456 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



Only 7S9 grams, according to Wiilfing, are preserved in collections, and of this the Washing- 

 ton Shepard collection contains the largest amount, 511 grams. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1885: Shepard. On the meteorite of Fomatlan, Jalisco, Mexico. Amer. Joiirn. Sci. , 3d su\, vol. 30, pp. 105-108. 



2. 1889: Castillo. Catalogue, p. 13. 



3. 1890: Fletcher. Mexican meteorites. Mineral Mag., vol. 9, p. 95. 



4. 1895: Brezina. Wiener Sammlung, p. 256. 



5. 1897: Wulfing. Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen, p. 126. 



Tombigbee River. See De Sotoville. 



TOMHANNOCK CREEK. 



Rensselaer County, New York. 



Here also Ironhannock Creek. 



Latitude 42° 52' N., longitude 73° 35' W. 



Stone. Brecciated gray chondrite (Cgb); Logronite (type 31) of Meunier. 



Found about 1863; described 1887. 



Weight, about 1.5 kgs. (3 lbs.). 



This meteorite was first mentioned by Brezina 1 in his 18S5 catalogue under the name of 

 Ironhannock Creek. A fragment of 22 grams is described by him as follows: 



Of a dark grayish-green color, resembling the dark green of Homestead. Somewhat lustrous in fracture, similar 

 to the spherical chondrites. The crust scarcely distinguishable from the groundmass. 



This fragment was presumably acquired by the Vienna Museum from Bailey, who in 1887 2 

 gave the following further description of the meteorite : 



Discovered about 1863 by Mr. H. Bancker, of Schaghticoke, New York, near the base of a large tree on the bank 

 of the Tomhannock Creek in Rensselaer County. (About 15 years previous Mr. Bancker had found a similar stone in 

 his swine yard, which, however, was lost sight of. The one under consideration was found quite a distance away 

 from the house, whither he had removed the other one.) 



This stone is very round, with an average diameter of 10 cm., and weighs about 1.5 kg. It was encircled with a 

 zone of broad deep pittings. The crust is entire, except where a fragment has been broken off and a small crack prob- 

 ably caused by the blow of the hammer. The crust is of very uniform thickness, black, hard, thin, unglazed, but 

 quite smooth, and scarcely thicker than stout note paper. 



The freshly fractured surface shows a reddish-brown color, witli a slight trace of blackish-green when held in a 

 certain light; its texture is very fine, compact, and hard, and a little slaty in structure; shows no traces of iron even 

 under the lens, but when cut with the diamond saw the iron appears in brilliant specks, like "pepper and salt" cloth. 



The stone takes a high polish, which gives the surface a translucent, mottled appearance, with patches of clear 

 seal brown, spots of a gray color, and a few "kugelchen" or grains of an oolitic structure. 



In general the section surface resembles that of the Seres, Macedonia, stone. 



Analysis of metallic portion by F. A. Wilber: 



Metallic iron 13. 02 



Nickel 3. 06 



In 1895 Brezina 4 seems to have had cause to doubt the genuineness of the reported history 

 of the meteorite, and concluded that it was a stone of the Homestead fall ascribed to the New 

 York locality. He states his opinion as follows : 



Tomhannock Creek should perhaps be withdrawn from the list of meteorites. In thin section the similarity of 

 this stone with that of Homestead, in respect to their dark -green color, is very marked; they agree perfectly also in 

 respect to the very peculiar composition of the crust, which can scarcely be distinguished from the groundmass. In 

 America, moreover, there is a doubt as to the occurrence of a fall at that point. Here, also, doubtless belongs the 

 Yorktown, New York, meteorite of 1869, of which Siemaschko obtained a fragment from Gregory. It is a rather dark- 

 gray chondrite, which corresponds with the middle part of Homestead or the brighter portion of Tomhannock. 



Meunier 5 classes Tomhannock Creek as logronite. Newton 3 lists the meteorite among 

 those winch show a lineal arrangement of the metallic grains. 



At present the meteorite is generally regarded as a distinct fall and is so listed in most 

 catalogues. The principal mass (1,345 grams) is in the possession of Bailey, but a number of 

 grams are distributed. 



