Meteoric Stones
Usually called aerolites, fire-balls, or shooting-stars, which occasionally fall from the atmosphere. When taken up soon after their fall they are found to be hot; and, no matter where they descend, they are all similar in composition, being composed of silica, magnesia, sulphur, iron in the metallic state, nickel, and some traces of chromium; their specific gravity varies from 3.352 to 4.281, that of water being taken as 1.000 or unity. Their exterior appears as if blackened in a furnace but the interior appears of a grayish white. Their size varies from a few ounces up, one in the Museum of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, weighing 800 pounds. See METEORIC IRON.