METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 295 



I obtained two fragments three years ago. They have had the stone two years or more, and by lying in the loft of a 

 smoky cabin it is somewhat dingy in appearance. This John Hollis is the man who ground up so much of the stones 

 that were seen to fall in order to get silver. He was the means, however, of the careful preservation of the present mass. 

 Dr. Knight found they had the stone and wrote me respecting it. 



"The three pieces into which it broke in striking the ground fit together exactly, so as to reproduce the original 

 stone, with a complete coating over the whole, except on one side, where several small fragments were broken out by 

 the fall. These were gathered up carefully and preserved by the finder." 



The stone is perhaps the most remarkable one thus far described, for its highly regular prismatic figure which at 

 once suggests the idea of a portion of a basaltic column. Nor can the geologist look upon it without feeling almost certain 

 that it once formed part of some extensive formation in the world from whence it came. Two surfaces of the stone, 

 which are nearly flat, agree in presenting a peculiar wavy, undulating surface and a deeper black color than belong to 

 the other faces of the stone, a difference which appears to originate in the nature of the horizontal cleavage as contrasted 

 with the oblique or vertical. The greatest diameter of the base is 10.25 inches. 



The fragments from a chink at the top are rich in chlorine, deliquescing freely with chloride of iron when exposed 

 to a moist state of air; while the rest of the stone is quite free from this constituent, and precisely resembles the other 

 stones of the locality already described. This difference of composition in one and the same stone is probably owing 

 to the fact that the fragments in question must have remained for a considerable time partially buried in the soil and 

 have imbibed the chlorine from thence; while the main mass being above ground and more protected by its coating 

 was preserved from such impregnation. 



In 1853 Shepard 5 gave a cut of the 2.5-pound stone. 

 Rammelsberg 7 gave an account of the meteorite as follows: 



This meteorite fell on February 25, 1847, its total weight being about 65 pounds. Shepard described the fall and 

 made a mineralogical and chemical examination of the stone. 



According to his statements it consists of 10.4 nickel iron, which contains about 14 per cent nickel; 5 per cent 

 magnetic pyrites, and 83 per cent of a unique, homogeneous silicate, which he called howardite. This silicate, before 

 the blowpipe, melts readily to a black, scoriaceous glass, is decomposed by hydrochloric acid with the separation of 

 flocculent silicic acid, and consists of: Oxygen ratio. 



Silicicacid 63.06 33.63 



Iron protoxide. . m 24. 60 5. 4 



Magnesia 11.74 4. 70) 



Alkali 31 



99.71 



Since the proportion of oxygen equals 1:3.3 the howardite was more acid than a trisilicate. 



It is evident that these data of Shepard's are in a high degree problematical. The ready fusibility and decomposa- 

 bility of so acid a silicate is extremely exceptional. 



G. Rose placed this meteorite among the chondrites and remarked that it was very like the one from Mauerkirchen. 



I obtained a piece of this meteorite from Professor Shepard. The mass is very friable and contains flakes of rust, 

 and indeed the outer crust appears brown. By pulverizing, only a very small quantity of metallic iron can be perceived, 

 and it appears that the greater portion thereof is changed into oxide or oxyhydrate. Indeed, the stone, after heating, 

 gives off no inconsiderable amount of water. 



According to the analysis, on account of the evident partial alteration of the nickel iron, it is not possible to defi- 

 nitely determine the latter (the nickel iron). The powder was treated with hydrochloric acid for the silicic acid and 

 the magnesia; the iron content required by the olivine mixture was estimated, but the remainder of the latter was 

 reckoned as metal. 



After loss of 1.84 per cent by heating it gave: 



Iron 9.461 189.75 



Nickel 1.08) |l0. 25 



Iron 4. 051 



Sulphur 2. 32) 



Oxygen 



Silica acid 16. 24 



Iron protoxide 8. 92 



Magnesia 16. 69 



Undecomposed 41. 24 



100. 00 



20.7 



