Fitch & Anders: "Organized Elements" in Chondrites 497 



small, colorless, and transparent. These were probably silicate or carbonate 

 minerals. Other hexagonal particles were opac|ue and nonmagnetic. These 

 were probably one form of troilite which is non-magnetic. None of these 

 hexagonal particles had appendages cjuite like those found in the type V 

 hexagonal particle illustrated by Claus and Nagy.^ It should be noted, how- 

 ever, that the type V organized element is quite rare; only two and a fragment 

 of a third were found by them in Orgueil. 



No other particles of distinctly spheroidal shape could be found. The bulk 

 of the meteorite consists of a brownish-yellow hydrated silicate (Orgueil LM).* 

 Most of the silicate particles had a very irregular shape, but a few were roughly 

 spherical (figure 1). However, even these ovoid to spherical fragments had 

 at least a partially irregular surface, and none had any definite internal struc- 

 ture or double walls. They were not magnetic. Although some variation in 

 color and refractility was noted, the spheroidal particles had numerous irregular 

 counterparts which matched them in every way except shape. It seems likely 

 that all of these particles were mineral fragments. 



Although each of these types of particles had some of the characteristics of 

 the organized elements, none seemed to possess all of the primary morphological 

 properties. However, other properties of the organized elements have been 

 described.''^ These include fluorescence in ultraviolet light, staining with 

 biological stains, and insolubility in hydrofluoric acid. Particles with these 

 characteristics were then sought. 



Fluorescence in Ultraviolet Light 



Crushed, but otherwise untreated, Orgueil from the U. S. National Museum 

 was examined with the fluorescence microscope and all of the tkiorescent 

 particles seen were photographed in visible and ultraviolet light. Based upon 

 the information of Claus and Nagy,' 39 organized elements should have been 

 found in the area of the slide examined. Actually, 15 fluorescent particles 

 were found, but they did not seem to resemble the published illustrations or 

 descriptions of the organized elements (table 2). They were quite irregular 

 and when viewed with ordinary illumination were colorless or slightly yellow. 

 Two typical particles selected from the 14 photographed are illustrated in 



FIGURE 2. 



Biological Stains 



Since the organized elements have been reported to stain with various 

 biological staining reactions including Feulgen and PAS, these as well as other 

 staining procedures were used on samples of the meteorite. Many of the 

 irregular yellow-brown grains stained slightly with the PAS and Feulgen reac- 

 tions. Although many particles stained slightly, none stained the brilliant 

 magenta usually achieved in biological materials, and many of the rounded 

 grains did not appear to stain at all (figure 1). Similar results were obtained 

 with the Feulgen reaction. 



To interpret these staining results it is necessary to examine the nature of the 

 PAS and Feulgen reactions. The color in both reactions is produced by using 

 Schiff's reagent, prepared by decolorizing basic fuchsin with sulfurous acid.^ 



