56 EEPOBT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM^ 1912. 



feet in size, containing a network of veins of the fibrons chrysotile 

 or asbestos, showing to admirable advantage tlie mode of occuiTence 

 of this form of the commercial article. The block, which came 

 from the company's quarries at Chrysotile, was accompanied, by 8 

 samples of the shredded product representing the different grades. 

 To Mr. Gardner F. Williams, of Washington, fonnerly manager of 

 the De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines of South Africa, the 

 division was indebted for 16 perfect small diamond crystals, an inter- 

 esting specimen of diamond-bearing rock, showing the imprint left 

 from the extraction of a large, well-formed diamond ciystal, several 

 specimens of rocks and minerals, and a series of photographs, which 

 supplement the special exhibit relating to the South African dia- 

 mond mines presented by Mr. Williams some j^ears ago. 



The important collection of building and ornamental stones was 

 increased by the acquisition of 27 examples of granite and marble in 

 slabs, some of which measured 32 inches square and others 22^ by 

 26^ inches. They were all generously contributed by the repre- 

 sentatives of the quaiTies from which they were taken, and are con- 

 siDicuous features in the exhibition hall where they are displayed, 

 some being used as panels for exhibition bases. The varieties of 

 stone and the donors were as follows: Ascutney Mountain (Vt.) 

 green syenite, from the Norcross Brothers Co., Worcester, Mass. ; red 

 Westerly granite, from the New England Granite Works, Westerly, 

 R. I. ; the so-called '' sea-green *' granite, from the Rockport Granite 

 Co., Kockport, Mass.; white marble of Gantts Quarry, Ala., from the 

 Alabama Marble Co.; and marble, from the Arizona Marble Co., 

 Bowie, Ariz,, and the Evans Marble Co., Knoxville, Tenn. The 

 Geological Survey transferred 875 hand specimens of granites and 

 215 specimens of marbles, representing the work done and described 

 by Mr. T. Nelson Dale on the New England granites and the com- 

 mercial marbles of western Vemiont, respectively. 



The additions to the meteorite collection comprised an 840-gram 

 slice of a pallasite from Ahumada, Mexico, obtained by exchange; 

 two pieces of a meteorite which fell in Behera Province, Egypt, the 

 gift of the Geological Survey of Egypt ; a 6,538-gram mass of me- 

 teoric iron from Amalia, German Southwest Africa, presented by 

 Mr. Clarence S. Bement, of Philadelphia, Pa.; a portion of a mete- 

 oric stone found near Cuilison, Ivans., contributed by the head 

 curator; a meteoric iron found near Perry ville, Mo., acquired by 

 purchase; and a 175-gram fragment of the Scott City, Kans., mete- 

 orite, donated by Mr. John T. Freed, of Scott, Kans. The Cuilison 

 and Perryville meteorites have been made the subject of exhaustive 

 investigation, and in that from Perryville the rarer elements of 

 ruthenium, iridium, palladium, and platinum w^ere discovered. 



