ELTSHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 27 



[From the American Journal of Science, Vol. XXXVI, October, 1888.] 



Art XXIX. 



ON THREE NEW MASSES OF METEORIC IRON. 



BY GEORGE F. KUNZ. 

 / 



/. Meteoric Iron from Linville Mountain, Burke County , North 



Carolina. 



A mass of meteoric iron* was found on Linville Mountain, 

 Burke county, N. C. (long. 81° 35' W. of Greenwich, lat. 35° 

 40' N.), about the year 1882. It was handed to a country 

 blacksmith in the vicinity, who sold it to a tourist miner, and 

 by him it was sold to Mr. Norman Spang, of Etna, Pa., who, 

 not being a collector of meteorites, has kindly allowed it to 

 come into my possession. 



This meteorite weighs 428 grams ; the original weight was 

 442 grams (15J ounces), the remainder having been used for an- 

 alysis and for etching; it is 2f inches (65 mm.) long, If inches 

 (35 mm.) high, and 2^ inches (38 mm.) wide. One side is rather 

 rough, and the other pitted with very shallow pittings. Traces 

 of the black crust of magnetic oxide of iron are still visible, and 

 although the mass is not rusted, yet small drops of chloride of 

 iron have collected in the deep clefts; in one of these was also 

 found a spider's egg-case, suggesting that the iron is either a 

 recent fall, or had been found on the surface of the ground. 



In cutting a piece from the lower side, the blacksmith has 

 destroyed a good deal of the surface as well as the crust, on 

 account of the toughness of the iron. The iron adtnits of a 

 very high polish, yielding a rich nickel color, which, under the 

 glass and by reflected light, shows an apparent net- work of two 

 distinct bodies. 



*Exhibited at the New York Academy of Sciences, Dec. 5th, 1887. 



