68 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



substance has been found in any of them which is 

 not known on this earth. 



Meteorites may roughly be divided into three 

 divisions for convenience of arrangement. They 

 are : — 



(a) Meteoric stones or meteorites proper ; that 

 is, a stony mineral mass through which is generally 

 disseminated metallic particles of iron, combined 

 with about 7 per cent, of nickel. 



(6) Siderolites ; a mixture of stony mineral matter 

 and iron in about equal quantities. These sidero- 

 lites may be subdivided into (i) what are known as 

 Pallasites, types similar to the iron mass described 

 by Pallas from Siberia; and (2) whetj the stony 

 matter and metal are more minutely divided. 



(c) Holosiderites, siderites, or iron-masses. — This 

 iron also contains about 7 per cent, of nickel. 



The first class (a), meteoric stones, are of many 

 varieties from hard mineral combinations to soft, 

 «arthy and friable carbonaceous materials. These 

 latter forms are very black in colour, and do not 

 contain any iron. Only about a dozen of this type 

 of meteorites are knowm. An uncommon form is 



The causes of the limited records of falls pre- 

 vious to the nineteenth century are various. Of 

 course, in the olden days the population was sparse 

 and ignorant in country districts. This still applies 

 to a large portion of the world, and doubtless many 

 falls occur at the present time on land and sea, 

 which are never noticed. That falls are as frequent 

 now is undoubted, for hardly a year passes without 

 several being recorded with more or less detail from 

 some part of the world. When examining the 

 records of falls in connection with the countries 

 where they occurred, it will be found that most are 

 reported from those where the largest populations 

 are spread over them. As an ^^nstance of what. is 

 meant, some little time ago India showed seventy 

 records, and North America no less than 212, many 

 being comparatively recent ; while the whole of 

 Africa produced no more than a couple of dozen 

 instances. Many of those from America are iron 

 masses, and it is a curious fact that few of these 

 holosiderites have been seen to fall in any part of 

 the world. 



The two most modern British falls are 



From Merceditas, Chili, 1S84. 

 Etched Meteoric Iron, Show 



one of a hard, black, carbonaceous stone, some- 

 times containing traces of iron. The second (6) and 

 third (c) sections will be described and illustrated a 

 little later in this paper. 



Following the above arrangement, meteorites are 

 dealt with in chronological order, by the dates of 

 their respective falls. They are known by the 

 names of the localities where found. It is very 

 seldom that a private collector can afford the luxury 

 of a whole specimen, having, as a rule, to be satis- 

 fied with small pieces, or even microscopic sections 

 of some of the rarer types. As may be naturally 

 expected, the earlier falls are now most difHcuIt to 

 represent in a new collection, and future students 

 will have to depend on present collectors for these 

 examples. In fact, considering how little was 

 known of the subject previous to this century, and 

 the small interest taken by scientific collectors in 

 these stones, the wonder is that so many have been 

 preserved for present study. As a rule they passed 

 from the finder into the hands of the local country 

 magnate, or clergyman, being of temporary in- 

 terest, soon to be forgotten bv the next generation. 



From Laurens Cocntv. 1857. 

 iNG WidmannsTatten Figures, 



one in 1S76, at Rowton, near Wellington, in Shrop- 

 shire. It fell upon a farm, and having been a mass 

 of metal, was claimed as a treasure trove by the 

 Duke of Cleveland, who presented it to the British 

 Museum. The other was seen in 1881, by a signal- 

 man, to strike the embankment of the North- 

 Eastern Railway, near Middlesbrough. It is the 

 property of that railway company, and is deposited 

 in the Newcastle-on-Tyne Museum. 



A feature that strikes one in overlooking such 

 an extensive collection as Mr. Gregory's, is the 

 very shallow incrustation caused by the intense heat 

 of air friction. The outer surface in the case of 

 stony forms is often blackened to a depth of no 

 more than the thickness of the page on which this 

 is printed ; though sometimes to the depth of a 

 2oth of an inch, and there are cases where the 

 surface is striated and seared by the air in passing 

 over the molten surface, showing the exact position 

 and direction of the meteorite in falling. The small 

 incrustation has already been explained by the very 

 short time occupied in passing through the earth's 

 atmospheric envelope. The speed is computed at 



