472 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vou 59. 



in science enabled him to immediately identify the stone and 

 prompted him to secure not only the stone but likewise all the above 

 facts. These establish beyond any doubt the date and the place of 

 the fall and also the physical phenomena associated therewith. 



A part of the original stone, about 170 grams, has not been seen 

 by the present writer. Some two or three grams have been used 

 in making a chemical analysis. There are now extant one piece 

 weighing about 840 grams (pi. 100), another weighing 124 grams 

 (pi. 101), and a few smaller fragments of 2 or 3 grams. 1 



In form this meteorite belongs to the gnathoid or splinter-like 

 type (fig. 1), evidently having originally measured somewhat more 

 than 15 centimeters in length, quadrangular in cross section, thinning 

 in one diameter toward one of its extremities and at the same time 

 turning somewhat abruptly transversely to its longer axis, near its 

 smaller end. At its thickest part it measures about 5 centimeters 

 along one of its transverse diameters and about 4£ centimeters along 

 the other. On one side of its heaviest end is a blunt point, perhaps 



Fig. l.— Original form of the Troup meteorite (in part restored). Absent parts are shown 



IN DOTTED LINES. ABOUT h NATURAL SIZE. 



due to fusion on the forward side of the stone as it passed through 

 the atmosphere. 



As already mentioned, the meteor is quadrangular in cross section, 

 having four flat sides of about equal width. At its thickest end 

 these planes are cut by the smooth surface of a wide cone, which has 

 its apex turned sideways. This points approximately also to the 

 side of one of the four angles of the wedge. It seems likely that 

 this apex was the forward point of the meteor as it fell. If such was 

 the case, the edge nearest this apex would cleave the air as the 

 meteor advanced. All the four sides of the wedge are pitted, but 

 the pitting on the two forward sides is somewhat different from the 

 pitting on the posterior sides. Anteriorly the pits are larger and 

 deeper than on the two posterior faces. Measurements on a number 

 of pits selected at random were made, one measurement of the 

 shortest and one measurement of the longest diameter of each pit. 

 It can hardly be said that these slightly elongated pits have any 

 distinct orientation in any particular direction (pi. 100). It is quite 



1 It Is reported that another fragment from this fall has been found near the same place later. 



