A STONY METEORITE FROM FORKSVILLE, MECK- 

 LENBURG COUNTY, VIRGINIA 



By George P. Merrill 



Head Curator of Geology, United States National Museum 



The data concerning the fall of the stones here described were 

 gathered by the late Dr. Thomas L. Watson, of Charlottesville, 

 Va. Three of the four stones which, so far as known, comprised 

 the entire fall, were secured by Doctor Watson at the time and 

 brou<.^ht by him to W^ashington for consultation with the present 

 writer, with a resultant agreem.ent to the effect that the chemical 

 analyses, sections, and other essential cuttings should be done here 

 while the microscopic studies should be his. The fourth and largest 

 individual, secured later, was found among Doctor Watson's effects 

 after his death. 



According to Doctor Watson's notes, the fall took place w^ithin 

 the town of Forksville, Mecklenburg County, in southern Virginia, 

 on the afternoon of July 16, 1924, between the hours of five and six 

 but nearer the last-mentioned hour. The stone was traveling in a 

 northwest to southeast direction and was accompanied by the usual 

 artillery-like explosions; the noise lasted four or five minutes but no 

 light accompanied it — this doubtless due to the time of day. The 

 record of the four stones as given is as follows: No. 1, weight 2,250 

 grams, fell about half way between Brodnax and Forksville on 

 R. D. Temple's place; is reported to have been entirely cold when 

 recovered some 15 minutes after the fall. No. 2, w^eight 1,850 grams, 

 struck within some 450 feet of a woman who heard the explosion 

 apparent^ directly overhead; it made a hole inclined at 10 degrees 

 from the vertical, some 6 inches in diameter, and 18 inches deep in 

 the soft mud. No. 3, weight 853 grams, fell in an open field on 

 Mrs. Trutter's place, making a hole some 4 inches to 6 inches wide 

 and 6 to 8 inches deep. No. 4, weight 1,114 grams, fell near a 

 colored burial ground near the Seaboard Airline Railroad tracks and 

 was seen by 50 to 75 colored people. 



The appearance of the four individuals is shown in Plates 1, 2, and 

 3. No. 1 shows both primary and secondary encrustation; No. 2 is 



No. 2670.-PROCEEDINGS U. S . NATIONAL MUSEUM, VOL. 70, ART. 21 

 26404-27 1 



