METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 37 



any variation in the composition of the iron and are more likely to represent the markings noted by Dr. Smith, but 

 the dark elevated ridges, both coarse and fine, are apparently of a different chemical composition. 

 An analysis was made by F. F. Sharpless, and the following was the result: 



Sulphur None. 



Silicon None. 



Manganese None. 



Chromium Trace. 



Copper Trace. 



, Carbon (combined) Trace. 



Iron 90. 781 



Nickel 8. 605 



Cobalt 1. 023 



Phosphorus 0. 045 



100. 454 



Mr. Sharpless adds: 



"The only way in which I can account for the excess over 100 per cent, is that the composition does not appear 

 to be uniform. Four determinations were made for iron, giving results varying from 90.58 per cent to 91.74 per cent. 

 In the attempt to make a carbon determination the variation in composition was also noticed. Of three samples, 

 weighing about 3 grams each, treated with potassium-copper chloride, one sample gave a particle of carbon much 

 larger than a pinhead, one sample gave two small specks, while the third dissolved without giving a trace of carbon. 

 When treated with hydrochloric acid all samples, with the exception of one, dissolved without giving evidence of com- 

 bined carbon; this one sample gave a very strong odor resembling that given off when dissolving steel in hydrochloric 

 acid. 



"About 3 grams were used in making the test for the metals noted as 'none' or 'trace,' or sufficient to be sure that 

 the results given are very nearly correct. 



"This supposed variation in composition is in keeping with the spotted appearance of the weathered convex 

 surface of the specimen." 



The iron is chiefly in the possession of the University of Minnesota. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

 1. 1896: Winchell. Amer. Geol., vol. 18, pp. 267-271. • (Cut of etched plates and outline of Mass.) 



Asheville, 1836. See Black Mountain. 

 Asheville, 1854. See Jewell Hill. 



ASHEVILLE. 



Buncombe County, North Carolina. 



Here also Asheville; Asheville, 1839; Baird's farm; Baird's plantation; and Buncombe County, 



1839. 

 Latitude, 35° 36' N., longitude, 82° 31' W. 



Iron. Medium octahedrite (Om) of Brezina. Agramite (type 21) of Meunier. 

 Known since 1839; described 1839. 

 Weight 9 to 10 ounces. Detached from mass "the size of a man's head." 



The first account of this meteorite was given by Shepard 1 as follows: 



A specimen of supposed native iron was lately presented to me by Dr. J. F. E. Hardy, for examination, accom- 

 panied with the observation that it was not completely soluble in acids. It weighed between 9 and 10 ounces; and 

 had been detached from a rounded mass nearly as large as a man's head, which mass was found loose in the soil, about 

 5 miles west of Asheville village, near the southwestern base of an elevation of land 500 feet high. It was the opinion 

 of Dr. Hardy that other masses existed at the same place. 



The shape of the specimen in hand evinces a distinct crystalline structure, approaching that of a flattened octa- 

 hedron. Its surface presents a dissected, or pitted appearance, occasioned by the removal of portions of the external 

 lamina?, during its separation from the original mass. The cells and cavities are perfectly geometrical in shape, being 

 either rhomboidal, tetrahedral, or in the figure of four-sided pyramids. Indeed, the resemblance of the mass in this 

 reepect to that of an imperfectly formed crystal of alum is very striking. 



It requires the application of numerous and powerful blows to disengage fragments from the specimen. The 

 hammer slightly indents the surface; and at length loosens sections of the external lamina?, which may be detached 

 by the aid of a forceps. Their shape is commonly that of an acute rhomboid, considerably flattened in its dimensions; 

 but they are capable of an easy division into regular octahedrons and tetrahedrons, whose exactness of form rivals the 

 cleavage-crystals of fluor. Some of the plates will separate into leaves nearly as thin as mica, which substance they 



