particles. The 

 latter probably undergo no change when the magnetite and carbide, 

 by the action of heat, generate carbonic oxide. 



A specimen of the iron from the basalt has also been investigated 

 by Daubree ; he describes it as having a metallic lustre and being 

 nearly black. He found its composition to be : 



Iron in the free state 40-940 



Iron in combination 30-150 



Carbon in the free state 1-640 



Carbon in combination 3-000 



Nickel 2-650 



Cobalt 0-910 



Phosphorus 0-210 



Arsenic 0-410 



Sulphur 2-700 



Silicium 0-075 



Nitrogen 0-004 



Oxygen 12-100 



"Water (hygrometric) 0-910 



Water in combination •. 1-950 



«. Chromium, Copper, etc 1-010 



Calcium sulphate, chloride, etc 1-354 



100-013 



In his second paper he gives analyses of two more specimens : 



II. Light grey iron, possessing metallic lustre. It is not homongeneous, as it 

 might be assumed to he from its lustre and colour. "When crushed in a mortar, it 

 is divided into two parts : the one crumbles to fine powder, the other is flattened 

 into plates, requiring much trituration to break them up. III. Metallic grains 

 mechanically separated from the rocky portion in which they were distributed. 

 These spherules exhibit figures, when etched, and contain silicate distributed in very 

 fine pieces throughout their mass ; in one rounded fragment the silicic acid of this 

 silicate amounted to 11-9 per cent, of the total constituents. 



II. III. 



Iron in the free state 80-800 ... 61-990 



Iron in combination .". 1-600 ... 8-110 



Carbon in the free state 0-300 ... 1-100 



Carbon in combinatiou 2-600 ... 3-600 



Silicium ;. 0-291 ... — 



Water 0-700 ... — 



Calcium chloride 0-233 ... 0-146 



Iron chloride 0-089 ... 0-114 



Calcium sulphate 0-053 ... 0-047 



Copper trace. ... trace. 



It will be seen that specimen III. is not less rich in carbon 

 than L, and that specimen II. also contains a considerable quantity. 



