THE SOUTH BEND IV1ETEOR1TE. 



BY OLIVER CUMMINGS FARRINGTON. 



This meteorite was found in the spring of 1893 on a farm about 

 two miles southeast of the city of South Bend, St. Joseph County, 

 Indiana. The location of the point of find is 86° 15' W. and 41 

 38' N. The township in which the find was made is not Portage 

 township, in which South Bend is located, but the next one east, 

 Penn township. On account, however, of the close proximity to 

 the well-known city of South Bend it seems advisable to call the 

 meteorite by this name. The place of find was a slope of one of 

 the morainic hills which characterize the area, and the meteorite 

 was discovered when plowing the soil. It attracted attention as 

 a curious stone and was therefore thrown upon a pile with other 

 curious stones, there to lie until its meteoric nature wa's detected 

 in the fall of 1904 by Mr. George A. Baker of South Bend, Secre- 

 tary of the Northern Indiana Historical Society. From Mr. Baker 

 the entire mass was obtained for the Museum. Its weight when 

 obtained was 5^ pounds (2,374 grams). 



The meteorite is seen at a glance to be made up chiefly of iron 

 and chrysolite, and to be therefore a pallasite. 



The shape of the mass may be approximately described as like 

 that of a baby's shoe. This resemblance is perhaps best shown by 

 the side view given in Plate XIII. The leg of the shoe, however 

 does not widen toward the top, but narrows and shows a slight twist. 

 Following the simile the dimensions of the meteorite may be given 

 as follows: Length (along sole of shoe), 5>£ inches (14 cm.); height 

 (from heel to top of leg of shoe), 5 inches (13 cm); width (of sole of 

 shoe), 1% inches (9 cm.); circumference (around sole of shoe), 15 

 inches (38 cm.) ; circumference in direction at right angles to above), 

 12 inches (31 cm.). The appearance of the meteorite from the side 

 described as the sole of the shoe is shown in Plate XV, and that from 

 the rear of the shoe, showing the curving of the upper portion, in 

 Plate XVI. 



As all the plates show, the surface of the meteorite is every- 

 where deeply pitted, giving the entire mass a porous appearance. The 



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