8 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
It was much the largest of the weasel family and was a truly formida- 
ble beast of prey, if it possessed the savage and bloodthirsty disposition 
of its modern relatives. 
Professor Osborn, under whose directions the expeditions were sent 
out, visited all the parties during the summer and gathered valuable 
data for his studies upon the stratigraphy and relative age of the Ter- 
tiary formations. Dr. Matthew was with Mr. Thomson’s expedition 
during the first half of the summer, and Mr. Gregory was of the party 
in the latter part of the season. 
THE SELMA METEORITE. 
E collection of meteorites in the foyer of the Museum 
has recently been enriched by the addition of an aéro- 
lite, or stone meteorite, which was found in March, 
1906, about two miles north-northwest of Selma, Ala- 
bama, near the road to Summerfield. ‘Che fortunate 
finder was Mr. J. W. Coleman of that city. 
Mr. Coleman states his belief that the meteorite fell on July 20, 
1898. At about 9 o’clock of the evening of that day at least five observ- 
ers at different stations from half a mile to two and one half miles from 
where the stone was found saw a brilliant meteor pass through the air 
+B] 
leaving a “trail of fire ten or twelve feet long.” ‘The meteor seems to 
have traveled in a direction somewhat west of north, and its flight is 
said to have been accompanied by a heavy, rumbling noise. No other 
similar meteorite has been noted in the immediate region, and this 
_meteorite does not seem to show any more decomposition of surface 
than might have taken place in the eight years that have elapsed since 
the date of its assumed fall. ‘The identity of this find with the shooting 
star of July 20, 1898, cannot of course be established with certainty, 
but it seems probable. 
This meteorite, photographs of which are reproduced in this num- 
ber of the JouRNAL, is one of the ten largest aérolites ever found. 
Most such bodies break to pieces in the earth’s atmosphere, probably 
on account of unequal heating due to friction against the air, and shatter 
into scores and even hundreds or thousands of fragments before they 
reach the ground, and this is the largest entire aérolite now in the 
United States. 
