154 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



the same msnner as that by metallie iron ; the particles of matter— what- 

 ever may have been the agency required to dissolve the metallic iron, or 

 a sulphid of it, and precipitate the same— were moveable and collected 

 by moisture on the surface of the rounded fragments of rocks in the me- 

 teoric tufa, originating in the beginning from dust. In the larger masses 

 of sulphid of iron are also minute particles of metallic iron. 



On the whole, the Parnallee stone resembles the beautifully marbled 

 stone of Assam and that of Chantonnay, but it is distinguished by its 

 greater porosity and a less compact structure. 



Dr. Andrew S. Scott mentions the following constituents as the result 

 of a quahtative analysis: Silicic acid, alumina, ferric oxyd, magnesia, 

 Jime, iron, nickel, sulphur, and traces of cobalt and chrome. 



(3.) At the meeting of October Hth, 1861, he made a communication 

 regarding the meteorites of Montpreis, which fell July 31st., 1859. A 

 letter of Mr. Mischitz, of Montpreis, to Prof. Suess, 'of Vieiuia, dated 

 June 27.th, contains the following data : 



"Joseph Kozel, Francis Roraich and myself observed the ball on July 

 31st, 1859, about 9| p.m., when suddenly the sky towards north, in the 

 direction of Paher, became illuminated, and the meteor moved from the 

 aorth over the castle of Montpreis with a hissing noise down through the 

 air, with the velocity of a shooting star, but larger in size and of more bril- 

 liancy, and fell right in front of the church of Montpreis and the wall 

 of the churchyard, partly upon white sandstone, partly upon the solid 

 gravelly soil. This fall produced a small excavation of scarcely the depth 

 of half a nut-shell, burned the sandstone and soil as large as a silver 

 .dollar. All r " - - ^ 



seconds, and when 

 siderably, so that we were afraid to pick them up. A quarter o 

 tour later I picked up the pieces yet warm and three in number ; ■'"■- 

 rest was like sand or street dust in the black-grey burned hole, and 

 scattered over the similarly burned stone. AH the pieces have, unfortu- 

 nately, beea lost. The fire'of the mass was rather more yellowish than red. 

 The fall, when touching the ground, was accompanied by a little clap. 

 similar to that produced when rockets filled with star-fire, and yet burn- 

 ing, touch the surface of water. The pieces picked up looked like slag?, 

 with a thin black crust. Although nothing has been preserved of tm* 

 fall, it is fully authenticated, and shows, besides, some important pecu- 

 liarities. , 



It is particularly remarkable that the three pieces showed bright red 

 heat a few seconds after their fall. Tiiey were certainly stone and cot 

 iron, or they would not have been broken into so many fragments, hk^. 

 sand aud street dust. We have no records of high temperaturt- •-- 

 «tones ; they are generally not warmer than if they had been i; 

 the sun, while on the other hand we have an example of the ex 

 cold ani very large stone of Dhurrasala. The stone of Montpreis 

 scarcely more than 140 grammes. We might imagine that a sin . 

 especiaiy if pretty well intermixed with metallic iron, could be th< 

 heated from the surface and become red hot, whilst the hiaii ' '' 

 perature produced by the resistance of the air would not be sufficient t^' 

 overcome the cosraical cold of the interior of a large stone, during th*^ 

 short time of its cosmical path through our atmosphere. 



