284 Dr. Wollaston's experiments on the mass 
that to grains of nickel give 44 grains of sulphate of nickel, 
! infer that 8,6 of the sulphate correspond to 1,95 of metallic 
nickel, which is nearly 4 per cent of the quantity of native iron 
taken for experiment. 
By an analysis conducted in a similar manner on 23 grains 
of the scaly flakes of oxide brought home by Mr. Mornay, 
from the spot were the mass was found, I obtained 3,1 grains 
of sulphate of nickel, which correspond to 7,05 nickel, amount- 
ing to no more than 3,06 per cent, of the oxidated crust taken 
for analysis. But, if we consider the weight which 100 parts 
of the metallic alloy would acquire by oxidation, we shall find 
the two experiments correspond with a degree of accuracy 
that may occasion more reliance to be placed on these expe- 
riments than they really deserve. 
96 parts of iron in the state of black oxide will be 
combined with 28,3 oxygen 
and 4 nickel will take 
about 1.1 oxygen, 
so that 129,4 of crust will contain only 4 parts of 
metallic nickel, and 100 ditto will contain 3,1, which scarcely 
exceeds the quantity actually found by trial. 
From the presence of nickel in this mass we cannot but 
regard it as having the same meteoric origin with the various 
other specimens that have before been found ; and although 
in the spot whence it had been first removed, Mr. Mornay 
discovered a bed of matter from which it appears, by analysis, 
that similar iron might be formed by art, it seems by far more 
probable, that an opposite change has really taken place, 
and that the whole of this supposed ore is the result of pro- 
