DR. W. FLIGHT, GREENLAND METEORITES. 451 



and is in every respect like that of the large loose blocks. More- 

 over, like them, it unfortunately possesses the property of exuding 

 a yellow liquid (ferrous chloride), and of weathering away. It 

 was noticed that these inclosed masses had their major axes 

 parallel to the direction of the ridge, and that they were, in a way, 

 connected with each other by little veins of weathered iron. 



Nordenskjold states that the large free blocks of metal had a 

 tombac to rusty-brown colour, and, when found, exhibited metallic 

 lustre on parts of their surface. Here and there, fragments of 

 basalt, similar to that of the ridge, were found adhering to them. 

 The inner parts contained none of the rock, and his analyses de- 

 tected the presence of little silicic acid. They were strongly polar, 

 the upper surface attracting the north, the lower side the south 

 pole of the magnetic needle. 



The iron of the larger masses is crystalline and brittle^ so that 

 pieces can readily he removed with a hammer ; the metal of the 

 ridge is tougher, and has a rougher fracture. The presence of 

 troilite was rarely detected in the detritus ; a few black magnetic 

 grains were met with, which, by their octahedral faces, were 

 recognized to be magnetite. 



The characters of the polished sections of the different masses 

 differ greatly ; in some the surface shows rounded areas of vary- 

 ing brightness and shades of colour, with parts of a brassy yellow 

 (troilite) ; others are more homogeneous, or appear to be made up 

 of fine prisms of " carburetted nickel-iron." Some, not all, exhibit 

 figures when etched. 



Though containing little sulphur, the Greenland irons, since 

 they have been brought to Europe, have shown a marked tendency 

 to crumble to pieces. On the shore at Ovifak, sometimes exposed 

 to the wash of the waves, sometimes left high and dry, but pre- 

 served at the constant temperature of the sea, which varies little 

 throughout the year, the masses apparently underwent little 

 change. Already during the passage, however, many fragments 

 crumbled away, and when unpacked ac Stockholm two months 

 later, and placed in a room of ordinary temperature, others broke 

 up into a reddish-brown powder. A freshly fractured lustrous 

 surface of one of the masses commenced in one corner to rust, 

 expand, and crumble away ; while the remainder experienced no 

 change, till at length the oxidation extended into the interior and 

 the whole fell to pieces. In a hermetically sealed glass tube the 

 iron is preserved unchanged ; but in another tube with a fine 

 crack oxidation continued. In alcohol no change takes place ; in 

 air, dried by sulphuric acid, the change is greatly impeded. 

 Attempts to preserve them by coating them with varnish were of 

 slight avail. The cracking is caused by dilatation, and takes place 

 with such force that masses of metal, on which chisel and saw 

 were without effect, are broken and bent out of shape during 

 oxidation. 



Nordenskjold found that a fragment of the largest iron, when 

 heated to redness, gave off more than 100 times its volume of 

 a gas which had a bituminous smell. It was evidently gas not 

 simply occluded by the metal, but was produced by the decompo- 



F F 2 



