METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 361 



The composition of this stone is very different from that of Long Island. Chondri were especially numerous even 

 macroscopically, so that a place in the spherical chondrites is required. The color, so far as can be determined from 

 the small rusty pieces afforded for examination, is unusually dark and the stone very compact and hard. Under the 

 microscope, the richness in forms of the chondri which form most of the stone is noticeable. Between these the 

 groundmass appears to be opaque on account of the deposit of iron ruBt; and even after treatment with nitric acid to 

 remove the rust, no glimpse can be had into the structure, since it is for the most part broken up by the treatment. 

 After etching, only grains and small crystals of pyroxene, as well as of a black opaque material, apparently chromite, 

 remain. 



The composition of the chondri is more easily studied than that of the groundmass. Besides chondri were noted 

 several large well-formed crystals of olivine containing large inclusions of dark glass. The mineral content of the 

 chondri shows chrysolite, bronzite, augite, iron, magnetic pyrites, and chromite, besides infrequent grains of plagio- 

 clase. Small fragments of silicates and large grains of iron, magnetic pyrites, and chromite are scattered between the 

 chondri. The size of the chondri varies from the tiniest up to 2 mm. in diameter, their form being usually perfectly 

 round, judging from the numerous roundish imprints. 



Well-formed crystals of separate minerals occur occasionally in the chondri, but much more abundant are skeleton 

 forms, indicating rapid crystallization. The chrysolite especially occurs in imperfect forms having great similarity 

 with certain artificial enamels, and a glassy substance often very rich in inclusions and injections. Individual chondri 

 consist usually of an undivided crystal mostly of a very imperfect growth. Small nickel-iron chondri also appear. 

 Most of the chondri are porphyritic. They contain, for the most part, large olivine skeletons, besides bronzite and 

 augite, the latter often with twin laminae. Besides these crystalline constituents glass is almost always present, usually 

 forming a strongly receding base; frequently, however, it occurs also in larger masses; in the latter case it contains 

 skeleton crystals or is rich in crystalline formations. Spherical glass globules are not infrequent. The spherical 

 chondri are usually unitary and imperfectly formed, or they consist of aggregates of spherulites. The latter are at 

 times so finely radiated that they become almost opaque and disguise their mineral composition; they pass over, 

 however, into tolerably coarse-rayed aggregates of bronzite. Many chondri are shattered and with unusual frequency 

 show roundish impressions due to several chondri touching one another in the stages of their formation. 



In some cases several chondri are melted together, and in one case a small chondrule had lodged upon a larger one 

 and was partly melted over the surface of the latter. 



Brezina 2 gave the following observations upon the meteorite. 



Like most crystalline spherical chondri, Prairie Dog Creek is a very peculiar stone. A longish fragment, about 

 the fourth part of a single stone, has a broad side which belongs to the front face and possesses distinctly marked, 

 regular lines of flow; one long and one short side of small dimensions are covered with a side crust which encroaches 

 over from the front; the interior shows a high degree of rusting without any loosening of the very firm, half 

 crystalline structure; here and there broken chondri are visible, in addition to entire ones, the former attaining 

 the diameter of 3 mm. and are sometimes complete individuals. On one place, which has a loose, limonitish appear- 

 ance, numerous entire, smooth, round chondri of as much as 1.2 mm. diameter may be seen. 



Wulfing 3 states the stone in Kunz's possession weighed 2.9 kgs. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1895: Wbinschenk. Meteoritenstudien II. — 5. Prairie Dog Creek, Decatur County, Kansas. Tsch. Min. u. Pet. 



Mitth. Bd. 14, pp. 473-475. 



2. 1895: Brezina. Wiener Sammlung, p. 260. 



3. 1897: Wulfing. Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen, p. 283. 



PRICETOWN. 



Highland County, Ohio. 



Latitude 33° 11' N., longitude 83° 44' W. 



Stone. White chondrite (Cw) of Brezina. 



Fell February 13, 1893. 



Weight, about 900 grams (2 lbs.). 



No data regarding this meteorite seem to have been published. Apparently a single stone 

 came into the possession of Bement or Kunz, the larger part of which (700 grams) is now in 

 the American Museum of Natural History. 



Brezina ' and Wulfing 2 mention a Pricetown iron which is undoubtedly an imperfect 

 reference to the above stone. In Ward's 3 Catalogue the classification is given as white 

 chondrite and the date of fall as above. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1895: Brezina. Wiener Sammlung, pp. 307 and 359. 



2. 1897: Wulfing. Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen, p. 404. 



3. 1904: Ward. Catalogue of the Ward-Coonley collection, p. 60. 



