E. E. Howell — Beaver Creek Meteorite. 431 



occurred before it struck the earth, and for which thus far no 

 satisfactory explanation is suggested. 



There is no occasion to further describe the character of 

 this stone as that part will be found fully discussed in the 

 accompanying papers by Drs. Hillebrand of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey and Merrill of the TJ. S. National Museum. 



Chemical Discussion • by Dr. W. F. Hillebrand. 



The material received for chemical examination was in a 

 crushed state, much of it in fine powder, being the waste re- 

 sulting from cutting the rocky mass. There was scattered 

 throughout it some organic matter derived from a burnishing 

 brush, which, though insignificant as regards weight, rendered 

 useless any attempt to look for organic matter proper to the 

 meteorite itself. 



Of this mass, 26*1892 grams, after repeated separation under 

 alcohol by an electro-magnet, yielded 5*0710 grams of mag- 

 netic material which still contained over 10 per cent of unmag- 

 netic substance, as shown by the following analysis : 



Analysis of magnetic material. 



Fe 80 



Ni 7 



Co 



Cu 



Silicates* 5 



Si0 2 t 1 



Mo'O 1 



FeC-t 1 



Fe 3 4 -- 



FeS§ 



P 2 5 T 



Al 2 3 , CaO, Alk. and loss, by cliff. 



21 1 



7ft 



° y 88-456 

 44 [ 



026 J 



17 



31 



31 

 20 



83 

 77 

 057 

 897 



100-000 



The metallic part therefore comprises 17*13 per cent of the 

 meteorite and is composed as follows : 



* Insoluble in dilute HC1. 



\ Total silica from decomposed silicates. 



X Calculated from the composition of soluble silicates, as given in a subsequent 

 analysis. 



§ Found by treatment of the magnetic part with dilute KN0 3 , followed by 

 separation by an electro-magnet from unattacked silicates. Hydrochloric acid 

 was then used to free it from a small residue of insoluble silicates, and from this 

 solution the iron was precipitated by ammonia and weighed, whence the weight 

 of Fe 3 4 was calculated. 



|| By estimation of sulphur (-28 per cent). 



If A portion of the phosphorus may very possibly be derived from schreibersite. 



