436 J. L. Smith— Carbon Compounds in Meteorites. 



two points connected with it that do not appropriately be- 

 long to this paper, of which I will furnish a note before long 

 Through the liberality of Prof. Daubree, and the Administra- 

 tion of the Garden of Plants, I have been furnished with the 

 material on which my investigations have been made. This 

 meteorite has, in most respects, been thoroughly examined by 

 M. Cloez, and by M. Pisani, and their results given in the 

 Comptes Rendus for 1864. The former chemist examined the 

 carbonaceous matter as a whole, considering it to resemble 

 humus; and this on drying at 110° gave him: Carbon 

 63-45, hydrogen 5-98, oxygen 30'76. 



I have, as yet, done little toward the re-examination of this 

 substance, which represents from four to six per cent of the en- 

 tire meteorite, my examinations being made principally for 

 those crystalline products, soluble in ether and bisulphide of 

 carbon, of which I have found about one-half per cent in the 



The powdered meteorite was first treated with water and 

 heated over a water-bath, and every thing soluble in that men- 

 struum thoroughly washed out. the soluble portion, dried at 

 100 C, represents 8-65 per cent of the mass. After carefully 

 drying the insoluble portion at 100° C, it was treated with ether 

 m the same manner as the meteoric graphite. The ether was 

 used m large excess, and allowed to remain for ten or twelve 

 hours m contact with the material ; the ether was filtered off, 

 and the residue on the filter well washed with ether. The 

 etherial solution was evaporated slowly, when the same acicu- 

 lar crystals made their appearance as in the case of the graphite, 

 and numerous rhomboidal crystals were deposited in the bot- 

 tom of the beaker. These appeared to be identical with those 

 from the graphite. The action of heat on these crystals is 

 the same as on those from the Sevier graphite. 



The powdered meteorite exhausted by the water and ether 

 was next treated by the bisulphide of carbon, when an addi- 

 tional quantity of soluble matter was obtained. On evapora- 

 ting the bisulphide of carbon, a yellow mass remained having 

 the aspect of sulphur. This, when heated, gave evidence of 

 being sulphur mixed with some carbon compound. And to 

 all appearance it was just like the substance obtained by simi- 

 lar treatment of the meteoric graphite. 



The crystals in the upper part of the vessel from which the 

 ether was evaporated being detached by scraping the sides of 

 the vessel with a horn spatula, some bisulphide of carbon was 

 poured upon the portions remaining attached to the vessel by 

 which it was dissolved. The bisulphide of carbon was sub- 

 sequently evaporated, when a residue was left consisting of a 

 yellow solid surrounded by a dark brown semi-solid mass in 



