416 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society* 



iron, nickel, carbon, and silica ; and these are present in the 

 following proportions per cent, 



Iron, . . . . 93.51. 



Nickel, .... 4-86. 



Silica, .... 0-91, 



Carbon 3 . , . 0-59. 



99-87, 



It will be seen, therefore, that its composition is very 

 simple, but at the same time not unlike that recorded in the 

 analyses of other masses of meteoric iron. The occurrence of 

 nickel in it, in such marked quantity, sets at rest any question 

 that might be raised as to its meteoric origin. Though one 

 or two pieces of undoubted meteoric iron exist without any 

 nickel in their composition, yet that metal is held by Shepard 

 (vide Silliman's Journal, ut sup.) to be the second most fre- 

 quently occurring constituent. 



[After the above communication was written, and as a por- 

 tion of the mass had been cut into pieces of various sizes, an- 

 other opportunity was had of taking the specific gravity of a 

 slice (separated into two portions), embracing the whole thick- 

 ness of the mass. These pieces being more manageable for 

 the purpose of taking density, it is to be presumed that the 

 following numbers express, with the utmost accuracy, their 

 specific gravity : — ■ 



Slice from the pyramidal or pointed portion gave, 6*750 sp. gr. 

 „ rounded or lobed „ 6*350 „ 



It was also noticed, in examining a small portion of the 

 first of these slices, where the metal was corroded-looking, and 

 showed various black spots on its surface, that this iron was 

 very brittle ; so much so, that no difficulty was experienced 

 in reducing a fragment of it to powder in an iron mortar. 



I would likewise here record, that a further chemical ex- 

 amination was made, chiefly in search of magnetic oxide of 

 iron, which is so frequently a constituent of meteorites, but, 

 as before, I could obtain no evidence of the existence of this 

 substance. 



