332 ACCOUNT AND DESCRIPTION 



stones, an object which was at length accomplished by impor- 

 tunity and purchase. 



We have been more particular in detailing the circumstan- 

 ces which attended the tall of these bodies, and the views and 

 conduct of those who first found them, that the proof of the facts 

 might be the more complete and satisfactory. 



The specimens obtained from all the different places are 

 perfectly similar to each other. The most careless observer 

 would instantly pronounce them portions of a common mass. 

 Few of the specimens weigh one pound, most of them less than 

 half a pound, and from that to the fraction of an ounce. 



The piece lately found on Tashowa hill, is the largest with 

 which we are acquainted, Mr. Bronson's is the next in size. 

 The largest specimen in our possession weighs six pounds and 

 is very perfect in its characteristic marks. Of smaller pieces 

 we have a good collection They possess every variety of form 

 which might be supposed to arise from fracture, with violent 

 force. On many of them, and chiefly on the large specimens, 

 may be distinctly perceived portions of the external part of the 

 meteor. It is every where covered with a thin black crust, 

 destitute of splendor, and bounded by portions of the large ir- 

 regular curve which seems to have inclosed the meteoric mass. 

 This curve is far from being uniform. It is sometimes depress- 

 ed with concavities, such as might be produced by pressing a 

 soft, yielding substance. The surface ot the crust feels harsh, 

 like the prepared fish-skin or shagreen. It gives sparks with 

 the steel. There are certain portions of the stone covered with 

 the black crust, which appear not to have formed a part of the 

 outside of the meteor, but to have received this coating in the 

 interior part, in consequence of fissures or cracks, produced pro- 

 bably by the intense heat to which the body seems to have 

 been subjected. These portions are very uneven, being full of 

 little protuberances. The specific gravity of the stone is 3.6, 

 water being 1. The specific gravity of different pieces varies 

 a little, this is the mean of three. 



The colour of the mass of the stone is, in general, a dark ash, 

 or more properly a leaden colour. It is interspersed with distinct 

 masses, from the size of a pin's head to the diameter of one or 



