ical as well as archæological, respecting the people and country of New Granada. The memoir is illustrated by four lithographic plates, the first representing images in gold of New Granada; the second, Crania; the third and fourth images in stone, and pottery. 16. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, zu Wien. Vol. vii. of the Mathematico-Natural-History Class, with 56 plates. This volume of memoirs of the Vienna Academy of Sciences is one among the many scientific publications issued annually at Vienna. Among the papers, there is an elaborate one of 156 pp. by Dr. A. E. REUSS, on the Cretaceous rocks of the eastern Alps, which is illustrated by 31 quarto plates; the larger part of the plates are of fossil corals, and are among the most beautiful as specimens of art and fidelity that we have seen. There is also a paper by E. SUESS on the Brachiopods of the Kossener beds (lower liassic) in the Austrian Alps, with four plates; and another by Fr. UNGER, on the Fossil Flora of Gleichenberg. The Sitzungsberichte or Bulletin of this Academy, a large and elegant 8vo publication, contains in its number for June, 1854, a paper on the Neuration of leaves of the Papilionaceæ, illustrated by numerous (22) plates of leaves taken by the automatic method mentioned in our last number, the leaves themselves making the engraving. The figures stand out on the paper, like actual specimens, and have all the perfection of nature. 17. Economie Rurale, considérée dans ses rapports avec la Chimie, la Physique et la Météorologie, par J. B. BOUSSINGAULT. 2nd edit. 2 vols. Svo, of 800 to 900 pages. Paris, chez Béchat, jeune.-M. Boussingault stands preeminent among the scientific agriculturalists of Europe. To talent of observation, he unites a synthetic power which has conducted him to admirable results. He not only enters into details of Rural Economy as presented in his beautiful place at Bechelbronn (department of the Bas-Rhin); but having seen and travelled much, he finds in his memory, many valuable illustrations of his subject. M. Boussingault has explored the principal volcanoes of America, and has scaled the highest peaks of the Andes; he has ascended Chimborazo, and passed 10 years in Peru and Chili. He recalls much of his travels in his Rural Economy, while still keeping to his subject, thus giving his work a cosmopolitan character. J. NICKLES. 18. Traité des Arts Ceramiques ou des Poteries considérées dans leur histoire leur pratique et leur theorie par ALEX. BRONGNIART. 2nd edit, revue et augmentée par M. A. SALVETAT. 2 vols. in 8vo, with an Atlas. Paris, chez Béchat.-After the French Revolution, the illustrious geologist and mineralogist, Alex. Brongniart was appointed to superintend the reorganization of the Manufacture at Sèvres. He had the direction of this establishment for nearly half a century, and raised it to a degree of splendor which entitles it to the first rank among the manufactures of the world. We owe to the skillful attention of Brongniart, the chefs d'œuvre which call forth so general admiration. By a judicious selection of artists and workmen he brought together a large amount of talent, as was seen at the London Exhibition and will be further exhibited in the Crystal Palace of 1855 at Paris. His position and influence have enabled him to form a Ceramic Museum, in which all the nations of the globe are represented. A chapter on the potteries of different countries forms an interesting part of his Treatise on the Ceramic Arts. With full liberality all the different processes employed at Sèvres are explained in the work, and M. Salvetat, the pupil of M. Brongniart, has added a history of the art since the death of M. Brongniart in 1847. J. N. 19. Cours special sur l'Induction, le Diamagnétisme, le Magnétisme de Rotation et sur les relations entre la Force Magnétique et les Actions Moléculaires, par M. MATTEUCCI. 1 vol. in 8vo, of 280 pages. Paris, Mallet-Bachelier.