202 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. 
XIII. 
INSTRUCTIONS FOR 
COLLECTING ROCKS AND MINERALS. 
By L. Frercuer, M.A., F.R.S. 
From the collector’s point of view, Minerals differ in many respects 
from both Animals and Plants: the individuality being little pro- 
nounced, a specimen may be broken in two, and yet often be as 
satisfactory as before in its illustration of the characters of the 
material; the characters themselves are independent both of climate 
and seasons and of mere longitude and latitude; the material, after 
collection, is comparatively permanent, and is generally free from that 
liability to decay which is a special feature of organic matter. 
Meteorites.—Of the mineral products of Nature some are inter- 
esting as having fallen from the sky (meteorites): most of these 
(meteoric stones) are of grey stony matter, which is completely 
covered with a thin black crust, and contains particles of metallic 
iron dispersed through it; the others consist of metal (meteoric iron), 
which, though containing on the average about 10 per cent. of alloyed 
nickel, has an aspect like that of the iron of commerce. As native 
iron is extremely rare, any natural product consisting either wholly 
or partially of metallic iron is of special interest and worthy of 
collection. 
Atmospheric Dust—The dust which settles on a snow-covered 
region, far away from manufacturing districts and from expused land, 
is of great interest as possibly having had its origin outside our own 
Earth. A large amount of the snow spread out on a clean sheet 
should be allowed to melt and drain away; the mineral residue can 
then be collected by brushing with a feather. 
Rocks.—In general, rock-specimens are of little value, except in 
connection with a complete survey and description of the region by 
one who has given special attention to the study of mineralogy and 
geology, and has himself collected the specimens: rock-specimens 
collected here and there, and without correlative information as to 
