METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 333 



Thus far about 30 stones have been recovered from this fall, and one witness estimates the entire weight of the 

 fragments discovered at about 700 pounds. 



The fine specimen secured by Professor Andrews for Marietta College is, we believe, the largest meteoric fragment 

 hitherto recorded as existing in one piece. Professors Silliman and Kingsley estimated the weight of a fragment of the 

 Weston meteorite (1807) which was dashed in many pieces by falling on a rock as about 200 pounds. 



Shepard 2 gave the following description of one of the stones: 



Through the much valued assistance of Prof. J. L. Smith, the large 53-pound stone that fell near the house of Mr. 

 William Law, of New Concord, forms part of my meteoric cabinet. Without attempting at present a complete descrip- 

 tion of its form and character, I will only offer a few remarks upon the relationship of the Ohio meteorites to those of 

 other falls. In its internal aspect it approaches the stone of Jekaterinoslaw, Russia (1825), though it is somewhat firmer 

 and more compact. In crust the two are identical. It is also similar to the stone of Slobodka, Russia (August 10, 

 1808); and compares closely with those of Politz (October 13, 1819), of Nanjemoy, Maryland (February 10, 1828), and 

 of Kuleschowka, Russia (March 12, 1811); but the crust is less smooth on the Ohio stone than in that of the latter. 



A pearl gray peridot forms the chief constituent (about two-thirds) of the stone. This mineral is often rolled up 

 into obscurely formed globules, which are so firmly embedded in the more massive portions of the same mineral, as to 

 be broken across on the fracture of the stone, which thereby presents a subpisiform appearance. Snow-white particles 

 of chladnite are thickly scattered in mere specks through the mass, and closely incorporated with the peridot. The 

 nickelic iron, of a bright white color, is also everywhere thickly interspersed in little points. Pyrrhotine is less con- 

 spicuous, though often visible in rather broad patches; while black grains of ehromite are easily distinguished by the 

 aid of a glass, and sometimes with the naked eye. 



The crust is of medium thickness, and the usual wavy and pitted impressions are also strictly characteristic of 

 these stones. Their origin in meteorites generally is perhaps still obscure, but may be conceived to originate in the 

 flaking off of fragments in consequence of the sudden transition from cold to hot, which must happen to bodies coming 

 instantaneously from a temperature far below zero into a state of vivid incandescence, at least upon their immediate 

 surface. We see a somewhat analogous flaking up from heated surfaces of granite blocks during a conflagration, when 

 wetted by cold water; though in the latter case, as might be expected, convexities take the place of concavities. 



Evans 3 gave a further account of the meteor, as follows : 



Since writing my communication published in the July number of the American Journal of Science on the path 

 and height of the New Concord meteor, I have found some additional data, which I regard as important because they 

 have been furnished by a good observer who saw the meteor under favorable circumstances. A single case of the kind 

 is the more worthy of note because, owing to the cloudiness of the day when this meteor passed, there were but few 

 places from which it was seen at all. The observer referred to is D. Mackley, Esq., a lawyer of Jackson, Ohio, who, 

 at the time of the occurrence happened to be at Berlin, about 6 miles northeast from the former place, and 70 miles 

 from the nearest point under the meteor's path. He took pains to note all the facts*.s accurately as he could at the 

 time; and he afterwards returned to the spot in order to determine more definitely the points of the compass. His 

 testimony, in answer to my interrogatories, is substantially as follows: 



"The meteor first appeared to me at a point about 55° east of north. It moved northward in a line very nearly 

 parallel with the horizon. When it disappeared it had described an arc of about 15°. It was in sight about 6 seconds. 

 Its altitude was about 30°. In regard to its size, I have since looked at the sun through a thin cloud, and I think the 

 apparent diameter of the meteor was one-half that of the sun." 



These data give the meteor a height of 41 miles over the northern boundary of Noble County; a diameter of three- 

 eights of a mile; and a relative velocity of nearly 4 miles a second. The results agree sufficiently well with those 

 before given. 



The meteor was seen through openings in the clouds at various points along a line of 60 miles, extending from 

 near Newport, on the Ohio River, to the neighborhood of New Concord. The evidence, upon the whole, does not 

 indicate any descent of the body toward the earth between these limits, or any change in its size or appearance. 

 From this fact and the great height of the body, and the absence of all evidence that it was seen or heard in the 

 northern part of thatState or beyond, it seems probable that this meteor was not dissipated in the atmosphere, but 

 passed out of it again. The shower of stones that came down near New Concord had probably been detached from the 

 principal mass before the latter came into sight. 



A complete account was given by Smith, 4 as follows : 



These meteorites were first called Concord meteorites, as the one first described was found near the village of New 

 Concord, but I have thought proper to call them the Cfuernsey County Meteorites, since we are commonly in the habit 

 of distinguishing the meteorites found in this country by the name of the county in which they fell or were found. 

 All but one of the great number of meteoric stones that fell on this occasion were found in Guernsey County, and 

 that exceptional specimen fell in Muskingum, on the edge of Guernsey County. 



This fall of meteorites was the most remarkable ever observed in this county, and equal to, if not surpassing, the 

 famous fall at L'Aigle, in France, with which it has many points of interest in common that will be stated in the 

 course of this paper. 



