496 



Annals New York Academy of Sciences 



in an earlier paper,^ the most conspicuous particles with this shape and oc- 

 curring in the abundance of several thousand per milligram were opacjue and 

 highly magnetic. They could be concentrated by density separation in the 

 fraction with a density greater than 3.33. Although opaque, many had trans- 

 parent, yellow-brown mineral fragments attached to the surface. When viewed 

 with phase-contrast microscopy, the diffraction pattern around the particles 

 frequently gave a false impression of a double outer wall, especially when the 

 particles were slightly out of focus. X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe 

 studies of isolated particles of this type indicated that they were composed of 

 troilite or magnetite.^ Although possessing several characteristics of the or- 

 ganized elements, these troilite and magnetite particles were opacjue. Subse- 



Table 1 

 Reported Properties of Organized Elements* 



Other reported general properties: 

 Fluorescence in ultraviolet light 

 Staining with biological stains 

 Appearance suggesting cell division occasionally 

 Resistance to HF treatment 



* From Claus and Nagy' and Nagy et al.^ 



quently, Nagy et al.^^ emphasized several differences between these particles 

 and the "organized elements." 



Other spherical particles were found in some samples of the meteorite which 

 had been subjected to a density separation with organic liquids. These ranged 

 in size from about 1 to 20 fx and were transparent and colorless or yellow. Some 

 appeared to have a double wall. These had a bluish fluorescence of the outer 

 portion when viewed with ultraviolet light. The smaller particles had uniform 

 bluish fluorescence. A number of tests indicated that these were hydrocarbon 

 droplets and droplets of supercooled liquid sulfur coated with hydrocarbon.^ 

 They could be removed by repeated washing of the sample with chloroform 

 or acetone and therefore did not seem to be organized elements. 



A variety of hexagonal particles varying in size from about 2 to 20 yu were 

 also found. Some hexagonal particles were transparent and yellow-brown 

 with an opaque, irregular central area; these particles were highly magnetic. 

 They may be goethite pseudomorphs after troilite, probably formed by pre- 

 terrestrial oxidation of troihte. Other hexagonal particles were quite 



