Meinschein et al. : Evidence in Meteorites of Former Life 561 



The Consolidated and G.E. instruments can be used for accurate analyses 

 of mixtures of known hydrocarbons. Concentrations of individual compounds 

 can normally be determined within ±2 per cent of the true concentrations. 



Preparation of mass spectral data sheets. The mass spectra were obtained as 

 photographic records of the galvanometer deflections produced when the 

 ions of each particular mass are brought sequentially into focus. The deflec- 

 tions were measured and the heights of the individual peaks were recorded. 

 These measured peak heights were corrected by a computer for ions containing 

 C'^ and H- (corrections made on the basis of terrestrial abundances of C^'^ and 

 H-). The computer totaled and normalized the corrected peak heights to a 

 value of 30(),(K)() and printed these heights as a 14-column array. 



UJ 



o 

 < 



CD 



cr 

 o 



03 



< 



1.0 



0.9 



Q8 



07 



06 



05 



0.4 



03 



02 



Ol 



O.Q 



— TOTAL EXTRACT 



--BLANK (REAGENTS. 

 ANALYTICAL PRO- 

 CEDURES) 



^<.00lmg 



PHENANTHRENE/ml 



il/2 TOTAL EXTRACT IN 

 3 ml METHANOL 



200 240 280 320 



MILLIMICRONS 



360 



400 



Figure 5. Ultraviolet spectra of total Holbrook 6-hour extract and total procedures 

 blank. The blank does not absorb significantly in the ultraviolet. This indicates that no 

 aromatic contaminants were added to the meteoritic extracts during their analyses. Absorp- 

 tion of the total Holbrook extract is very small. The amount of aromatics acquired by the 

 Holbrook fragment in almost 50 years of storage could not have exceeded a few micrograms. 



Descriptions of the 14-column array have been published.'*' ••^■''••^'' The com- 

 puter arbitrarily labels the 14 columns from left to right with values of .f 

 which range as integers from —11 to +2. Use of 14 columns results in the 

 placement of homologous ions {i.e., ions of the same structural type which 

 differ by CH2 or 14 mass unit groups) of a particular type in a single column. 

 The integers heading the columns may represent .v values in the general hydro- 

 carbon formula C„H2„+j . Each horizontal row of peak heights is marked 

 with a value of n or C f^ which may indicate the number of carbon atoms in 

 the ions forming the various peaks. 



The C i^ and x values assigned to the rows and columns of the spectra in 

 TABLES 4, 5, and 7 are correct in most cases because saturated hydrocarbons 

 in nature yield ions with .v numbers that are predominantly in the x = —11 to 

 + 2 range. However, the x values and thus the C ^ shown in tables 6 and 8 

 are subject to a different interpretation. Aromatic molecules in the meteoritic 

 extracts have .v values ranging chiefly from .v = —25 to —12, and the columns 

 in T.'VBLE 6 and 8 would be more accurately labeled by .v values that are 14 less 



