THE METEORITES IN THE FOYER OF THE AMERICAN 
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.’ 
By Epmunp Ot1s Hovey, Pu. D. 
Associate Curator of Geology. 
Introduction. 
CARCELY a century ago the scientific and even the popular 
S world scoffed at the idea that masses of matter could possibly 
come from outer space (or “heaven”’) and strike the surface of 
the earth,— in other words that stones could fall from the sky. Even 
at the present time, although it is well known that occasionally masses 
of metal and stone — “meteorites” — do fall from the sky, there is 
much misinformation current in regard to their character and the con- 
ditions under which they have come to the earth. 
Livy, Plutarch and other early historians mention several stones 
which had been seen to fall from the sky. Among these were a stone 
which fell in Phrygia and was kept there for centuries until it was removed 
to Rome about 204 B. C. with imposing ceremonies; a shower of stones 
that fell in the Alban Mountains near Rome about 652 B. C., and a 
stone that fell in Thrace in the fifth century B. C. and was known to 
Pliny five hundred years later. ‘The image of the goddess Diana which 
was preserved at Ephesus is said to have “fallen down from Jupiter”’ 
and was probably a meteorite, and idol known as the Venus of Cyprus 
seems likewise to have had the same origin. Stones which have fallen 
from the sky have been regarded as being of miraculous origin and 
‘have been worshiped by many primitive peoples. They have been 
viewed with awe too by tribes and nations which could not be con- 
sidered primitive, including some in India, China and Japan. 
Arguments which form strange reading at the present day were 
advanced by eminent scientists against the idea that any bodies could 
come to the earth from space, and French scientists were particularly 
‘Guide Leaflet No. 26 of the American Museum series, 
5 
