8 Field Museum of. Natural History — Geology, Vol. V. 



during the fall of the mass to the earth and the freshly exposed surface 

 was less smoothed and pitted than that which was exposed dur- 

 ing the entire course of the fall. As is usual with iron meteorites that 

 have passed through several hands, this one has been cut and chiseled in 

 various places in order to remove small pieces for examination or to test 

 its hardness. The injury to the mass in this way has fortunately not 

 been great, however. The largest amount so cut off has been from the 

 portion which stands uppermost in Fig. i , Plate IV. From this portion 

 about 5 lbs. have probably been removed. The iron saws, breaks, or 

 files rather readily, being comparatively soft. It is highly lustrous, and 

 of a zinc- white color. Portions broken off show marked octahedral cleav- 

 age. The iron etches quickly with dilute nitric acid and shows octahedral 

 figures of medium width. It belongs therefore to the class of medium 

 octahedrites. The figures do not stand out prominently even on pro- 

 longed etching, but are sufficiently well marked for identification. The 

 bands are relatively long, some being one inch (2.5 cm.) in length. They 

 are also straight and considerably grouped. The kamacite appears to 

 be granular rather than hatched and is remarkably homogeneous. The 

 taenite borders are very narrow and rarely continue throughout the 

 length of a band. As a rule they thin out and disappear though main- 

 taining their direction. Fields are almost entirely lacking and where 

 they do occur appear to be minute spaces bordered by taenite and con- 

 taining plessite much darker in color than the kamacite. No accessory 

 minerals, such as troilite or schreibersite have been observed by the 

 writer in any of the sections thus far examined. 



A chemical analysis of the meteorite was made by Mr. H. W. Nichols, 

 the material for analysis being obtained from several borings with a Y% 

 inch drill to a depth of one or two inches. As Mr. Duncan had stated 

 that an assayer reported platinum in the mass, careful search was made 

 for this metal in a separate portion. The method employed for deter- 

 mining platinum was a modification of that for determining copper in 

 iron and steel.* The material used was in the form of very coarse borings 

 which enclosed some thin seams of oxide. The weight taken was 5.1648 

 grams. This was placed in a Jena beaker and treated with 1 :i HC1 cold. 

 The beaker was placed on the edge of a hot plate and after action was 

 well started, water was added from time to time in such quantities that 

 solution attacked the borings witli exceeding slowness. The solution 

 was kept hot but not boiling and action was allowed to continue for 

 two days, when the borings were nearly all consumed. The residue, 

 which was coarse and black, was small in quantity and contained some 

 undissolved iron. When this stage was reached the beaker was removed 



* Lord's Metallurgical Analysis, 3rd ed., p. 163. 



