C. U. Shepard of New Haven, U.S.A., and Dr. Sismonda of Turin.

The result was that by the end of 1863 the number of meteoric falls represented in the collection was 204, and thus had been almost trebled during Mr. Maskelyne's first six years of office.

Meanwhile, although Mr. Maskelyne, with the help of a single assistant (Mr. Thomas Davies), was then rearranging the general collection of minerals according to a new system of classification, time was found for a scientific examination of the meteorites thus being acquired. At that time the Department was without a chemical laboratory, and not even a blowpipe could be used, owing to the necessity of guarding against a possible destruction of the Museum by fire. Hence recourse was had to the microscope, and as early as 1861, a microscope fitted with a revolving graduated stage and an eye-piece goniometer was constructed, under the Keeper's directions, for the examination of thin sections of meteorites with the aid of polarised light.

Working in this way, and with the simplest chemical tests, Mr. Maskelyne was the first to announce in 1862 the discovery in the Bustee meteorite of a mineral, unknown in terrestrial mineralogy, to which he gave the name of Oldhamite, and in 1863, the more than probable occurrence of Enstatite as an important meteoritic ingredient (Nellore). This method of determining the mineral constituents of a rock-section by means of the relation of the vibration-traces to known crystallographic lines, thus first and of necessity employed for the discrimination of the minerals in meteorites, is now in general use in the investigation, not only of meteoritic, but of terrestrial rocks. About the same time, from the Breitenbach meteorite were extracted crystals of Bronzite, which yielded the first crystallographic elements obtained for that mineral: the measurements were made and published by Dr. Viktor von Lang, then assistant in the Department (1862-4) and now Professor of Physics at Vienna.

The microscope was further applied to the mechanical separation of the different mineral ingredients of a meteorite: and by picking out in this toilsome manner the different mineral ingredients from the crumbled material of the Bustee aerolite, and from the residue of the Breitenbach siderolite left after the iron had been removed by mercuric chloride, the several silicates contained in these meteorites were isolated for future analysis. From the particles of colourless mineral thus obtained from the Breitenbach meteorite, one kind was selected in 1867, of which the crystals presented a zone of orthosymmetry containing two optic axes, and yielded two similar cleavages in a zone perpendicular to the former. This ingredient was afterwards (1869) announced to consist wholly of silica, a substance which, before the isolation of this mineral, was only known to occur as quartz, when in crystals, and these belong to the hexagonal system: to the new mineral Mr. Maskelyne later assigned the name of Asmanite. In 1868 was published by Vom Rath the discovery of a species of terrestrial silica, the crystals of which were regarded as belonging to the hexagonal system, though their angular elements were distinct from those of quartz: this mineral, named by him Tridymite, has since been found (1878) to present optical and other characters inconsistent with true hexagonal symmetry, and is probably identical in its specific characters with the meteoritic asmanite.

Further, another mineral occurring as minute gold-yellow octahedra in the Bustee meteorite was recognised as new to mineralogy, and termed Osbornite.

It was not till 1867, when a laboratory was fitted up outside the Museum precincts, that it became possible to make a complete chemical examination of these materials, which had been gradually prepared and carefully picked for analysis. In that year the late Dr. Walter Flight was appointed to assist in the laboratory-work of the Department, and afterwards gave valuable help in the chemical analysis of the above materials; the results were quite confirmatory of those already obtained by aid of the microscope and the simple tests.

Since the great increase made during the first six years of Prof. Maskelyne's Keepership, the Collection has continued to grow, though necessarily at a less rapid rate.

Of the specimens added after 1863, the following have been presented:—

1864-7: Manbhoom, Muddoor and Pokhra: by Dr. Thos. Oldham, F.R.S.

1864: Agra: by Mr. Wm. Nevill.

1864: Atacama (stone): by Mr. Alfred Lutschaunig.

1865-70: Jamkheir, Lodran, Shytal, Supuhee and Udipi: by the Secretary of State for India.

1865: Nerft: by Prof. Grewingk.

1865: Ski: by Prof. Kjerulf.

1867-70: Goalpara, Gopalpur, Khetri, Moti-ka-nagla, Pulsora and Sherghotty: by the Trustees of the Indian Museum. Calcutta.

1867-75: Knyahinya and Zsadány: by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

1869: Krähenberg: by Dr. Neumayer.

1871: Searsmont: by Dr. A. C. Hamlin.

1873: Fragments of thirteen meteorites already represented: by Mr. Benj. Bright.

1874: Bethany (Wild): by the Trustees of the South African Museum, Capetown.

1875: Amana: by Dr. G. Hinrichs.

1876: Shingle Springs: by Mr. E. N. Winslow.

1876: Rowton: by the Duke of Cleveland.

1877: Khairpur and Jhung: by Mr. A. Brandreth.

1877: Verkhne-Dnieprovsk: by Prof. Koulibini.

1878: Cronstad: by Mr. John Sanderson.

1878: Santa Catharina: by Prof. Daubrée.

1879: Imilac, Mount Hicks and Serrania de Varas: by Mr. George Hicks.

1881: Middlesbrough: by the Directors of the North Eastern Railway.

1882: Veramin: by the Shah of Persia.

1882: Vaca Muerta: by Mr. F. A. Eck.

1883: Ogi: by Naotaro Nabeshima, formerly Daimiô of Ogi, Japan.

1885: Ivanpah: by Mr. H. G. Hanks.

1885: Youndegin: by the Rev. Charles G. Nicolay.

1885 et seq.: Ambapur Nagla, Bishunpur, Bori, Chandpur, Dokáchi, Donga Kohrod, Esnandes, Gambat, Heidelberg, Kahangarai, Kodaikanal, Lalitpur, Nagaria, Nammianthal, Nawalpali, Pirthalla, Sindhri, Wessely and Wöhler's iron: by the Director of the Geological Survey of India.

1885: Lucky-Hill: by the Governors of the Jamaica Institute.

1886: Nenntmannsdorf: by Dr. H. B. Geinitz.

1886: Jenny's Creek: