58 REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM^ 1915. 



gram slice of the Eoebourne, Australia, iron, from Mr. Frank L. 

 Hess, of the U. S. Geological Survey. The specimens obtained by- 

 exchange consisted of a fine exhibition 998-gram piece of the Ten- 

 nasilm, Eussia, meteoric stone, from Dr. F. Krantz, of Bonn, Ger- 

 many; fragments of the Manbhoom and Lodhran falls, from the 

 Indian Museum, Calcutta; fragments of the Bethany and Matatiela 

 irons and St. Mark's stone, from the South African Museum, Cape 

 Town; and a 112-gram fragment of the Waconda stone, from Dr. 

 Charles U. Shepard, of Summerville, S. C. The purchases comprised 

 a 201-gram piece of the Ensisheim meteoric stone and a 17-gTam piece 

 of that of Hainholz, the former being of unusual interest in that it 

 is a fragment from the oldest Imown meteoric stone still preserved, 

 the fall having occurred on November 16, 1192. It is further gratify- 

 ing to note the deposit by the National Academy of Sciences of 

 fragments of 12 meteorites, representing the residues from purchases 

 made in connection with investigations by the head curator of the 

 minor constituents of meteorites, under a grant from the Academy. 

 Twenty of the peculiar glass pebbles found in Australia, assumed by 

 some to be of meteoric origin, but the nature of which has been a 

 puzzle to all writers since the appearance of Darwin's narrative of 

 the voyage of the Beagle, were purchased. 



All of the material, both metallic and nonmetallic, stored in the 

 attic and in the American cases in the exhibition hall, was carefully 

 examined with the object of verifying localities and mineralogical 

 determinations. It is expected that this work, together with the 

 classified arrangement, can be so perfected that each specimen may 

 be treated as a book*in a library, to be quickly located by reference 

 to a card catalogue. Practically the entire series of supposed dupli- 

 cate material was compared specimen by specimen with the reserve 

 series, with the result that some 675 specimens were transferred from 

 the former to the latter, and the number of duplicates was reduced 

 correspondingly. A large quantity of miscellaneous ores received 

 from the St. Louis exposition in 1901, being the excess above the 

 needs of the division, were broken up, classified and labeled, prepara- 

 tory to incorporation in educational series. The duplicate folio sets 

 of rocks, described in the last report, were listed and segregated into 

 lots in such a manner as to simplify the work of exchanges. This 

 has involved going over the entire collection of rocks dejposited by 

 the Geological Survey, a task of considerable magnitude. 



The most systematic investigation of the year related to the 

 meteorite collection, which was thoroughly overhauled and studied in 

 continuation of the work of the head curator, Dr. George P. Mer- 

 rill, on the minor constituents of meteorites, the results being summed 

 up in a paper to be published by the National Academy of Sciences. 