-This work gives a review of the principal facts in these different branches as brought out both by Matteucci himself and by Arago, Faraday, De la Rive, Becquerel, Ampère, de Haldat, Poggendorff, Weber, etc. J. N. 20. Nouveau Système de Navigation fondé sur le principe de l'emergence des corps ronds roulant sur l'eau; Hydro-locomotives à grande vitesse portées sur des cylindres roulants; vol á la surface de l'eau, par PLANAVERGNE. A brochure in 8vo. of 100 pages with plates. The work describes and illustrates a new mode of navigation by which the vessel moves over the water instead of in it. J. N. TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, vol. vii. 668 pp. 8vo.This volume contains a paper by F. Peyre Porcher, M.D., of Charleston, S. C., on the Medicinal and Toxicological Properties of the Cryptogamic plants of the United States. W. J. MACQUORN RANKINE: On the Geometrical Representation of the Expansive Action of Heat and the theory of Thermodynamic Engines; Trans. Roy. Soc. 1854. p. 115. 60 pp. 4to. QUETELET: Observations des Phénomènes Périodiques--Mém. Acad. Roy. de Belgique, Tome xxviii. 104 pp. 4to. J. C. HOUZEAU: Méthode pour détérminer simultanement la Latitude, la Longitude, l'Heure et l'Azimut, par des passages observés dans deux verticaux; 26 pp. 4to. Mem. Bruss. Acad. Brussels, 1853. F. A. QUENSTEDT: Handbuch der Mineralogie. 1 Lief. 8vo, 384 pp. Tubingen. SCHLAGINTWEIT: Neue Untersuchungen über die Physicalische Geographie und die Geologie der Alpen. 4to, 630 pp. with an Atlas of 22 plates and 8 tables in folio. Leipzig. $24.00. HINRICHS: Das Leben in der Natur Bildungs- und Entwicklungsstufen desselben in Pflanze Thiere und Mensch. 8vo, 271 pp. Halle. CASSADAY of Louisville, Ky.: DESCRIPTION OF NEW CRINOIDS. (In German, from the Zeitsch. d. deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft, Jahrg. 1854.) This memoir describes two new Crinoids from limestone at the foot of Spergen Hill, 25 miles from New Albany, Indiana. They are referred to the new genus Batocrinus, and named B. icosadactylus and B. irregularis. The head is elongated and the pieces rise into cones over the whole surface. J. MÜLLER: Ueber den Bau der Echinodermen, 100 pp. 4to, with 9 copper plates of great beauty. Berlin, 1854. C. VOGT: Lehrbuch der Geologie und Petrefactenkunde. 2nd edit. 2 vols, 8vo, 672 and 641 pp., with 16 copper plates and 1136 wood-cuts. Braunschweig, 1854. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACAD. NAT. SCI. OF PHILADELPHIA. Vol. vii, No. 5.—p. 167. Descriptions of some new Fossils from the Cretaceous Rocks of the Southern States; M. TUOMEY.-P. 172. Description of a fossil apparently indicating an extinct species of the Camel Tribe; J. LEIDY.-p. 175. Catalogue and descriptions of Crustacea collected in California by Dr. John L. LeConte; JAMES D. DANA (contains new genera of Isopoda, Alloniscus and Egacylla).—p. 177. Additions to North American Ornithology; A. L. HEERMANN. p. 180. Descriptions of four new species of Kinosternum; J. LECONTE. -p. 190. Observations on the Vespertilio leporinus of Linnæus; J. LEConte.—p. 191. On Urnatella gracilis and a new species of Plumatella; J. LEIDY.-P. 193. Descriptions of new Reptiles from Guinea; E. HALLOWELL. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS. [SECOND SERIES.] ART. XV.-Memoir on Meteorites-A Description of five new Meteoric Irons, with some theoretical considerations on the origin of Meteorites based on their Physical and Chemical characters; by J. LAWRENCE SMITH, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in the Medical Department of the University of Louisville. (Read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, April, 1854.) 1. Meteoric Iron from Tazewell County, East Tennessee.* THIS meteorite was placed in my possession through the kindness of Prof. J. B. Mitchell of Knoxville, in the month of August, 1853. It was found by a son of Mr. Rogers living in that neighborhood, while engaged in ploughing a hill-side; his attention was drawn to it by its sonorous character. As it very often happens among the less informed, it was supposed to be silver or to contain a large portion of that metal. With some difficulty the mass was procured by Prof. Mitchell, and passed over to me. Nothing could be ascertained as to the time of its fall; it is stated among the people living near where the meteorite was found, that a light has been often seen to emanate from and rest upon the hill, a belief that may have had its foundation in the observed fall of this body. The weight of this meteorite was fifty-five pounds. It is of a flattened shape, with numerous conchoidal indentations, and three annular openings passing through the thickness of the mass near *Notice of the discovery of this iron was given by me in 1853.