Sidjphate iijpon Iron Meteorites. 39 



of the iron.* Meunier states that the section of Charcas was 

 washed in alcohol and ether to remove grease and upon it a 

 drop of solution of sulphate of copper was placed. At the end 

 of some hours the drop had evaporated, leaving crystals of the 

 salt but no copper.f 



Viewed simply as a matter of reasoning, it would seem quite 

 impossible, with our present knowledge, to account for a 

 passive behavior of meteorites independent of their nickel con- 

 tent. As is probably generally known, nickel is less active to 

 copper sulphate than iron, and it might be expected that the 

 activity of alloys of iron and nickel would decrease in propor- 

 tion as the percentage of nickel increased. But that some 

 individuals of the same alloy (for iron meteorites are practically 

 alloys of iron and nickel) should be entirely passive while 

 others were normally active would be quite extraordinary. 

 Wohler's conclusion was that all iron meteorites were probably 

 in their original state passive, but that through local terrestrial 

 influences and the passage of time, some had since their arrival 

 upon the earth become active. Meunier expressed the opinion 

 that a peculiar molecular structure may be indicated by the 

 passivity.:}: In view of the lack of details regarding the experi- 

 ments upon which Wohler based his conclusions and the results 

 he obtained, it seemed to me desirable to reinvestigate the 

 matter to some extent. 



Of the meteorites listed above as passive, there are to be 

 found in the collection of the Field Columbian Museum, 

 specimens weighing from 10 to 1100 grams each, of the fol- 

 lowing : Babb's Mill, Bemdego, Braunau, Bohumilitz, Cape of 

 Good Hope, Charcas, Cross Timbers, Knoxville, Lexington 

 Co., Misteca, Pallas Iron, Toluca and the native iron of Green- 

 land. These therefore were available for investigation. In 

 order to test their activity each section was in turn immersed 

 in a solution of 200 grams of Baker (fc Adamson's C. P. copper 

 sulphate to a liter of distilled water. The temperature of this 

 solution was about that of the room, or 18° C. In this test 

 every meteorite gave an active reaction. A perceptible depo- 

 sition of copper took place upon each section within one to 

 four minutes after its immersion. The only exception to this 

 general rule was Knoxville, which in some trials deposited in 

 four minutes but in others required twelve or fifteen minutes. 

 In the same solution and at the same temperature about thirty 

 minutes was required before deposition took place upon a 

 piece of ordinary cube nickel the surface of which had been 

 rendered bright by filing. A specimen of josephinite, how- 



*T]iis Journal (2). xix, 155. 



f Ann. Chim. et Phys., 4th ser., vol. xvii, p. 92. 



:j:Loc. cit. 



