VICTORIAN METEORITES, WITH NOTES ON OBSIDIANITES. 
for by the Government as a matter of scientific interest. 
Subsequently, it was purchased from McKay for the sum of £1 
by Jas. Bruce, owner of the adjacent property, after whom it has 
sometimes been called the Bruce Meteorite. 
Laneham, on whose land the Cranbourne No. 2 lay, offered 
that meteorite to Fitzgibbon for the sum of £5, but this offer was 
likewise declined, for the reason already given for refusing the 
Cranbourne No. 1. The Cranbourne No. 2 was bought by A. T. 
Abel from Laneham, during his visit to Cranbourne, in February, 
1861, when he was accompanied by Neumayer (42, p. 26.) According 
to Haidinger (31, p. 379), the purchase was effected through Karl 
Ruppreclit, proprietor of the Sabloniere Hotel, Queen-street, Mel- 
bourne, who also formed one of the party. Neumayer says that 
Laneham looked upon the specimen as rather a nuisance, and was 
glad to dispose of it. It had been turned over on its broad side, 
rendering the whole mass visible. The dimensions* are given 
as 3 ft. 1 in. by 2 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft. 9 in., and its weight was 
determined to be approximately 30 cwt. Laneham informed 
Neumayer that, just as in the case of the Cranbourne No. 1, 
only a small piece of the specimen projected above the surface 
of the ground when it was first discovered. The approximate 
bearing of the Cranbourne No. 1 from the centre of No. 2 was 
given as S. 34° W., and the distance 3‘6 miles. It is stated in 
the Melbourne Herald of the 4th March, 1861, that No. 2 was 
brought to Melbourne by Karl Rupprecht immediately after 
its purchase. Prof, (afterwards Sir Fredk.) McCoy, Director of 
the National Museum, Melbourne, stated in a letter to R. Brough 
Smyth, then Victorian Secretary for Mines, dated 16th May, 1862, 
that the meteorite had been purchased and brought to Melbourne 
for about £50. The amount of purchase money is not to be ascer- 
tained, but probably it would be small, the bulk of the £50 going 
to transport expenses. The specimen was exhibited at Rupprecht’s 
hotel, then at the exhibition opened in Melbourne on 1st October, 
1861 (39, pp- 248, 285), and later at the International Exhibition, 
London, 1862 (37), after it had been offered to and refused by the 
National Museum, Melbourne, on account of the high price ; several 
hundred pounds and a large portion of the specimen for private sale 
being demanded. 
The British Museum purchased it for £300, in accordance with 
an arrangement, given later. 
Fitzgibbon had spoken to Sir Henry Barkly, at that time 
Governor of Victoria, and President of the Royal Society of Victoria, 
of the occurrences, and Sir Henry had expressed a wish that the 
Society’s attention should be drawn to them. The outcome of this 
suggestion was Fitzgibbon’s note, and the exhibition of specimens, 
* See note on measurements in description of this meteorite, p. 22. 
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