72 ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



pedestal, the center of gravity was reached, and with a slow, almost 

 dignified movement the great meteorite sank at one end, and assumed 

 the semi-vertical position which is brought out in the No. 5 picture. 

 In No. 6, the photographer is seen standing midway of the mass. 

 Incidentally there is well shown the depth of our excavation, below the 

 level of the cornfield. We upset the mass in an effort to ascertain, if 

 possible, by the nature of the rock beneath it, the recent or the 

 ancient fall of the mass. Was the soil already there when the meteor- 

 ite fell, and did the latter by virtue of its weight crush through it to 

 the rock ? In the latter case it seemed probable that some of the soil 

 should have been caught and held between the meteorite and its bed. 

 A good deal to our surprise we found that this bed was a clean 

 depression crushed into the rock with absolutely no trace of soil 

 between it and the part where the full weight of the mass had fallen 

 and lain. It would thus seem that the meteorite had fallen on the bare 

 surface of this district at a period before the vegetable soil had begun 

 to form here. This would be an interesting and astounding fact, car- 

 rying back the fall of our meteor to a remotely distant period, perhaps 

 thousands of years. But there are other conditions which would need 

 careful consideration before accepting such a momentous conclusion. 



The wonderful preservation of the mass, with its little oxydation, 

 and the clean, sharp-rimmed pittings which cover its surface, seem to 

 point to a more modern sojourn within the destroying influences of 

 our air and moisture. We leave this for future consideration. 



It is an interesting fact that this, perhaps the largest and the 

 heaviest meteorite mass yet discovered on our globe, should have 

 fallen so near the present border of our own country. Interesting 

 too, that Mexico with all its other extra large meteorites should have 

 received this champion mass. 



The extreme measures of Bacubirito, for so our meteorite from 

 the first has been called, are : 



Length, 13 feet and i inch. 

 Width, 6 feet and 2 inches. 

 Thickness, 5 feet and 4 inches. 



Its form, as shown by the photographs, is extremely irregular, 

 and though measures have been taken around the mass at many 

 different points, its cubic contents can not be calculated with more 

 than an approximation to accuracy. 



The five largest meteorites known to Science to-day are : 

 Bemdego (Brazil), 5^ tons. 

 San Gregorio (Mexico), 11% tons. 



