50 Years ago

In form, texture and structure chondrules are not like any spheroidal bodies observed in terrestrial rocks, and their origin has been argued by investigators for more than a century ... These hypotheses are often linked with the generally accepted belief that these meteorites are fragments of a disrupted body of asteroidal or planetary dimensions. I would suggest an alternative hypothesis, that the structure of chondritic meteorites is the result of reaction and recrystallization of pre-existing material essentially in the solid state, and that many ... have always been independent and individual objects ... The texture and structure of the chondritic meteorites is quite remarkable if they have originated in any body with a considerable gravitational field. Many of them are very porous and friable, so much so that they can be crumbled in the hand, indicating that they were not consolidated under pressure.

Brian Mason

From Nature 16 April 1960.

100 Years ago

Some time ago an ordinary all-black cat was accidentally shut up in a refrigerating chamber on one of the Orient Line mail steamers when the vessel was in Sydney Harbour. The chamber was not opened until the ship was off Aden, which is about thirty-two days out. When the cat was brought out it was scarcely recognisable. Its coat had become long and thick, and the fur on its back was nearly white. It had lost one ear through frost-bite. The change in the cat's environment from the intense frost of a refrigerating chamber to the intense heat of the Red Sea was accompanied by a rapid change in the cat's appearance. The heavy white coat rapidly fell out, and by the time the ship reached London the cat had practically regained its normal appearance. I did not see the cat, but have inquired carefully into the statements, and have had their truth vouched for by one of the directors of the Orient Company.

A. Campbell Geddes

From Nature 14 April 1910.