Proceedings of 

 the United States 

 National Museum 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION • WASHINGTON, D.C. 



Volume 124 1967 Number 3624 



The Composition of the Allegan, 

 Bur-Gheluai, and Cynthiana Meteorities x 



By Brian Mason and A. D. Maynes 



The Allegan Meteorite 



This meteorite fell on Thomas Hill, in Allegan, Mich., shortly after 

 8 a.m. on July 10, 1899. Landing within 50 feet of Walter Price, it 

 buried itself to a depth of about 18 inches hi sandy ground. It was dug 

 up about 5 minutes later, reportedly too hot to handle, necessitating 

 removal with a shovel. Merrill and Stokes (1900), however, who 

 reported on the faU, remarked that grass welded to the surface of the 

 meteorite by the impact was not charred. In what may well be a 

 record for speed in recovery and display, the meteorite was on exhibit 

 in the shop window of Stern and Company of Allegan some two and 

 a half hours after the fall. The main mass of the stone, weighing 

 62^ pounds, together with an additional fragment weighing about 1% 

 pounds, was obtained by the U.S. National Museum from Stern and 

 Company. Numerous fragments had been broken off the stone, and 

 its original weight was probably about 80 pounds. 



1 The authors are indebted to the U.S. Air Force for a contract — AF 19 (628) 

 5552 — and to the National Research Council of Canada for a grant, both of which 

 covered part of the expenses of this research. Their thanks are due also to Prof. 

 C. B. Moore and Mr. C. Lewis of Arizona State University for providing carbon 

 determinations. 



2 Mason: Curator, Division of Meteorites, Smithsonian; Maynes, Associate 

 Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 



1 



