ON A NEWLY FOUND METEORITE FROM SELMA, DALLAS 

 COUNTY. ALABAMA. 



By George P. Merrill, 



Head Curator, Department of Geology, U. S. National Museum. 



The information relating to tlie finding of the stone described below 

 was sent the writer by Mr. John W, Coleman, to whom he is indebted 

 for a small fragment and the privilege of describing, as well as infor- 

 mation concerning its weight and general appearance. 



The stone, as found, appears to have been a nearly complete indi- 

 vidual, a piece of some three or four pounds weight only having been 

 broken from one side. In shape it is roughly polygonal, without 

 strongly marked llutings or pittings, and is considerably shattered and 

 cracked, either from exposure or from the shock of striking the earth. 

 (See Plate VL) 



The specimen received is without crust, and weathered to a dark 

 reddish brown on the surface. Total weight of the stone, as reported, 

 310 pounds (140.6 kilograms). Greatest dimensions, as given by Mr. 

 Coleman, 2-4 by 14 inches (60.96 by 35.5 centimeters); circumference, 

 69 by 44 inches (175 by 118 centimeters). Locality, 2 miles north and 

 a little west of Selma, near the Summerfield road. 



Although not found at the time, the date of fall is considered by Mr. 

 Coleman as Jul}' 20, 1898, at about 9 o'clock in the evening. This is 

 on the authority' of various witnesses of "a great light passing from 

 east to west, leaving behind it a trail of lire 10 or 12 feet long, and 

 accompanied by a rumbling noise." One of the persons was so sure 

 of the place of fall that a search was instituted for it at the time. 

 There is, of course, no possibilit}' of estal)lishing absolutely the iden- 

 tity of the stone so recentU" found and the one seen to fall, but the 

 close proximity of the localities makes it possible. 



Additional data subsequently given by Mr. C. G. Gilbert, who vis- 

 ited the locality in the interests of the late H. A. Ward, are as follows: 



The position of the stone, as found, was such as to suggest that it 

 was first unearthed in the work of digging a trench for the purpose 

 of laying a drain pipe and rolled one side, as would have been done 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXXII— No. 1508. 



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