302 Field Columbian Museum — Geology, Vol. I. 



meet at angles of 50 . The mineral is colorless inclining to a pink 

 tinge. Relief and index of refraction about like that of chrysolite. 

 I hope to give the mineral further investigation when a larger quantity 

 is available. 



The metallic grains (nickel-iron and troilite) have more or less 

 angular outlines and incline toward elongated forms. The nickel- 

 iron and troilite are usually intimately joined, although grains of each 

 mineral also occur alone. The troilite, readily recognized by its 

 bronze yellow color, is more abundant than the nickel-iron. 



A few opaque grains of black color closely associated with the 

 nickel-iron and troilite are probably to be referred to chromite. Be- 

 sides these, translucent grains with the typical red color of chromite 

 are numerous, and one observed has a square outline showing it to be 

 a section either of an octahedral or cubic crystal. The chromite 

 always occurs united to the other opaque minerals. The grains of 

 nickel-iron and troilite often enclose grains of silicates of small size. 



On the whole the Ness County meteorite should probably be 

 classed as a crystalline chondrite or Meunier's erxlebenite, although 

 its chondritic nature is somewhat doubtful. 



As is probably generally known, a number of small aerolites 

 quite similar to the one here described have been found in Ness 

 County. The first of these found was briefly described by Henry L. 

 Ward.* Aside from this description and mention of the stones in 

 one or two catalogues, no further account of them seems to have been 

 published. Since Preston has suggested, however, f that the Ness 

 County stones may belong to the same fall with Kansada, Jerome, 

 Prairie Dog Creek and Long Island, a knowledge of them is desirable 

 as a ground of investigating the suggestion. What additional facts 

 I have been able to gain regarding the Ness County stones in general 

 have been kindly given me by Mr. Henry L. Ward. In all at least 

 twenty-five small aerolites have been found in Ness County* exclusive 

 of Kansada. In weight they range, so far as Mr. Ward has been 

 able to record them, from 34 to 3,467 grams, the total weight being 

 i7>oii grams. This does not represent the entire amount, since of 

 some stones Mr. Ward was unable to obtain exact record, but at least 

 this amount has been found. The majority of these, so far as their 

 place of find has been recorded, have come from the neighborhood of 

 Franklinville, a village about five miles south of Ness City. The 

 first one described by Mr. Ward, however, came from a place nearly 

 twenty miles to the east of Franklinville, the exact locality being 



*Amer. Jour, of Science, 4th ser., vol. 7, p. 233. 

 tAmer. Jour, of Science, 4th ser., vol. 9, p. 112. 



