Correspondence — Rev. 0. Fisher. 47 



tunately the present museums are in such, a state of neglect from the 

 want of competent curators, and from the apathy and ignorance of 

 committees connected therewith, that they render the formation of 

 local collections waste of time and energy, as they are unfitted for 

 their permanent and efficient preservation. 



Scientific men seem frequently to be so much engrossed in their 

 own departments that the result is, the general interests of science 

 are neglected. This want of public spirit is much to be regretted ; 

 not to mention the jealous spirit too often exhibited, and their acting, 

 in some instances, as if they had taken leases of certain departments 

 of Nature, and had set up a notice " Trespassers Beware." 



I may mention that a museum in London, as a centre of the 

 provincial museums, would be a great requirement, representing an 

 epitome of the collections throughout the country, and of British 

 Geology, Natural History, and Archaeology. This should be the 

 British Museum. British not in a national, but in a scientific sense. 

 The more appropriate term for the present British Museum would 

 be the " National Museum " ; and it should confine its collections 

 more especially to the productions (Natural History, etc., and 

 Antiquarian) of foreign countries. F. G. S. 



November 17th, 1871. 



GREENLAND METEOEIC lEON.i 



SiK, — When reading Mr. Forbes's account of the meteoric iron, 

 whose occurrence on the shore of Greenland was communicated to 

 the Geological Society on the 8th November, the same idea which 

 was expressed by Professor Eamsay occurred to me before I had got 

 as far as his remarks, viz., the idea that this native iron, instead 

 of being derived extraneously from the fall of a meteorite, might be 

 a portion of a "metallic core of the earth, brought to the surface by 

 the eruption of the basalt in which it is said to be imbedded." 



But upon consideration this seems extremely unlikely. Nothing 

 is more certain than that the earth consists of concentric spheroidal 

 strata, each stratum being of equal density throughout. And since 

 the mean density of the whole is fully twice the mean density of the 

 surface, it follows that there must be strata of great density within. 

 Now such being the case, it seems not to admit of doubt, that the 

 more dense strata will be there more deeply situated. When, then, 

 we consider the relative densities of meteoric iron, which is about 

 7*7, and of basalt, which is about 3, it seems highly improbable that 

 they should be sufficiently nearly associated in the interior for the 

 heavier one to have been raised to the surface entangled in the lighter. 

 Nevertheless a terrestrial origin appears to me possible. 



From the analogy of meteoric stones, it seems very probable that 

 our earth may possess a central core of iron. Those bodies are, as is 

 well known, divisible into stony and metallic. The former nearly 

 resemble our crystalline rocks, and the latter consist principally 



^ Other letters have heen received on this subject from Colonel Greenwood and 

 F. G. S., but want of space precludes their publication till next month. 



