METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA, 265 



Laramie County. See Silver Crown. 



LAURENS COUNTY. 



South Carolina. 



Here also Laurens Court House. 



Latitude 34° 30' N., longitude 82° 2' W. 



Iron. Fine octahedrite (Of) of Brezina; Carltonite (type 22) of Meunier 



Found 1857; described 1S86. 



Weight, 2,220 grams (4 lbs. 11 ozs). 



The principal account of this meteorite was given by Hidden, 1 as follows: 



This undescribed mass of meteoric iron was found in 1857 in the northwestern corner of Laurens County, South 

 Carolina, and was deposited soon after its discovery in the cabinet of the Laurensville Female College, at Laurens 

 Court House, South Carolina. It remained there until it was sent to the Exposition at New Orleans in 1884 as a part 

 of the South Carolina exhibit. The writer is indebted to R. W. Milner, president of the Laurensville Female College, 

 for the above information, and also for the possession of the meteorite. 



Its weight is 4 pounds, 11 ounces. 



The perfection of the Widmannstatten lines, as shown in the smoothed surface, is unusual. Their fineness marks 

 the mass as belonging to a class of rare meteorites. 



The writer's attention was directed at first to the apparent cuboidal aspect of this mass, and with that idea, he 

 had the panel smoothed out, merely to prove by the internal structure whether or not this shape was accidental. 



The relation of the etched lines to the profile gives evidence that in part, at least, the outward shape is due to a 

 uniform crystallization of the mass. The perpendicular lines are nearly parallel to the two sides (this is better proved 

 while examining the mass in hand), and agrees fairly enough with the top and bottom sides to be consistent with a 

 cube. The back of the mass is bluntly pointed (cone shape) toward the left upper side and covered with large 

 depressions. 



Wishing to further test the homogeneity of the mass, it was cut through at the base of the cone-shaped projection 

 on the back and the surface (shown in a figure) developed. Here the internal structure is exhibited even more beau- 

 tifully than in the smoothed surface and the angles are those which octahedral crystallization would present on a cubic 

 face. 



All over the mass a thin formation of limonite was observed, this coating being much thicker over the cuboidal 

 faces than on the rough surfaces at the back. The thickness of this crust is well shown by a figure. 



The dark rhomboidal spot near the middle of the section was found to consist of solid ferrous-chloride (lawrencite). 

 Several similar spots of this same rare species were noticed on the same face. Their deliquescence first attracted atten- 

 tion to them. The presence of hydrogen (occluded) was proved by simply rubbing the smoothed surfaces with pow- 

 dered sulphur, when instantly the disagreeable odor of hydrogen sulphide was made noticeable. In the action of 

 nitric acid on the smoothed surfaces the presence of carbon was also proved conclusively. 



A few words as to what seems to be the point of impact when this mass fell. On one edge a nearly straight surface 

 of 2 cm. length was seen, and as this was a natural flat surface I smoothed and etched it. A set of lines, of structure 

 of about 90° angle, was at once noticeable, as well as an increased fineness of detail as compared to the other figures. 

 That this face is the place of impact the writer has no doubt after comparing its surface with the other figures. 



A careful analysis by James E. Mackintosh yielded: 



Iron 85. 33 



Nickel 13. 34 



Cobalt 0. 87 



Phosphorus 0. 16 



Sulphur trace 



Carbon (undetermined). 



99.70 



These results place this mass among the few that are exceedingly rich in nickel and cobalt. It approaches in 

 this regard the meteorites of Babb's Mill (Green County, Tennessee), Ni 14.73 per cent (mean of three analyses), and 

 that of Kokomo (Howard County, Indiana), Ni 12.29 per cent. Its cobalt percentage is probably above that of any 

 other on record, being nearly 1 per cent. 



Meunier 4 referred the meteorite to his group carltonite and described it as follows : 



Acids give a very remarkable figure with the kamacite in elongated, straight bands, bordered on either side by a 

 lamella of taenite. Associations of this eort are often grouped in the form of bundles which intersect in the angles of 

 the octahedron. The spaces are filled with carltonite. Neither pyrrhotine nor schreibersite are present. 



