THE SARDIS METEORITE—HENDERSON AND COOKE 149 
ELEVEN LARGEST METEORITES FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES 
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As far as the Museum’s records show, no individual fragment of 
Canyon Diablo,? Alpine,’ Brenham,’ Cosby Creek,® or Tucson” is as 
large as the Sardis specimen; consequently from the standpoint of 
individuals only five larger falls have been recovered from this 
country. 
SUMMARY 
A deeply altered iron meteorite weighing 1,740 pounds was found 
in Jenkins County, near Sardis, Ga., in the spring of 1940 and removed 
to the United States National Museum in 1941. Evidence indicates 
that it is a very old fall, dating probably from middle Miocene times. 
It was found in a district in which craterlike depressions are abun- 
dant, but it has no apparent connection with these depressions. 
® Canyon Diablo: Total known weight is far from accurate, but our records fail to show 
any specimens as large as the Sardis meteorite. 
7 Alpine: Described by G. P. Merrill, Proc. U. 8S. Nat. Mus., vol. 61, art. 4, 1922, in which 
he states, ‘Correspondence held with view of securing the entire mass resulted in failure 
and I have been unable to learn of its ultimate disposition.’”’ The specimen was apparently 
never weighed or measured and the weight 2 tons (1,818 kg.) is an estimate of Mr. E. M. 
Flynn, who supplied Merrill with all information as well as sample. 
8 Brenham: The total weight of material from this fall is about 1,000 kilograms, but 
according to our records no single specimen larger than 211.8 kilograms has ever been 
found. 
® Cosby Creek, Tenn.: Described by C. U. Shepard, Amer. Journ. Sci., ser. 2, vol. 4, 
pp. 838-85, 1847: “The large mass of meteoric iron found some years ago * * * fell 
into the hands of some persons who tried to break it with sledge hammers, but not succeed- 
ing, they placed it upon * * * a ‘log heap’ where, after roasting for some time, it 
developed certain natural joints of which advantage was taken with cold chisels and 
spikes for its separation into fragments. * * * Some remnants of the mass fell into 
the hands of Dr. Troost. * * * Its weight was about a ton.” 
1° Tucson, Ariz.: The total weight of this fall is 975 kilograms, the largest specimen is 
the ring-shaped mass, weighing 688 kilograms. The other is the Carlton specimen weigh- 
ing 287 kilograms. 
