June, 1910. Meteorite Studies III — Farrington. 173 



cavities of circular form and angular depressions between angular 

 elevations. These angular elevations doubtless represent the octa- 

 hedral structure of the meteorite. The fact that the octahedral 

 structure is thus brought into relief indicates that this pitting is due 

 to a slow process of weathering and solution which the meteorite has 

 undergone since its arrival on the earth. The larger pits are all 

 doubtless produced by a process of weathering and solution, but the 

 cause of their size and shape is not clear to the writer. Pits of the 

 same general nature though much larger and deeper characterize the 

 Willamette meteorite and were referred by Ward,* to a weathering 

 process without any theory as to details. The rear side of the 

 Quinn Canyon meteorite was, as has been stated, immersed in the 

 soil and this gave, probably, moisture which aided solution of the iron. 

 Carbonate of lime in the form of a whitish, closely adhering deposit 

 covered, when the meteorite arrived at the Museum, the portion 

 which had been imbedded, about the sides but not to any extent on 

 the bottom, that is, the flat surface. The larger pits contained a 

 considerable deposit of hydrous iron oxide in the form of scales which 

 could easily be pried off. The side of the meteorite which had not 

 been imbedded showed no weathering. 



In connection with his account of the finding of the meteorite, Mr. 

 Jenney described the passage of a large meteor over the region Feb- 

 ruary 1, 1894. This account he repeats and elaborates in a later 

 articlef and considers it highly probable that the Quinn Canyon 

 meteorite fell at this time. While there seems nothing impossible 

 in the view, it is also true that there seems no way of positively con- 

 necting the two occurrences. The decomposition seen on the im- 

 bedded portion of the meteorite might seem to have required a longer 

 time than fourteen years for its production, but no definite means 

 of measuring this is known. The slight depth to which the meteorite 

 was imbedded in the soil shows that it must have reached the earth 

 with a very low velocity, in fact, so low that it is difficult to conceive 

 how so large a mass could have alighted so gently. The assumption 

 of a path nearly tangential to the earth's surface and a direction of 

 motion similar to that of the earth seems the only way of explaining 

 so slight a vertical penetration. 



In order to determine the character of the etching figures of the 

 meteorite two small fragments, weighing 9 and 15 grams respectively, 

 have been cut from it since its arrival at the Museum. The surface 



*Proc. Rochester Acad. Sci., 1904, 4, 141-146. 

 t Am. Jour. Sci., 1909, 4, 28, 431-434. 



