12 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



of meteorites, as it contains few terrestrial rocks, but this advantage is perhaps neutralized 

 by the scantiness of the population. The climate is dry, thus tending to the preservation of 

 meteorites. The region is not itself mountainous, but is elevated and within a few hundred 

 miles of the mountain masses which culminate in Pike's Peak. 



Another grouping of meteorites in the province of North America appears to be that of 

 the large iron masses along the Cordilleras. Such is the distribution of the two Chupaderos 

 masses, weighing 20,881 kgs.; Morito, 11,000 kgs.; Bacubirito, 27,000 kgs.; Port Orford, possibly 

 10,000 kgs.; and Willamette, 13,000 kgs. In addition several smaller iron masses and the 

 showers of Toluca and Canyon Diablo are included in this zone. Here again, gravitational or 

 obstructive influences are suggested. 



The three greatest meteorite showers of North America have all occurred within the State 

 of Iowa, two of them within 65 miles of each other, the third 130 miles distant from either. 

 The localities were Estherville, Forest City, and Homestead. Other great showers must 

 have occurred when the iron meteorites of Canyon Diablo and Toluca fell, but the fall was 

 unobserved. 



The boundaries of States can have no influence on the distribution of meteorites, as they 

 include areas of very different extent, yet some interest and convenience attaches to a record 

 of the falls in the United States by States. Arranged from the highest to the lowest they are 



as follows: 



Name of State. Number of meteorites. 



North Carolina 20 



Tennessee 16 



Texas 15 



Kansas 15 



Kentucky 14 



Alabama 11 



Georgia 9 



Missouri 9 



Virginia *. 6 



Indiana 6 



Ohio 6 



Nebraska 6 



New Mexico 6 



California 6 



New York 5 



South Carolina '. j 5 



Maine 4 



Iowa 4 



Wisconsin 4 



Colorado 4 



Maryland 3 



Pennsylvania 3 



Michigan 3 



Arizona 3 



West Virginia 2 



Arkansas 2 



Minnesota 2 



North Dakota 2 



South Dakota 2 



Oregon 2 



Connecticut 1 



New Jersey 1 



Wyoming 1 



Utah 1 



Montana 1 



Idaho 1 



It is evident that the distribution of the localities from which meteorites are known, or 

 what may be in short known as the distribution of meteorites, will be affected by at least four 



