THE CUMBERLAND FALLS, WHITLEY COUNTY, KEN- 

 TUCKY, METEORITE. 



By George P. Merrill, 



Head Curator of Geology, United States National Museum. 

 With analyses by Earl V. Shannon, Assistant Curator. 



This stone, which fell on the 9th of April, 1919, has been the subject 

 of a note mainly descriptive of the fall,^ by Prof. Arthur M. Miller, of 

 Lexington, Kentucky, to whom the museum is indebted for his 

 efforts in securing a considerable portion of the material.^ The 

 stone is of so unusual a type that it is worthy of more extensive 

 notice than that given by Professor MiUer, and fortunately the amount 

 of the material secured is amply sufficient for the purpose. 



On mere casual inspection there is little about the stone to suggest its 

 ultra terrestrial nature. It is safe to say that had it not been seen to 

 fall it would have been passed over by even those having a more or 

 less intimate acquaintance with meteorites. On a broken surface it 

 is of a light ash gray color, of a coarse texture, and might readily be 

 mistaken for a terrestrial pegmatite in which the feldspar had under- 

 gone more or less whitening through weathering. Close examination 

 reveals a pronounced brecciated structure (see pi. 15) produced by 

 angular fragments of a chalky white mineral in pieces of all sizes up 

 to 3 or more centimeters imbedded in a finer grey ground of apparently 

 the same nature. Occasional inclosures of a dark gray-brown, almost 

 black color, in one or two instances 3 to 5 cm. in diameter and angular 

 in outline, exaggerate the pronounced brecciated structure which be- 

 comes so evident on a polished surface (pi. 15). Abundant flecks of a 

 coal black, highly lustrous material are scattered irregularly through 

 the ground, sometimes so abundant and of such small size as simply 

 to render the rock dark gray in color, or again in shining blotches 10 

 to 15 mm. in diameter. Investigation shows these to be graphite. 

 No iron or iron sulphide is noticeable on the broken surface and only 

 abundant spots of newly formed iron rust suggest the presence of 

 a ferrous chloride. The fusion crust or rind is inconspicuous, of a 



" Science, June 6, 1919; also The Mineral Resources of Kentucky, vol. 1, ser. 5, No. 2, July 1919, pp. 

 110-114. 



' Two complete individuals weighing respectively 567 and 2,347 grams (see pi. 14), and 13,476 grams of 

 fragments. A 190-gram fragment was donated also by Mr. L. E. Bryant. 



Proceedings u. S. National Museum. Vol. 57— No. 2306. 

 144382— 20— Proc.N.M.vol.57 7 97 



