343 



magnetic pyrites, iron, nickel, and chrome. In the Tyrone Meteorite 

 examined by me, the iron, nickel, chrome oxide, and magnetic pyrites 

 amounted to 35*40 per cent., which is very nearly the same proportion. 



Dr. Apjohn has published a detailed account of his analysis of the 

 Adare Meteorite in the eighteenth volume of the " Transactions of the 

 Eoyal Irish Academy," from which it appears that the following is the 

 mineralogical composition of that Meteorite :— - 



1. Meteoric iron and nickel, . . 23 '07 



2. Magnetic pyrites, . . . . 4*38 



3. Chrome iron, 3*34 



4. Earthy matrix, . . . . 68 '47 



5. Alkalies and loss, . . . . 0*74 



100-00 



Its specific gravity varied from 3*621 to 4*230. The composition of 

 the matrix of 200 grs. was found to be— 



Grs. 



Silica, 78*19 



Magnesia, 43*13 



Protoxide of iron, . . . . 15 '62 



136-94 



George V. Du Noyer, M. E. I. A., E. E. G. S. I., Senior Geologist, 

 Geological Survey of Ireland, presented to the Library of the Eoyal 

 Irish Academy 100 Drawings from Original Sketches of Architectural 

 Antiquities, to form Yol. VII. of a series of similar donations. 



Mr. W. M. Hennesst read the following paper : — 



The Curragh of Kildare. 



It must be admitted that our most authentic and ancient extant 

 records contain little or no reference to the original establishment 

 of the Curragh of Kildare as a theatre, or common, for the cele- 

 bration of national games, sports, and pastimes; and no allusion 

 whatever to its having been allocated, at any period, to the per- 

 formance of the mystic rites of the Druidical religion. The presump- 

 tion that it was ever devoted, either in whole or in part, to the 

 latter purpose, rests on very slight evidence, as we shall see ; but that 

 it was allocated to the former practice — nay, has continued to be so for 

 the space of at least 2000 years — is very certain. The obscurity which 

 surrounds the origin of all monuments belonging to the pre-historic 

 period necessarily attaches to the ancient history of the Curragh. "We 

 know at least as much regarding it as the English know respecting the 

 monuments of Stanton Drew and Stonehenge — the latter of which is 

 asserted by some of the early English Chroniclers to have been trans- 

 ferred thither from the " plains" of Kildare. But of its use, the race 