-J. L. S. SECOND SERIES, Vol. XIX, No. 56.-March, 1855. 20 the outer edge. Two or three places on the surface are flattened, as if other portions were attached at one time, but had been rusted off by a process of oxydation that has made several fissures in the mass so as to allow portions to be detached by the hammer, although when the metal is sound the smallest fragment could not be thus detached, it being both hard and tough. Its dimensions are such that it will just lie in a box 13 inches long, 11 inches broad and 5 inches deep. The accompanying figure gives a correct idea of the appearance of this meteorite. The exterior is covered with oxyd of iron, in some places so thin as hardly to conceal the iron, in other places a quarter of an inch deep. Its hardness is so great that it is almost impossible to detach portions by means of a saw. Its color is white, owing to the large amount of nickel present; and a polished surface when acted on by hot nitric acid displays in a most beautifully regular manner the Widmannstättian figures. The specific gravity taken on three fragments selected for their compactness and purity, is from 7.88 to 7.91. : The following minerals have been found to constitute this meteorite 1st. Nickeliferous iron, forming nearly the entire mass. 2nd. Protosulphuret of iron, found in no inconsiderable quantity on several parts of the exterior of the mass. 3d. Schreibersite, found more or less mixed with the pyrites and in the crevices of the iron, in pieces from the thickness of the blade of a penknife to that of the minutest particles. 4th. Olivine; two or three very small pieces of this mineral have been found in the interior of the iron. 5th. Protochlorid of iron; this mineral has been found in this meteorite in the solid state, which I believe is the first observation of this fact; it was found in a crevice that had been opened by a sledge hammer, and in the same crevice Schreibersite was found. Chlorid of iron is also found deliquescing on the surface; some portions of the surface are entirely free from it, while others again are covered with an abundance of rust arising from its decomposition. Besides the above minerals two others were found, one a siliceous mineral, the other in minute rounded black particles; both, however were in too small quantity for any thing like a correct idea to be formed of their composition. The different minerals that admitted of it, were examined chemically, and the following are the results: 1. Nickeliferous Iron.-The specific gravity of this iron is as already stated, from 7.88 to 7.91. It is not readily acted on by any of the acids in the cold; nitric acid, either concentrated or dilute, has no action on it until heated to nearly 200° Fahr., when the action commences, and continues with great vigor even after the withdrawal of heat. With reference to the action of sulphate of copper, it is passive, although when immersed in a solution of sulphate of copper and allowed to remain for several hours the latter metal deposits itself in spots on the surface of the iron. Thorough digestion in hot nitric acid dissolves the iron completely. When boiled with hydrochloric acid the iron dissolves with the liberation of hydrogen, leaving undissolved the Schreibersite; but by long continued action this latter is also dissolved with the evolution of phosphuretted hydrogen. The following ingredients were detected on analysis of two specimens: Tin and arsenic were looked for, but neither of those substances detected. The magnesia and silica are doubtless combined, probably in the form of olivine, and disseminated in minute particles through the iron. The phosphorus is in combination with a given portion of iron and nickel, forming Schreibersite; the 16 per cent. of phosphorus corresponds to 1.15 of Schreibersite: so the metal mass may be looked on as composed of Nickeliferous iron 98.97, Schreibersite 1·03=100·00. The composition of the nickeliferous iron corresponds to five atoms of iron and 1 of nickel. 5 atoms, Iron, 82.59 |