604 METEORIC IRON IX ARKANSAS. 



marks of flowing, while the other has so fow marks of this kind 5 aud 

 from the foot that at the edi,'es, especially at the indentation, the back 

 looks as thongh a flame had come from the other side— from all these 

 facts the writer conclndes that after entering our atmosphere the iron 

 traveled with the ridged surface forward (see Plate XXXVIII), the iron 

 burning so rapidly as to be torn off, leaving part of the surface bright. 

 The flame thus passed over the sides, and the indented edge being 

 downward, the flame was driven upward as the iron advanced. The 

 flat side, not being so much exposed, the iron was not so completely con- 

 sumed, hence a crust and large but shallow pittings. These condi- 

 tions would perhaps have been entirely different had the mass been 

 round or thicker, for it evidently moved as straight as possible without 

 rotating at all. That it was found in the earth with the flat side down 

 was due perhaps to the fact that it turned after losing its highest veloc- 

 ity. 



x\s the iron only penetrated to a depth of 3 feet (00"'") the earth where 

 it struck must have been very compact and the force of the body itself 

 nearly spent. The Agram iron penetrated 14 to 15 feet ( 1.25"° to 4.50™) in 

 a freshly plowed field, which shows that in the case of that meteorite 

 there must have been considerable force left, the small mass falling very 

 near it. The Mazapil mass, one-tenth of the weight, penetrated only 

 12 inches (30""). 



I must herewith thank Mayor B. Caraway and Col. J. C. Betten for 

 information furnished me, aud Prof. F. W. Clarke and Mr. J. Fj. Whit- 

 field for their courtesy and for the analysis. 



Note. — The following letter was received after tlie above account 



was written : 



Offick of tue Dardaxelle Post, 



Dardandle, Ark., August 22, 18S7. 



Deak Sir : In assorting some old letters I Hiid ouo from yon of April 30. It was 

 misplaced and for that reason lias not been answered. I regret it. 



I send you by this mail a copy of tbo Post, dated April 1, witb tbree marked 

 articles ; one by a Post reporter, two from correspondents. 



" Observer" wrote from a point about 30 miles south from where the meteor fell. 



" Lorenzo " wrote from a point about 20 miles southwest from where the meteor fell. 



D. W. McGuire, mentioned by the reporter, wrote from a point about 10 miles south 

 from where the meteor fell. 



These gentlemen are all perfectly reliable. "Observer" is Capt. H. P. Barry, 

 prominently known over the State. "Lorenzo" is J. C. Lewis." Their post-ofiQccs 

 arc shown in the correspondence. D. W. McGuirc, mentioned by the reporter, 

 lives on the top of a mountain, fully 2,000 feet above the surrounding country. lie 

 is a brother of the late M. M. McGuire, who was distinguished by being at one time 

 grand master of the grand lodge of Arkansas, F. and A. M. R. E. Cole, mentioned 

 by the reporter, was for several years sheriff of Yell County. 



So much for the names referred to in the Post of April 1. As for myself, I saw 

 nothing aud heard nothing, but the reason was plain — I was indoors feeding a pretty 

 noisy steam printing press. But wlien I went on the street I found the " report " on 



