¥ 
eS i ia Nel ite Ti > " 7 
——_ 2 
C. U. Shepard on the Cohahuila Meteoric Iron. 385 
pose. He reported it as having no value, for the reason that it 
would cost more to divide the masses, sufficiently to fit them for 
transportation, than the metal was worth. 
j amilton saw thirteen pieces, twelve of which had 
never been removed, and one small mass of about seventy-five 
pounds, that had been carried to the village of Santa Rosa. The 
area within which the twelve masses lie, is between one and two 
miles in diameter. 
The largest mass projects two, or two and a half feet above 
the ground, and is some three feet long, and a little less in width. 
How far it is buried in the earth is unknown. Their surfaces 
are all smooth, without offering any projecting points. They 
are quite black and entirely free from rust. In shape, they are 
more or less spherical, and much resemble the time-worn bould- 
ers in the beds of rivers. Some of the smaller of them, are es- 
gradually disappeared on the addition of nitric acid, leaving 
only a very minute quantity of a white granular powder, sup- 
posed to be silicate of magnesia. It amounted to only 0-001 
per cent. The composition of the mass was, 
E F x = - - - 97-900 
Nickel, with traces of chromuim, cobalt, mag- 2100 
nesium and phosphorus, 
The phosphorus, as determined upon seven gram. of the per- 
oxyd of iron precipitate, was less than eight parts in 10-000. 
No search was made for tin or copper. | 
_ As I have not yet been able to procure a polished slice of the 
iron, I can add nothing concerning the Widman figures. If they 
exist, they will be extremely fine, and probably resemble those 
of the Braunau iron. eee 
Amherst, March 20, 1867. 
