176 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



ESTHERVILLE. 



Emmet County, Iowa. 



Here also Emmet County and the " Perry meteor." 

 Latitude 43° 25' N., longitude 94° 50' W. 



Mesosiderite (M), of Brezina; Esthervillite (type 30), of Meunier. 

 Fell 5 p.m., May 10, 1879; described 1879. 



Weight. A shower of many hundred stones. Total known weight 337 kgs. (744 lbs.). The 

 two largest masses weighed 437 and 151 pounds, respectively. 



The. first mention of this fall was by Peckham, 1 in a letter to the editors of the American 

 Journal of Science, from Minneapolis, published in July, 1879. His account was substantially as 

 follows : 



On the 10th of May, 1879, a meteor exploded and fell in full daylight at 5 p. m., at Estherville, Emmet County, 

 Iowa. One of the fragments, weighing about 500 pounds, fell on railroad land and was dug up from a depth of about 

 14 feet in a stiff clay soil. Another smaller portion, weighing about 170 pounds, fell on the farm of A. A. Pingrey, at a 

 distance of 2 miles from the first. Many smaller pieces of a few ounces or pounds weight were scattered in the vicinity. 

 The smaller mass fell upon a dry knoll and penetrated the earth vertically to a depth of 4.5 feet. The fall was accom- 

 panied by a noise described as a continuous roll of thunder accompanied by a crackling sound. 



The metallic portion is composed of an alloy of iron, nickel, and tin. Full half the mass consists of stony matter, 

 which appears in dark-green crystalline masses embedded in a light gray matrix. Some of the crystalline masses are 

 2 inches in thickness, and exhibit distinct monoclinic cleavage. Under the microscope, in thin sections, olivine and 

 a triclinic feldspar appear to be embedded in a matrix of pyroxene. A small polished surface exhibited the Wid- 

 mannstatten figures very finely by etching. 



The larger mass is still in the hands of those who dug it from the ground, although their ownership is contested 

 by one who claims to have contracted for the land on which it fell. Their ideas of its value enlarge daily, the latest 

 announcement being that they should feel insulted at an offer of $5,000. We trust their feelings may be spared. 



The smaller mass referred to by Peckham, he states was acquired by the University of 

 Minnesota. It is described as being square in form and 15 by 18 by 6 inches in dimension. 



Two months later a more complete account was published by Shepard, 2 of which the fol- 

 lowing is a nearly complete abstract: 



Messrs. S. E. Bemis, Howard Graves, and Henry Barber, of Estherville, are authority for the following account 

 of the fall of this meteorite: 



The fall occurred at 5 p. m. on May 10, 1879, attended by a terrible explosion, resembling the discharge of a 

 cannon, only louder. It seemed to proceed from a region high up in the air, and was followed by a second report, more 

 like a heavy blast. This again was succeeded by one or two more reports, that may have been echoes of the first two. 

 Nearly a minute after, a rumbling sound was heard, apparently passing from the northeast to the southwest. The 

 sky was clear at the time, or only a few fleecy clouds were visible. An observer, Mr. Charles Ega, looking in the direc- 

 tion of the report, could see nothing on account of the sun's rays; but following with his eye the direction of the 

 roaring sound that succeeded, he saw dirt thrown high into the air at the edge of a ravine, 100 rods from the place 

 where he was standing. At a like distance still farther in the same direction, a similar disturbance of the ground was 

 seen by Mr. Barber. Another witness, Mr. S. W. Brown, living three-quarters of a mile distant, being in the edge of 

 a wood, and having his eyes directed upward at the moment for the inspection of some oak trees, saw a red streak in 

 the heavens; and while looking at it, the explosion took place. It appeared to him that the meteor was passing from 

 west to east, and that when it burst there was a cloud at the head of the red streak which darted out of it like smoke 

 from a cannon's mouth and then expanded in every direction. 



On examining the ravine where a body was seen to strike, a hole in the ground was discovered, 12 feet in diameter 

 and G in depth. It was filled with water. Within this hole, at a depth of 14 feet below the general surface of the 

 ground, the large mass, weighing 431 pounds, was found. It had penetrated a stratum of blue clay to the depth of 

 6 feet before its progress had been arrested. The mass measured 27 by 22.75 by 15 inches. Its surface is described as 

 "fearfully rough," with ragged projections of metal. From one of these a portion was detached and shaped into a 

 finger ring. After much searching there have since been found in the immediate vicinity of the hole several smaller 

 masses, varying in weight from 1 to 8 ounces; also one mass of 4 pounds and another of 32. 



At the distance of 2 miles from this spot, in a westerly direction, a mass of 151 pounds was also discovered. It 

 was embedded in a dry gravelly soil at the depth of 4.5 feet. 



It is marked by the unusual prevalence of chrysolite and meteoric iron, the former probably constituting two- 

 thirds of its bulk; also by the size and distinctness of the chrysolitic individuals, together with their pretty uniform, 

 yellowish-gray or greenish-black color, and by the ramose or branching structure of the meteoric iron. Nearly one- 

 half of the chrysolite, however, is more massive, approaching fine granular, or compact. Yet, in this condition it is 

 still highly crystalline, and with difficulty frangible. This portion is of an ash gray, flecked with specks of a dull 

 greenish-yellow color. The luster is feebly shining. It is without any traces of decomposition; on the contrary, it 

 is throughout a fresh, undecomposed crystalline aggregate. It is especially observable that the stony portions nowhere 

 present traces of the oolitic or semiporphyritic structure, so common in meteoric stones. 



