56 APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



In 1857, Dr. B. J. D. Irwin, United States army, then stationed at Fort 

 Buchanan, south of Tucson, found this meteorite lying in one of the by streets 

 of the village, half buried in the earth. As no one claimed it, he publicly 

 announced his intention to take possession of it and forward it to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, whenever an opportunity offered. Some time after, assisted 

 by Mr. Palatine llobinson, of Tucson, (near to whoso house the meteorite lay,) 

 he succeeded in having it sent, by the agency of Mr. Augustine Ainza, to 

 Hernuisillo, where it remained for some time at the hacienda of Don Manuel 

 Ynigo, father-in-law of Mr. Ainza. 



In jNIay, 1863, Mr. Jesus Ainza, brother of Mr. Augustine Ainza, and grand- 

 son of Doua Ana Ainza do Iglas, the daughter of Don Juan Bautista Ainza, 

 visited Sonora, and on his return brought the meteorite with him to San Fran- 

 cisco, where it was delivered by his brother, M. Santiago Ainza, to the agent 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, Mr. A. B. Forbes, of the Pacific Mail Steamship 

 Company, and forwarded by him, via the Isthmus, to Washington, where it 

 arrived in November, and is now on exhibition, and the great object of attraction 

 to visitors in the Smithsonian hall. It is proper to state that, although Dr. 

 Irwin was authorized to expend whatever was necessary to secure the trans- 

 mission of the meteorite to San Francisco, beyond some small expenses paid 

 by him for placing it upon the truck in Tucson, no charge was made by the 

 Ainza family for the cost of transportation to Guaymas and delivery to the 

 Pacific Mail Steamship Company, performed partly with their own wagons 

 and partly by other means of conveyance. It was brought free of charge from 

 Guaymas to San Francisco by the Flint and Haliday line of steamers. While 

 on the route to New York the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and the 

 Panama Railroad Company, with that liberality which has ever characterized 

 their intercourse wath the Smithsonian Institution, transported it without 

 expense to Aspinwall, and thence to New York. 



The meteorite is in the shape of an immense signet ring, much heavier on 

 one side, where it is nearly flat on its outer surface, and presents tiie iace used 

 as an anvil. The greatest exterior diameter is 49 inches ; width of thickest 

 part of the ring 9 inches, the least 38 inches ; the greatest width of the central 

 opening, 23 inches; width of thickest part of the ring, 17^ inches. The weight 

 is now 1,400 pounds, but some portions have been removed from time to time, 

 probably reducing it considerably. Its composition is principally of iron, with 

 small specks of a whitish silicious mineral diffused through it. 



A careful chemical and physical examination of the meteorite will be made 

 by Professor G. J. Brush, of New Haven, to whom the Smithsonian Institution 

 has committed the subject for a detailed report. 



As the a;rolite was first brought from the mountains north of Tucson by the 

 great grandfather of the gentleman to whose exertions in transporting it to 

 Washington the Institution owes so much, it is proposed to call it the " Ainsa 

 meteorite." To Dr. Irwin, of the United States medical department, the Insti- 

 tution is also under great obligations for his agency in securing this specimen. 



Dr. Irwin states that the inhabitants of Tucson have a tradition that a shower 

 of these meteorites took place in the Santa Catarina mountains about two hun- 

 dred years ago, and that there are many other masses of a similar character 

 yet remaining in those mountains. 



This meteorite is among the largest known, and in this country is only 

 exceeded a little in weight by the Gibbs meteorite in the cabinet of Yale Col- 

 lege, New Haven, while it surpasses the latter in size, being disposed in the 

 form of a ring instead of a solid mass. 



The Smithsoniitn Institution also possesses the third largest meteorite in the 

 country in the "Couch meteorite," weighing 252 pounds, and brought from 

 Northeastern Mexico by Major General D. N. Couch, and by him presented 

 to the Institution. 



