PREFACE. 



The han(3book and catalogue presented herewith is intended pri- 

 marily for the use of the general public, but the subject matter is 

 at the same time so arranged as to meet the needs of the student and 

 investigator as well, though naturally an exhaustive discussion of 

 some of the more abstruse problems is omitted. The descriptive 

 matter is most complete regarding falls of which the collections 

 contain what is considered a fair representation. Indeed, the exhi- 

 bition portion of the collection is limited to specimens of upwards 

 of 50 grams in weight, all under this weight being relegated to the 

 drawer or study series. The entire collection numbers at the time 

 this catalogue goes to press 329 falls and finds, and is accompanied by 

 an equal number of thin sections for microscopic study. 



The bibliography is intentionally brief, reference being made only 

 to such publications as have furnished the information given in the 

 abstract. Wiilfing's Die Meteoriten in Scvininlungen unci ihre Litera- 

 tur, 1897, is believed to make greater elaboration unnecessary. 



Since the issue of the two previous catalogues, that by Dr. F. W. 

 Clarke in 1889, and that by Mr. Wirt Tassin in 1902, the entire collec- 

 tion has been re-catalogued, independent of the mineral collection of 

 which it had previouslj' been considered a part, and is now treated as 

 belonging more properly to petrology. 



Inasmuch as the Shepard collection is given a case by itself, it 

 has been thought advisable to list it here independently, as was done 

 in Doctor Clarke's catalogue of 1889. That collection comprises 234 

 falls and finds, of which 83 are not represented in the National 

 Museum collection proper. The combined collections, therefore, 

 number -lrl2 independent falls and fiA,ds. 



January 1, 1916. 



