THE MUSEUM. 



123 



a rope, and operate it by hand. This 

 work required two nights and one day, 

 so hard ami refractory was the mass. 

 We at last succeeded, however, in 

 cutting off a piece weighing between 

 two and three pounds. I returned the 

 III lin mass to the Palace, and congrat- 

 ulated myself upon the happy outcome 

 of a mission which in its projecting 

 and its carrying out had been so much 

 of a venture. The specimen which I 

 obtained will show nicely in my col- 

 lection of meteorites, which is fast be- 

 coming one of the largest in Ameiica. 

 In its inner structure it more nearly 

 approaches our Miney from Taney 

 Co., Mo., than any other Siderolite 

 which I know. 



Tmust not omit to state that this 

 meteorite fell in May of 1880, on the 

 plain of \'eramin, twelve miles away 

 to the east from Teheran. I expect 

 soon to describe it, and, with some 

 added facts, it will retain its place in 

 scientific literature as the "Veramin 

 Meteorite." 



Although my letter is of meteorites, 

 I will not rush you out of the Palace 

 without first showing a room, one of 

 many which I visited, which would, I 

 am sure, have delighted your mineral- 

 ogical soul. 



This is the museum hall, where are 

 exhibited not only the royal regalia of 

 all the Shahs of the present dynasty, 

 which dates back for nearly two cen- 

 turies, but also the past collection of 

 objects d'art and curiosities which the 

 generosity of crowned heads or his own 

 whims enabled the father of the pres- 

 ent Shah to mass in his reign of nearly 

 fifty years. Here is an infinity of ob- 

 jects far too numerous for me to un- 

 dertake even the most meagre descrip- 

 tion of them. Some, indeed, are 

 childish and not worthy of description; 

 others, like the swords of Tamerlane, 

 the great Mongolian conqueror of the 

 fourteenth century, and that of Shah 

 Ismail, with many other Persian anti- 

 quities, are of highest historical value. 

 But the objects in this hall which most 

 attract the visitor and make it unique 



among all halls in the world, are the 

 infinity of gems, cut or uncut, or set in 

 every kind of object and in every var- 

 iety of pattern. Here is a massive 

 arm-chair with a lofty back, which is 

 covered over every inch of its surface, 

 with rubies and emeralds applied in 

 pleasing combinations. The greatest 

 wonder, and probably the most valu- 

 able single object in the hall, stands 

 upon a low table centrally in the room. 

 This is the famous Jewel (ilobe, which 

 was constructed out of his loose gems 

 by the late Shah. It is a common 

 globe about a yard in diameter, on 

 which each of the countries of the 

 earth is depicted by gems of one kind 

 covering its surface. Thus, the oceans 

 are a solid surface of emeralds, En- 

 gland and France of diamonds, Africa 

 of rubies, India of amethysts, and Per- 

 sia with her national stone, the tur- 

 quoise. Thus the whole great globe 

 is a surface of gorgeous, sparkling 

 color, and of priceless worth. The 

 alleged value of the whole (75 lbs. of 

 pure gold and 51,366 gemsj is 947,000 

 pounds sterling, or nearly five millions 

 of dollars. 



But I must not go on further, for a 

 full description of the jewels in the 

 possession of the Shah — said to be un- 

 equalled by any other potentate in the 

 world — would take me too far. 



Having with the acquisition of my 

 meteorite attained the purpose of my 

 trip, and apprehensive of the snow, 

 which had begun to fall heavily upon 

 the mountains, I took a hasty depart- 

 ure from Teheran and returned in eight 

 days, in carriage and on horseback, by 

 the same way in which I had come, to 

 the Caspian, and from thence to Baku, 

 the point from which I had started. 



And so my Persian meteorite hunt 

 ended. 



* Letter from Professor Henry A. 

 Ward to Mr. Bement, of Philadelphia, 

 in June Mineral Collector. 



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