THE pp:Rsnr:\i()N cheek :\iETE()RnE. 



By WiKT Tasstx, 



Assistant Curator, THrisioii of M'nicrahxpi. 



The meteorite here deseril)ed Wiis found on the furni of Mr. ^^^ W. 

 Young, on Persimmon Creek, in the southern part of Cherokee 

 County, North Carolina, in the spring of IsO?,. ]Mr. Young disposed 

 of the same to Mr. Thorn Smith, chemist of the Isal)ella Copper 

 Company, Isabella, Tennessee, from -whom it was obtained for the 

 U. S. National Musemii. The date of the fall is unknown. Imt the 

 appearance of the mass is such as to indicate that it had lain in the 

 soil for a long period of time. 



The weight of the main mass, as shown in Plate XLIX, was 9 

 pounds 6 ounces. From this a fragment weighing 1 pound 13 ounces 

 had previoush" been broken, making the entire known weight 11 

 pounds 3 ounces, or 5.014 kilograms. 



The meteorite is roughly triangular in cross section, witli its surface 

 deeply indented and much oxidized, so that the customary pittings are 

 largeh' obliterated. The one large shallow pit still remaining is shown 

 in the lower left of Plate XLIX. 



GENERAL STRUCTURE. 



Exteriorh' the mass shows no characteristics of more than ordinary 

 interest. However, it required ])ut an inspection of a cut and pol- 

 ished surface to show that the iron was of an unusual type. This 

 sawn surface shows the mass to be made up of a more or less contiiui- 

 ous matrix of iron containing troilite, schreil)ersite, and carl)on (Plate 

 L). The troilite areas vary in their maxinuun diametei-s from 1 mm. 

 to li cm. Certain of these areas contain granular carbon in such 

 quantities that the bronze yellow of the containing troilite appears 

 only as specks through the car))on. In these graphitic areas is found 

 fairly abundantly an olivine (see figure). This silicate also occurs 

 very sparingly in the nickel-iron in miimte granuhu- aggregates. 

 Schreibersite occurs sparingly, n\ a manner similar to the troilite. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXVII— No. 1380. 



