Whitfield and Merrill — Fayette County Meteorite. 117 



containing a portion of the vein thin sections were prepared, 

 and the remaining vein material, separated as clearly as possible 

 from the enclosing rock, was subjected to chemical analysis, 

 the process being essentially the same as in the analysis of the 

 meteorite proper. Although the vein material is more compact 

 and much darker in color, the analysis shows very little differ- 

 ence from that of the mass, the main apparent difference being 

 the absence of the lime-bearing mineral. The following are the 

 figures obtained by analysis on material that weighed a little 

 less than 04 grams : 





44 per cent of 



vein. 



5 



per cent of vein 



Metal. 



Insoluble 



in 



HC1. 





Soluble in HC1. 



Fe = 2-30 



Si0 2 





56-52 





2763 



Ni, Co trace 



FeO 





12-35 





34-31 





A1 2 3 





1-51 





2-41 





CaO 





trace 





trace 





MgO 





25-53 





32-12 





(NiCo) 





4-09 





3-27 





S 





.... 





•52 





100-00 



10026 









Less O, 



forS 



= -26 



100-00 



Sp. gr. - 3-585. 



The same difficulty, with regard to water in the mineral, 

 exists here as in the analysis of the mass. 



From the figures it appears that the portion soluble in hy- 

 drochloric acid is essentially olivine in composition, while the 

 insoluble is evidently a mixture of the same insoluble constitu- 

 ents as the mass of the meteorite. The filling material of the 

 vein is, to the unaided eye, quite black and without luster ; 

 under the microscope it is seen to penetrate very irregularly 

 and by innumerable minute vein-like ramifications into the 

 stony mass on either side and to carry numerous enclosures of 

 a colorless mineral substance and blebs of metallic iron and 

 pyrrhotite. The exact nature of the colorless enclosures can- 

 not be ascertained. On treating an uncovered slide with 

 hydrochloric acid a part of these were dissolved, others 

 were unacted upon. Under the microscope they are full of 

 irregular rifts and fracture lines but show no true cleavages. 

 Some of them are in the form of single individuals, others 

 have the structure of fragments of polysomatic chondri. 

 Nearly all contain included black amorphous material and 

 many show distinctly included specks, giving the silvery white 

 and brassy yellow reflections of the metallic iron and pyrrho- 

 tite. In many cases they are not separated from the black vein 

 material by sharp lines but seem to pass into it by gradations. 

 Between crossed nicols many of them act like a gum, others 

 remain always light, recalling the well known crypto-crystalline 



