Structure and Origin of Meteorites

Abstract

IN the abstract of Mr. H. C. Sorby's lecture “On the Structure and Origin of Meteorites,” given in NATURE, vol. xv., p. 495, in reference to the subject of glass globules observed by the lecturer in certain meteorites, the condition in which glassy particles given off by terrestrial volcanoes occur, is contrasted with that produced artificially in furnace slag by the action of a strong blast of hot air or steam. In the furnace slag “pear-shaped globules, each having a long hair-like tail,” are described as being formed, whereas in the case of volcanoes the glassy particles are said, when given off, to be immediately solidified on entering the atmosphere, and to remain as mere fibres, as Pele's hair, or more or less irregular laminæ, like pumice dust. In fact, the formations in the two instances are closely similar. In the crater of Kilauea, in the Island of Hawai, wherever the well-known Pele's hair is in process of formation, long-tailed pear-shaped globules are formed in abundance, and a large proportion of the “hairs” are to be found with larger or smaller globules in connection with their ends.