ABUNDANCE OF METEORITES ON THE PAINTED 



DESERT, AND ITS BEARING UPON THE 



PLANETESIMAL HYPOTHESIS OF THE 



ORIGIN OF THE EARTH.* 



Chakles R. Keyes. 

 Prefatory. 



On the borders of the great Painted Desert, in north- 

 eastern Arizona, is a remarkable truncated cone known 

 as Coon Butte. This low hill rises scarcely 200 feet above 

 the level of the vast unbroken plain which stretches away 

 inimitably in all directions and which forms part of the 

 general surface of the High Plateau. Even from short 

 distances it ordinarily would be barely noticeable were it 

 not for the fact that it is located on the crest of a slight 

 swell in the great plains-surface. This fact, coupled with 

 the circumstance that the hill is near a good desert water- 

 hole, makes Coon Butte an important feature of the local 

 landscape. 1 



The recent notoriety into which this unimportant emi- 

 nence of Coon Butte has come on account of the abund- 

 ance of meteoric material found in its vicinity is out of 

 all proportion to its merits. The novelty of these mete- 

 oric finds now appears to lie not so much along the tracer- 

 ies of cosmic speculation, as it does along the more sub- 



*Presented by title to The Academy of Science of St. Louis, Novem- 

 ber 21, 1910. 



1 Coon Butte, or Coon Mound, is a very appropriate title in the minds 

 of the denizens of the Canyon Diablo desert. The landmark, incon- 

 spicuous as it is, is especially distinguished by a term indicating that 

 the Coon tanks, or Coon springs, are near by, where ample supplies 

 of wholesome water is obtainable. Probably at one time, not so very 

 long ago, two large rock monuments stood on the rim of the crater 

 nearest the water-holes. This is a happy and quite generally used 

 emblem directing the desert traveler to potable water. 



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