518 
IRON. 
an iron-mine in the neighbourhood, and frequently 
without any ferruginous earth to accompany it. 
The masses exhibit a number of pores filled with 
a vitreous substance supposed to be chrysolite. M. 
Brongniart has enumerated the principal specimens 
of this curious mineral which have hitherto been 
found ; and to his account we must acknowledge 
ourselves chiefly indebted for what follows : 
1 . A mass weighing about ifloo pounds, and now 
in the collection of the Academy of Sciences at 
Petersburg, was found in Siberia, near mount Kemir, 
between Krasnoyarsk and Abakansk ; it is entirely 
composed of very white malleable iron, full of 
spherical cavities, containing a transparent vitreous 
substance of a yellowish colour. No trace of any 
scoriae is to be found in the neighbourhood, but the 
mass was enveloped in a ferruginous crust, and situ- 
ated on the top of a mountain which contained a 
vein of rich blackish blue mineral, yielding 70 per 
cent, of iron. The Tartars regarded this iron with 
admiration, and considered it as a sacred stone fallen 
from heaven. 
2 . Another mass like that of Siberia, but weigh- 
ing several tons, has been found in South America, 
near St. Jago, in the province of Tucuman, at a 
place called Olumpa. The iron which composes 
this mass is cavernous, like that of Siberia, and con- 
tains nickel. It is situated in the middle of an im- 
mense plain, and is partly sunk in clay, without 
even a stone to accompany it. In Peru, and in 
