Br. Walter Flight— On Meteorites. 425 



Specimens of Supposed Meteoric Dust which fell in the South of 

 Europe and Algiers, between the end of March and beginning 

 of May, 1880.1 



In Sicily showers of supposed meteoric dust are often observed,, 

 sometimes with, sometimes without rain. During such a shower 

 the air becomes murlcy and of a reddish-yellow colour, and the 

 barometer falls rapidly. A heavy rain leaves a characteristic 

 yellowish-red residue. Dust fell on the night of March 29, 1880, 

 at Catania, containing, in addition to the ordinary constituents 

 (siliceous, calcareous, and argillaceous minerals, and small organisms), 

 particles of metallic iron. It had a reddish-yellow colour, became 

 black and gave oif an empyreumatic odour when heated, and after- 

 wards recovered its yellowish-red colour. The specific gravity was 

 2-92. The blowpipe showed the presence of nickel, and phosphoric 

 acid was found to the amount of 0-1456 per cent. Pg O5. Under the 

 microscope small particles of dust were observed, some opaque, 

 others surrounded with a red border, others steel-grey with a metallic 

 lustre. These particles were easily separated by a magnet from the 

 non-metallic more or less transparent particles. The former had a 

 diameter of 0-01 to 0-08 mm. Some were regularly spherical. The 

 dust therefore contains nichel-iron, whence it is probably of cosmic 

 origin. Silvestri insists especially on the fact that it did not contain 

 any constituents which might lead to the conclusion that it came 

 from Etna. M. Daubree examined the dust which fell from April 

 21st to 25th, 1880, in the Dep. des Basses-Alpes, Isere, and I'Ain. It 

 effervesced with acid, as did the dust of Catania, contained hydrated 

 iron peroxide, spangles of mica, and felspar. It was considered to 

 be dust of terrestrial origin, not volcanic, nor Saharan. About this 

 time, I received from my friend. Dr. Reginald Thompson, of Clielsea, 

 a specimen of reddish powder which had fallen in Algiers in May, 

 1880. His correspondent. Mi'. A. L. Smith, writing under date 

 " Algiers, May, 1880," says : " We have had torrents of rain 

 coming after falls of a red powder in great quantities, of which I 

 send you a little ; they say it is meteoric. The sky was yellow : 

 the air quite still. I never saw anything like it." The sand 

 answered in all respects to that examined by Silvestri and Daubree, 

 it certainly contained particles which were readily removed by the 

 magnet. They were however without action on copper sulphate or 

 mercury bichloride, and the dust did not contain nickel-iron. 



1880, In Winter. Province Entre-Rios, of the La Plata State, 

 between Nogaya (S.E. of Santa Fe, north of the Eiver La Plata) 

 and Goncepcion on the River Uruguay.^ 



Websky reports the arrival of a stone which fell in the winter of 

 1880 at the place mentioned above, and sent as a present to the 

 Academy. Further particulars are expected to arrive shortly. It 



' 0. Silvestri, R. Ace. del Lineei, iv. ser. 3, 1880. Jahrbuch fur Min. 1881, i. 

 200. A. Daubree. Comptes rendus, May 10, 1880, xc. 1098. 

 2 H. Websky, Siizmgisber. K. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1882, xviii. and xis. 395. 



