532 Correspondence — Mr. J, B. Gregory. 



Professor A. H. Church has very kindly analysed it with the fol- 

 lowing results : 



Density 3-667 



Nickel-Iron 29-72 



/Contains: Fe. 94.72 \ 



( Ni. 5.18/ 



Troilite 6-02 



Schreibersite 1-59 



Silica and Silicates 61*53 



Oxygen, other substances, and loss 1^14 



100-00 

 The meteorite gives off sulphuretted hydrogen when treated with acid. 



I have just succeeded in obtaining a cast of the stone in plaster of 

 Paris, which, being coloured, is a perfect facsimile of the whole me- 

 teorite as it fell. 



It is remarkable, considering the large extent of country now 

 being much travelled over, even for a very great distance, that so 

 few meteoric stones or irons are found in that part of the globe. 

 India has of late years produced a large number, some 40 or 50, 

 while in the Southern portion of Africa some 7 or 8 are all that 

 we know of. 



II. — Meteoric Iron from South Africa, — On my return to 

 Cape Town in August last from the Orange Eiver, on visiting the 

 South African Museum, Mr. E. L. Layard pointed out to me a 

 small piece of meteoric iron, the weight of which was only about 

 six or seven pounds. It was, as usual with these irons, much 

 altered and decomposed on the exterior surface, evidently owing 

 to the large proportion of the meteoric mineral-iron sulphides, 

 which, as is well known, attract much moisture from the atmosphere, 

 thereby causing the mass to crumble and fall to pieces. Mr. Layard 

 was kind enough to give me a small portion of this iron, in 

 which part of the metal was not altered in any way. This meteoric 

 iron was said to have been seen to fall at Victoria, West, some dis- 

 tance up the country, in 1862. It has not been analysed, and its 

 existence seems to be unknown in Europe. 



I have had my specimen polished and etched in the usual manner ; 

 it exhibits the crystalline markings similar to those seen in the other 

 meteoric irons, but perhaps in finer and more delicate lines. 



III. — Ancient Stone Implements. — I procured several stone im- 

 plements in August last, during a recent visit to South Africa, that 

 were found on the Cape Flats, a large flat extent of country near 

 Cape Town. The materials from which they are fashioned are not 

 flint, though some have a very flinty appearance ; they are mostly 

 made of a kind of quartzite, or very hard and compact sandstone 

 of a yellowish brown colour ; some are made of a variety of jasper, 

 though somewhat of a coarse texture ; these stones being found 

 plentifully in various localities in the southern part of the Cape 

 Colony ; some of these sandstones have been assigned to the De- 

 vonian age, and many of them are extremely friable ; occasionally 

 we find these implements made of a cherty stone, but none of true 



