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enormous speed. When we consider the thin dark crust of this mass of celestial iron, we cannot refrain from comparing it to the soil of this earth, which is really all of earth men know. With all the record of the rocks, we cannot yet claim acquaintance with more than the one-three-hundredth of the earth's thickness; or far less proportionally than is the shell to the egg.

Wishing to show the internal structure of the Mazapil iron, the writer had a slab sawed from the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, and this surface being acted upon by dilute nitric acid resulted in the appearance shown in Fig. 4 (natural size). These markings are known as the figures of Widmanstätten, and are peculiar to meteoric irons; they serve as a means of ready identification of such masses. This maplike plan resembles much that of a city, and is in strange contrast to the meteorite's rough exterior. The cause of these lines is the selective affinity of the metal molecules and the extrusion of the rejected matter; or, in other words, these lines show the uniform crystallization of the mass; which process of arrangement is always a purifying one.

A complete chemical analysis of the meteorite of Mazapil merits a place here, if only as a comparison with the iron meteorites of other dates. Mr. James B. Mackintosh, E. M., of the Lehigh University, detached with no little difficulty a compact and unoxidized portion of the mass which was free from the associated graphite and obtained the following results, iron, 91.26%; nickel, 7.84%; cobalt, 0.65%; phosphorus, 0.30%, with traces of carbon, sulphur, and chlorine. Strangely, this composition pertains to the majority of meteoric irons, as if it were the normal composition of this class of celestial bodies. With very slight differences (often less than one per cent.) the iron meteorites which were seen to fall have this same composition.

With the spectroscope the Bielid meteors were seen to be rich in carbon and iron. The above analysis substantiates beautifully the spectroscopic tests. The Mazapil iron has large compact nodules of carbon in the form of graphite (black-lead). Eleven of these nodules can be seen extruding from the surface; one is nearly an inch in diameter. While this feature is interesting in the extreme, it is not unique, since several of the meteoric irons contain included carbon in nodular form.

We are thus led to think that this earth and the meteorites are all of one common parentage, especially as we find in the meteorites nothing new or strange. To be sure the iron, nickel, and cobalt are uncommon terrestrial occurrences, but these elements are found on

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FIGURE 3. CRUST ON METEORITE. (MAGNIFIED TWO DIAMETERS.)

gravitation alone. Had the mass simply fallen a few hundred feet, it could have hardly received less damage.

I have thus treated of the fall, crust, internal structure, and composition of this new meteorite, and will now ask the reader to look to the probable origin of its parental comet. Allowing it to be a fragment of a comet does not help us very far on the track of its ancestry, yet to show where comets most probably have their birthplace would be an endeavor to state the full pedigree of this meteorite.

Some astronomers hold that comets are the "scavengers of space" and have accreted their mass and motion by the simple laws of gravitation and of chemical affinity; but that they had their origin within some sun seems equally as probable, especially, when we study their débris in the form of meteorites.

We have the evidence from Daubrée and others that "meteorites are absolutely identical in structure with terrestrial products, such as are found only deep beneath the surface. They were formed, it is certain, under such conditions of high temperature and tremendous pressure as only can exist deep within the mass of a planet or a sun." Graham and others have shown that iron meteorites contain such quantities of gases, as indicate an origin in a region occupied by hydrogen in a state of great chemical activity, convincing us that such meteorites have brought to us across the stellar

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depths the material matter of some fixed star

or sun.

Therefore, as Mr. Proctor has conjectured,* there remains no other reasonable explanation save that meteor flights are products of some sort of planetary ejection or rejection, which was effected while a planet was in a sun-like stage. He writes:

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Our sun is the only case of a sun-like body we can inquire into; we are forced to the question, Can he eject solid bodies?' Those who imagine the eruption prominences of the sun to be what they seem to be-jets of glowing gas-may be disposed to answer in the negative. But may they not indicate the tracks of denser bodies not themselves visible because the spectroscope will not show bodies near the sun which shine with the spectral colors? It may doubtless be the case that of ejected meteoric bodies far the greater number return to the sun-like orb which expelled them, but if only one flight, or part of an outburst, escapes from the sun in a year, of how many thousands of such flights has he been the parent in the * Letter to Editor N. Y. "Tribune." Sept. 20th, 1886.

An iron-nickel meteorite, weighing one hundred and seven pounds, was announced, in the American Journal of Science of last June, as having been seen to fall on March 27th, 1886, in Johnson county, Arkansas; thus making the tenth mass of meteoric iron whose date of fall is a matter of record.

It is also necessary to state that "it appears questionable whether the 4th, 5th, and 6th in the list of iron meteorites seen to fall should be included, since no record of their fall has been published." The list

past countless ages? Each flight would have been a comet and each component body a meteor, and thus we would have an explanation of such phenomena."

But before accepting this plausible idea of Mr. Proctor's as final, we must bring ourselves to believe that a celestial body has the power within itself to expel a part of itself beyond the sphere of its own attraction.

