A. W. Wright— Gases contained in Meteorites. 259 



Fourth, the meteorite of Weston, Conn., which fell Dec. 14, 

 1807. This is one of the most interesting meteorites known, 

 and is remarkable both for its lithological character, and for the 

 large amount of iron contained in it, this being estimated as from 

 30 to 40 per cent. Its specific gravity is 3-6.* These, together 

 with the Iowa County meteorite, all belong to the class of 

 chrondrites, of G. Kose, or sporadosiddres, of Daubree, and 

 are good representatives of the ordinary or most numerous 

 class of the stony meteorites. 



In the examination of the Iowa County meteorite already 

 referred to, the determinations were made "for a number of dif- 

 ferent temperatures, the results being as follows : 



CO, 



N 0-00 0-00 4-56 5-18 6-01 



100-00 100;00 100-00 100-00 100-00 



The separation of the gaseous volume into so many 



rendered the estimation of minute quantities of any 

 ' ^ • • ^ '^ that t' 



certain, and it is probable that the percentage 

 of the nitrogen, which was estimated as a residue, may have 

 had thus set down to it, besides the errors of the determinations, 

 very small amounts of carbonic oxide and possibly of marsh 

 gas, which was found in all the cases in the present investiga- 

 tion. But they were at all events too small to be certainly 

 distinguished from errors of observation. In the re-examina- 

 tion of this meteorite for carbon di-oxide mentioned below, the 

 nitrogen was directly determined in gas given off after exposure 

 to a red heat for a considerable time, and corresponding nearly 

 to the portion referred to in the last column of the above table. 

 The amount found was 3-41 per cent But no great stress 

 should be laid upon such a discrepancy, considering the manner 

 and the purpose of the preceding determination. The latter 

 determination agreed with the former as to the absence of car- 

 bonic oxide and marsh gas, at that temperature. 



The results obtained for the different cases are shown in the 

 following table. The numbers given for the Iowa County 

 meteorite are reduced from the former analysis, the volumes 

 being obtained from the notes made at the time, and 500° being 

 assumed as approximately representing the temperature there 

 given as "below red heat" The first temperature in the case 

 of the Ohio meteorite was also 500°, this being the first one 

 determined. The second heating was also continued for a 

 longer time, which accounts for a slight difference between this 

 *B. Silliman, Sen., Memoirs Conn. Acad., vol. i, p. 142. 



