Br. Walter Fliyht—On Meteorites. 59 



hand, after visiting the locality twice, came to the conclusion that 

 they were masses of native iron, and that they had the same terres- 

 trial origin as the basalt itself. Not far from Ovifak, in the Waigat- 

 strasse, Steenstrup found evidence which supported this theory : in 

 the basalt of Igdlokungoak he hit upon a mass of metalliferous mag- 

 netic pyrites weighing about 28,000 kilog., and again, in the basalt 

 of Aussuk, small grains of native iron. The graphite associated with 

 this iron pointed to the probability that carbonaceous substances had 

 reduced this metal ; moreover, the rock enclosing the native iron 

 contained the silicate of ferric hydrate which has received the name 

 Hisingerite. With these opposing views so plainly set forth. Dr. L. 

 Smith has gone over the whole question, and comes to the same 

 conclusion as Steenstrup, that the masses of metal are of terrestrial 

 origin. He finds that in the dolerite of Aussuk, as well as that of 

 Ovifak, which it closely resembles, metallic iron is found enclosed 

 in labradorite ; anorthite is likewise found in certain parts of the 

 mass of the rock, and oligoclase also. 



Iron has been obtained from seven localities in Greenland : from 

 Sowallicke, Fiskenas, Niakornak, Gliick's Bay, Jacobstown, Ovifak, 

 and Aussuk. The iron of Sowallicke and Niakornak is found by Dr. 

 L. Smith to contain combined carbon, just as the Ovifak iron does ; 

 in fact, he states that all specimens of iron obtained from G-reenland 

 are similar in this respect, and differ from meteoric iron, which con- 

 tains no combined carbon ; moreover, these masses all contain cobalt 

 in considerable quantity in relation to nickel. Dr. Smith next refers 

 to the similar geological character of the area where the iron has 

 been found, it being found only in the basalt region, which extends 

 from 69° to 76°, where it disappears under a huge glacier. We shall 

 probably never know how wide the extent is of this volcanic area 

 which stretches far away north ; that, however, which has been seen 

 represents an area equal to one extending from Gibraltar to Brest. 

 We know that the terrestrial rocks which present the closest resem- 

 blance to the meteoric rocks belong to the lowest beds of the earth. 

 Some are eruptive rocks of a basic character, consisting of anorthite 

 and augite, like certain lavas from Iceland ; others are of olivinous 

 rocks, like Iherzolite, to which the meteorites containing magnesia — 

 those, in fact, of the ordinary type — belong. The gangue of olivinous 

 rocks accompanying the platinum of the Urals, and the presence of 

 nickel in the native iron combined with the platinum, have con- 

 firmed these relations, which are of interest alike for the geologist 

 and the astronomer. It was expected that among the aluminous and 

 magnesian rocks some might be found in which iron should begin to 

 make its appearance, and this gap has now been filled. In the 

 Greenland beds layers of lignite are found associated with the basalt, 

 and this may have furnished the material which has reduced the 

 iron to the metallic state. 



Found 1872. — Neuntmannsdorf, near Pirna, Saxony.^ 

 This mass of meteoric iron was found in 1872, and a superficial 

 ^ F. E. Geinitz, Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie, 1876, p. 608. 