If, in conclusion, the fall of this meteorite shall be confirmed in all its interesting details at a recurrence of the Bielids, and the fact be established that it is in truth a piece of Biela's Comet, then its scientific importance could not be overestimated. Its close identity with the metallic meteorites of known fall, and of accidental discovery, would place them all in the same category of similar origin, and thus we could think of this class of meteorites as having come from some particular sun-system of stellar space; while for the stony meteorites, in their several varieties,-consistently with this thought-we would seek an origin in other regions of that infinite deep from which dust, starborn, comes to us as comets.

William Earl Hidden.

if thus corrected would be as follows: 1st, Hraschina, Croatia, May 26th, 1751; 2d, Charlotte, Dickson County, Tennessee, Aug. 1st, 1835; 3d, Braunau, Bohemia, July 14th, 1847; 4th, Nedagolla, India, Jan. 23d, 1870; 5th, Rowton, England, April 20th, 1876; 6th, Mazapil, Mexico, Nov. 27th, 1885; 7th, Johnson County, Arkansas, March 27th, 1886. The doubtful ones being those of Tabarz, Saxony; Victoria-West, Africa; and Nejed, Arabia.-W. E. H.

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"MARSE PEYTON! SEEM LIKE I WA'N'T NEVER GWINE TER GIT YER." (PAGE 544.)

M

AZALIA.

By the author of "Uncle Remus," "Little Compton," etc.

I.

ISS Helen Osborne Eustis, of Boston, was very much astonished one day in the early fall of 1873 to receive a professional visit from Dr. Ephraim Buxton, who for many years had been her father's family physician. The astonishment was mutual, for Dr. Buxton had expected to find Miss Eustis in bed, or at least in the attitude of a patient, whereas she was seated in an easy-chair, before a glowing grate,- which the peculiarities of the Boston climate sometimes render necessary even in the early fall,- and appeared to be about as comfortable as a human being could well be. Perhaps the appearance of comfort was heightened by the general air of subdued luxury that pervaded the apartment into which Dr. Buxton had been ushered. The draperies, the arrangement of the little affairs that answer to the name of bric-à-brac, the adjustment of the furniture - everything conveyed the impression of peace and repose; and the chief element of this perfect harmony was Miss Eustis herself, who rose to greet the doctor as he entered. She regarded the physician with eyes that somehow seemed to be wise and kind, and with a smile that was at once sincere and humorous.

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"Why, how is this, Helen?" Dr. Buxton exclaimed, taking off his spectacles and staring at the young lady. "I fully expected to find you in bed. I hope you are not imprudent."

on my coming to see you at once, certainly not later than to-day."

Miss Eustis shrugged her shoulders and laughed, but her face showed that she appreciated this manifestation of solicitude.

"Let me see," she said reflectively; "what was my complaint yesterday? We must do justice to Aunt Harriet's discrimination. She would never forgive you if you went away without leaving a prescription. My health is so good that I think you may leave me a mild one."

Unconsciously the young lady made a charming picture as she sat with her head drooping a little to one side in a half-serious, half-smiling effort to recall to mind some of the symptoms that had excited her aunt's alarm. Dr. Buxton, prescription-book in hand, gazed at her quizzically over his oldfashioned spectacles; seeing which Helen laughed heartily. At that moment her aunt entered the room-a pleasant-faced but rather prim old lady, of whom it had been said by some one competent to judge, that her inquisitiveness was so overwhelming and so important that it took the shape of pity in one direction, patriotism in another, and benevolence in another, giving to her life not the mere semblance, but the very essence of usefulness and activity.

"Do you hear that, Dr. Buxton?" cried the pleasant-faced old lady somewhat sharply. "Do you hear her wheeze when she laughs? Do you remember that she was threatened with pneumonia last winter? and now she is wheezing before the winter begins!"

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"Don't make yourself ridiculous, dear," said the aunt, giving the little clusters of gray curls that hung about her ears an emphatic shake. "Serious matters should be taken seriously." Whereat Helen pressed her cheek gently against the thin white hand that had been laid caressingly on her shoulder.

"This is the trouble I was trying to think "Why should I be ill, Dr. Buxton? You of," exclaimed Helen, sinking back in her know what Mr. Tom Appleton says? In chair with a gesture of mock despair. Boston, those who are sick do injustice to the air they breathe and to their cooks.' I think that is a patriotic sentiment, and I try to live up to it. My health is no worse than usual, and usually it is very good," said Miss Eustis. "You certainly seem to be well," said Dr. Buxton, regarding the young lady with a professional frown; "but appearances are sometimes deceitful. I met Harriet yesterday" "Ah, my aunt!" exclaimed Helen, in a tone calculated to imply that this explained everything.

"I met Harriet yesterday, and she insisted VOL. XXXIV.-74.

"Aunt Harriet has probably heard me say that there is still some hope for the country, even though it is governed entirely by men," said Helen, with an air of apology. "The men cannot deprive us of the winter climate of Boston, and I enjoy that above all things."

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