612 Annals New York Academy of Sciences 



and Anders, Science, 1%.^, in press). The particles of simple morphology, 

 which we said resembled mineral grains, do indeed have the chemical composi- 

 tion of limonite (hydrated ferric oxide), according to electron microprobe 

 analyses by Nagy, Fredriksson, Claus, Anderson, Urey, and Percy (Nature, 

 1963, in press), and they dissolve in acids without leaving a structured organic 

 residue (Anders and Fitch, Science, 1962, 138: 1392). The case for their bio- 

 logical origin now rests entirely on their featureless morphology.] 



H. C. Urey: Ross's findings impressed the moderator. Ross had worked 

 with a complete stone which had probably been heated during passage through 

 the atmosphere. The moderator wondered whether there had been any signs 

 of contamination on Ross's sample, and whether it had been marked with 

 paint or mounted on wax. 



R. Ross: The samples of the Orgueil meteorite in the British Museum were 

 kept in a box with a glass cover on it. There were no precautions taken during 

 the years to keep them sterile in storage. He had used, however, sterilized 

 instruments to work with the samples. He had also scraped away exposed 

 surfaces of the meteorite with sterile instruments before taking a sample, and 

 before placing the samples into water and subjecting them to freezing and 

 thawing. 



P. Morrison {Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.): 

 Morrison stated that he would like to see a count of the relative distribution 

 of the "organized elements." 



G. Claus: According to Claus, "organized elements" were present in Orgueil 

 on the average of 1700 per milligram. Type I was by far the most common and 

 on one side Type II represented approximately five per cent of the total count. 

 Claus noted, regarding the staining, that there are many "organized elements" 

 which do not take stains. 



H. C. Urey: This was a puzzle to Urey, and he wondered if the simpler ones 

 could be artifacts and the more complicated ones, contaminations. 



Paul Tasch {Department of Geology, University of Wichita, Wichita, Kansas) : 

 Tasch observed that, exclusive of magnetic particles, the "organized objects" 

 found in some carbonaceous chondrites fall into three classes: (1) terrestrial 

 contaminants in addition to those already cited by Claus and Nagy; (2) 

 proteinoid microspheres of Fox or organic-chemical analogues of Morrison; and 

 (3) indigenous microfossils. He believed that allowance for (1) and (2) had 

 been made, but (3) still remained to be explained. The discussant had observed 

 three distinct objects in Claus and Nagy's thin sections. Two of these were on 

 display at the International Palynological Conference at Tucson, Arizona, and 

 one was presented by Claus in his talk. The discussant's first impression of 

 one of these objects embedded in salt was that it resembled a chrysophyte; 

 another object, named Daidaphore Berzelii, had a hystrichospherid-like organi- 

 zation. A third object appeared to have antapical horns and a girdle, thus 

 suggesting a dinoflagellate. 



Ross, according to Tasch, had reported how he isolated a distinct object from 

 a carbonaceous meteorite, and had indicated his conviction that it was not a 

 contaminant, but resembled a process of hystrichosphere. 



Tasch also pointed out that F. L. Staplin of Imperial Oil, Ltd. processed a 

 sample of the Orgueil meteorite and wrote a report, soon to be published, which 



