﻿86 
  [Senate 
  

  

  to 
  several 
  distinguislied 
  chemists, 
  none 
  of 
  whom 
  had 
  ever 
  seen 
  

   anything 
  like 
  it 
  before, 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  believe 
  the 
  specimen 
  to 
  

   be 
  unique. 
  

  

  It 
  formed 
  on 
  the 
  inside 
  of 
  a 
  cavity 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  escape 
  of 
  liquid 
  

   iron, 
  as 
  the 
  "pig 
  bed" 
  was 
  broken 
  up, 
  soon 
  after 
  casting 
  from 
  the 
  

   furnace. 
  

  

  The 
  ore 
  was 
  derived 
  in 
  part 
  from 
  the 
  Sterling 
  iron 
  mine 
  in 
  

   Jefferson 
  county, 
  which 
  ore 
  has 
  for 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  associates 
  the 
  sul- 
  

   phuret 
  of 
  nickel. 
  Fragments 
  of 
  the 
  carbonate 
  of 
  iron, 
  specular 
  

   ore, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  minerals 
  from 
  this 
  locality 
  afford 
  traces 
  of 
  

   nickel 
  when 
  carefully 
  tested, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  probable 
  that 
  cast 
  

   iron 
  made 
  from 
  this 
  ore 
  is 
  in 
  reality 
  an 
  alloy 
  of 
  nickel 
  and 
  iron. 
  

   A 
  partial 
  examination 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  this 
  ore, 
  and 
  the 
  iron 
  from- 
  it 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  S. 
  W. 
  Johnson, 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory 
  of 
  Yale 
  College. 
  A 
  

   thorough 
  analysis 
  wall 
  be 
  made 
  at 
  a 
  future 
  time. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  that 
  those 
  meteoric 
  masses 
  of 
  native 
  iron 
  which 
  

   have 
  been 
  examined 
  chemically, 
  have 
  nearly 
  uniformly 
  been 
  

   found 
  to 
  contain 
  nickel 
  ; 
  sometimes 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  twelve 
  per 
  

   cent, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  possess 
  a 
  remarkable 
  crystalline 
  structure. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  but 
  two 
  authentic 
  analyses 
  of 
  metal- 
  

   lic 
  aerolites 
  which 
  did 
  not 
  possess 
  a 
  crystalline 
  structure. 
  

  

  The 
  crystalline 
  structure 
  in 
  these 
  specimens 
  is 
  seldom 
  apparent 
  

   externally, 
  but 
  becomes 
  so 
  by 
  polishing 
  and 
  etching 
  with 
  acids. 
  

  

  The 
  crystalline 
  forms 
  presented 
  in 
  the 
  cast 
  iron, 
  are 
  the 
  tetra- 
  

   hedron 
  and 
  octahedron 
  with 
  their 
  surfaces 
  and 
  their 
  edges 
  brist- 
  

   ling 
  with 
  points, 
  which, 
  when 
  examined 
  by 
  a 
  lens, 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  

   themselves 
  fringed 
  with 
  smaller 
  and 
  more 
  delicate 
  needles, 
  at 
  

   right 
  angles 
  with 
  the 
  axis 
  to 
  w^hich 
  they 
  are 
  attached, 
  and 
  gradu- 
  

   ally 
  diminishing 
  in 
  length 
  as 
  they 
  approach 
  its 
  point. 
  

  

  43. 
  Crystalized 
  specular 
  iron, 
  from 
  the 
  farm 
  of 
  Joel 
  Smith, 
  Go- 
  

   verneur, 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  county. 
  

  

  Mining 
  operations 
  have 
  been 
  commenced 
  at 
  this 
  locality, 
  and 
  

   one 
  or 
  two 
  tons 
  of 
  the 
  ore 
  have 
  been 
  raised. 
  The 
  rock 
  in 
  which 
  

   it 
  occurs 
  (primary 
  limestone) 
  has 
  never 
  in 
  this 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  