METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA 41 



BABB'S MILL. 



Greene County, Tennessee. 



Here also Green County. 



Latitude 36° 18' N., longitude 82° 52' W. 



Iron. Babb's Mill ataxite (Db) of Brezina; Braunite (type 3) of Meunier. 



Mentioned 1842; described 1845. 



Weight 136-141 kgs. (300-310 lbs.). 



Of the Babb's Mill, Greene County, Tennessee, meteorite, two finds are known; one was 

 described by Troost in 1845 as Babb's Mill, the other by Blake in 1886 as Green County. Since, 

 however, the former is also known in the literature as Green County, the two irons may here be 

 denoted as the Troost iron and the Blake iron, in order to avoid mistake. 



The Troost iron, according to Troost, 1 was ploughed up in a field near Babb's Mill some time 

 in 1842. It was irregular in shape and weighed about 14 pounds. It had the appearance of 

 having been melted and had been tested for silver. Its color was whiter than that of pure iron 

 and it was highly malleable. Pittings characterized its surface. 



Shepard's 2 description of this mass does not altogether agree with that of Troost; according 

 to him two pieces of some 5§ and 2f kg. were found, of which only the former was heated and 

 divided, while the second came into his possession entire and unchanged and was figured by him. 

 He gives the following characteristics: Yellowish-brown crust, conspicuous saucer-like depres- 

 sions, fine grained, compact, taking good polish, fighter than steel, specific gravity 7.548, fine- 

 grained fracture with silvery luster, after etching small bright specks appearing in irregular 

 distribution. 



Clark 3 gives the specific gravity as 7.839 and furnishes an analysis from filings. 



Reichenbach 9 compares Babb's Mill with the Cape iron. Like the latter it consists, he says, 

 apparently of plessite; it is dark gray, dull, without figures, and poor in inclusions, of which 

 he mentions patches (of lamprite), fine needles (of crystalline taenite), as well as traces of 

 kamacite. 



Rose n also calls attention to its similarity with the Cape iron. Half of the plate appears, 

 he says, dark gray, the other half brighter, and both shades, which run into one another, show 

 the same changes in color tones according to the change in the position of the piece, as in the case 

 of the Cape iron, but straight striping is not visible to the naked eye. Glistening inclusions occur 

 in the form of crooked lines. 



In 1SS4 Meunier 15 referred Babb's Mill to his Caillite group, which consists of a mixture of 

 kamacite and taenite, and in 1896 he classified it with Braunite (Braunine Fe 16 Ni) and in oppo- 

 sition to his earlier statement characterized it as homogenous and wanting in rhabdite. 



In 1SS5 Brezina 16 identified Babb's Mill with the Cape iron group under the supposition 

 that in larger sections than those before him it would, like the Cape iron, show bands, since, 

 upon the whole, the physical and chemical characteristics were quite similar. 



In 1SS6 Huntington IS states in the same work, in one place, that an authentic piece in the 

 Harvard College collection shows distinct Widmannstatten figures, while in another place he 

 says the iron appears to be entirely homogenous. Since in his catalogue a year later he empha- 

 sizes the absence of all figures, the first statement may be attributed to an error or to an exchange 

 of labels. 



In 1892 a new analysis was published by Cohen 24 which confirmed the high content of 

 nickel and cobalt found by Clark. The material at hand at that time did not sttffice for an 

 examination of the structure. 



The second Babb's Mill mass was first described by Blake. 19 According to him it was 

 found by a farmer in Green County, Tennessee, while plowing. It was completely buried in 

 the earth, and there was nothing known as to the time of its fall. In the year 1876 it was sent 

 with the minerals of Tennessee to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

 and then came into the possession of Mr. Blake. 



