800 A. W. Wright—-Spectroscopic Examination 
The spectrum also showed a great increase in the intensity of 
the carbon bands. It was in every way similar to that ob- 
served in the case of the meteoric irons, except that the rela- 
tive intensities of the parts due to hydrogen and the oxides of 
carbon were different, indicating a much smaller proportion of 
the former. The hydrogen lines neither appeared so early, nor 
were they so bright as in the former experiments. 
though foreign to the main purpose of the investigation, 
it seemed of interest to determine the amount of the gaseous 
products yielded by the three specimens of meteoric iron. By 
measurement it was found that, when the tubes containing the 
by the mercury. It was thus easy to find the amount of gas 
n off by simply observing the reading of the gauge. From 
calculations made in this way it was ascertained that the Texas 
iron gave off 4°75 times its volume of the mixed gases, and 
the Tennessee iron 4 69 volumes. Although it was evident that 
the greater portion of the gas had been driven off by a com- 
paratively moderate elevation of temperature, the whole amount 
was by no means exhausted, as the heat was withdrawn before 
the evolution of gas had entirely ceased. These volumes, it 
will be observed, are considerably larger than those obtained 
Py Graham and Mallet from the specimens examined by them. 
his is probably due to the minute subdivision of the iron, 
which would favor a more rapid and complete evolution of the 
gas. It was found, in their experiments, where the iron was in 
a single solid mass, that gas was still given off after the high 
temperature had been continued for several hours. 
In the case of the iron from the Arva meteorite, which was 
in the state of fine powder, the yield was very much greater, a 
little more than thirty volumes of gas being given off in the 
experiments already described, in which the highest tempera- 
ture was far below a red heat. On subsequently heating the 
tube and its contents to low redness fourteen volumes more 
just mentioned, the iron was removed from the tube, expos 
to the air for several hours, and then replaced. On re-heating 
presence of hydrogen and the carbon compounds as before, 
making it probable that the increase due to condensed air was 
