iJAM 17 1830 



The NOCOLEOHE METEORITE, 

 With CATALOGUE and BIBLIOGRAPHY of AUSTRA- 

 LIAN METEORITES. 



By T. CooKSEY, Ph.D., B.Sc, Mineralogist. 

 (Plates xii., xiii., xiv.) 



The iron, which has been named the "Nocoleche" Meteorite, was 

 presented to the Trustees of this Museum by Mr. George Raffel, 

 in October, 1896, from whom the information was gleaned that 

 it was found lying upon the surface of stony ground at a spot 

 five miles south-west of Nocoleche Station, near Wanaaring, 

 N.S. Wales. The specimen received was the whole of the mass 

 found. Its existence was known twelve or eighteen months 

 previously, but there is no record of any meteorite or meteoric 

 showers having occurred in the district. The total mass weighed 

 20,040 grams (equal to 4-l:-18Ibs. avoirdupois). Its external form 

 is of a pronouncedly rugged character, and the iron is raised into 

 points and ridges, the latter trending mostly in a uniform direction. 

 This character is shown in PI. xii. At B (Fig. 1) is a projecting 

 rugged nob, connected to the main mass by a neck which is almost 

 penetrated at one point by a deep hole, very probably at one 

 time containing a nodule of troilite. A similar hole, but consider- 

 ably smaller, is situated in the large cavity at the opposite side. 

 (PL xii.. Fig. 2). The remains of a black magnetic coating are 

 found in many places, where it is mostly thin, but in protected posi- 

 tions, patches remain which in places have a thickness of 2*5 mm. 

 The external appearance, on arrival, however, was rusty and up 

 to a certain level the colour was fresher than that above, suggest- 

 ing that the iron was partially buried at the time of its removal. 

 The form of the mass is no doubt partly due to weathering. The 

 length from A to B (Plate xii.. Fig 1) is twelve and three-quarter 

 inches, from ,C to D eleven and a half inches, and greatest thickness, 

 leaving out of account the projecting nob, five and a half inches. 

 The specific gravity was found to vary slightly from place to 

 place. One piece of the iron weighing 5-5824 grams, and visibly 

 free from troilite, had a specific gravity of 7-721 (uncorr.); while 

 another piece weighing 2-2798 grams., had a specific gravity 

 of 7-796 (uncorr.) The specific gravity of a large piece weighing 

 just over seventeen ounces, and containing small nodules of 

 troilite (apparently a fair sample of the whole mass) was taken 

 at the Royal Mint, Sydney, and found to be 7-69. 



The meteorite was cut by Prof. H. A. Ward, of Rochester, 

 U.S.A., and the surface shown in Plates xiii. and xiv., etched to 



