312 B. B. Biggs — The Grand Bapids Meteorite. 



num. Alloys of aluminum and iron are obtained without 

 difficulty ; one product was analyzed containing 40 per cent of 

 aluminum. In the furnace, iron does not seem to be absorbed 

 readily by the reduced aluminum when copper is present ; but 

 in one experiment a mixture composed of old files 60 per cent, 

 nickel 5 per cent, and of 10 per cent aluminum bronze, 35 

 per cent was melted together and it gave a malleable product 

 that stood a strain of 69,000 pounds. 



When the reduction of aluminum is conducted in the ab- 

 sence of other metals it forms a compound with carbon analo- 

 gous to pig iron as it comes from the blast furnace ; and prod- 

 ucts are frequently analyzed that contain sixty or seventy per 

 cent of aluminum. If the ore contains silicon the latter is 

 absorbed by the aluminum and compounds of the two ele- 

 ments containing ten or fifteen per cent of silicon are often 

 taken from the furnace in considerable quantities. These im- 

 portant products are at present under examination. 



Art. XLII. — The Grand Rapids Meteorite ; by R. B. Riggs. 



In a recent number of this Journal (October, 1884), I. R. 

 Eastman describes a meteorite found in Grand Rapids, Michi- 

 gan. A preliminary analysis was made at the time, but of a 

 very inadequate amount of the oxidized material, taken from 

 the surface. Since then the meteorite has come into the keep- 

 ing of the National Museum, and a more complete analysis 

 gives the following results : — 



Fe 88-71 



Ni 10-69 



Cu -07 



Mg -02 



P^ -26 



S -03 



C (combined) -06 



Graphite -07 



99-91 



It is a mass of great apparent homogeneity, weighing orig- 

 inally about 50 kilograms. One of the sections, however, on be- 

 ing polished, discloses a nodule about a centimeter in diameter, 

 like troilite in appearance, which remains to be investigated. 



A polished surface of the meteorite etched with nitric acid 

 developed very handsome Widmannstattian figures somewhat 

 like those on the iron from Robertson County, Tennessee. 



Chemical Laboratory TJ. S. G. S., Washington, Aug. 26, 1885. 



