REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1908. 135 
SmirH, JoHN D., Catalogue of botan- | WicuTt, HE. F. A new larch from 
ical library of. (See under Bibliog- Alaska. 
raphy.) Smithsonian Mise. Colls.,  w, 
Quar. issue, Pt. 2, No. 1728, 
UNDERWOOD, LucIEN M. (See under 
William R. Maxon.) 
GEOLOGY AND 
BASSLER, Ray S. Cement and cement 
materials. 
Mineral Resources of Virginia, 
1907, pp. 86-167, pls. xI-xx. 
This paper deals with the general 
geology, geography, and stratigraphy 
of western Virginia, the economic 
value of the various cement horizons 
and distribution of cement materials. 
Details of localities, analyses, maps, 
and a number of illustrations accom- 
pany the report. 
Howe Li, Epwin E. (with Wirt Tas- 
sin). The Williamstown meteorite. 
Amer. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., xxv, 
No. 145, Jan., 1908, pp. 49, 50, 
1 fig. 
Mr. Howell gives the circumstances 
of the finding of the iron, its weight 
and general appearance, stating that 
it is a thin, flat, rectangular mass 
weighing about 31 kg., and was 
found in 1892, near Williamstown, 
Grant County, Ky. Mr. Tassin de- 
scribes the iron metallographically 
as a typical octahedrite of medium 
coarseness. Bands of kamacite, 
taenite, and plessite are visible on 
the etched surfaces, with occasional 
nodules of troilite, some of which 
contain - carbonaceous matter and 
are surrounded by a skin of schrei- 
bersite. His analysis is as follows: 
me, 91254). Nit 7.26.3 Co; 0:52):- Cu, 
OL0S 24 Er- 0:05) 2 10.12 87 O10 eC, 
0.004 ; Si, trace ; total, 99.694. 
— The Ainsworth meteorite. 
Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., xxv, 
No. 146, Feb., 1908, pp. 
105-107, figs. 1, 2. 
Mr. Howell gives the weight of 
the mass as 10.65 kg., with a den- 
sity of 7.85, and states that it was 
found in 1907 about 6 miles north- 
west of Ainsworth, Brown County, 
Nebr. Mr. Tassin describes’ the 
meteorite as being triangular in out- 
line and having a well-marked octa- 
hedral fracture on one edge; in fact, 
the three edges of the section stud 
ied approximate three directions of 
an octahedron, with the cut surface 
forming a fourth. In structure the 
iron is unique, the etched surface 
July 20, 190%, .p.. 174, pk 
XVI. 
MINERALOGY. 
Howe tri, Epwin E.—Continued. 
showing octahedral lamellae of the 
largest size, in which appear very 
minute areas which also possess a 
well-defined lamallar strueture and 
show the three characteristic alloys. 
Troilite occurs in irregularly shaped 
segregations, which contain more or 
less carbon, with grains of nickel, 
iron, and phosphide of iron, and asa 
whole surrounded by a thin skin of 
schreibersite. Rhabdite is abun- 
dantly present. The analysis gives : 
Fe, 92.22; Ni, 6.49; Co, 0.42; Cu, 
O01 P1028 -8.70.07 2 Cr OO. St 
0.049; C.-0.09; Sp. gr., 7.85. 
MERRILL, GEoRGE P. The meteor crater 
of Canyon Diablo, Ariz.; its history, 
origin, and associated meteoric irons. 
Smithsonian Mise. Colls., ts 
Quar. issue, Pt. 4, No. 1783. 
Jan. 27, 1908, pp. 461-498, 
pls. LXI-LXxvV, figs. 124-129. 
The character of the work is fully 
indicated by the title. The paper is 
the result of studies made on the 
crater under the auspices of the 
Smithsonian Institution in May, 1907. 
———and Tassin, Wirt. Contribu- 
tions to the study of the Canyon 
Diablo meteorites. 
Smithsonian Mise. Colls.,  , 
Quar. issue, Pt. 2, No. 1731, 
Sept. 12, 1907, pp. 203-215, 
pls. XVIII-XXI, figs. 48, 49. 
Doctor Merrill first discusses at 
length the “shale balls”? and iron 
shale distributed about the crater 
of Coon Butte, Ariz., from the view 
point of their bearing on its origin. 
The shale balls and iron shale are 
held to have been derived from the 
same mass. This iron shows. cer- 
tain differences from the typical 
iron of the Canyon Diablo meteor- 
ites. This difference is explained 
by the suggestion that the original 
meteoric mass was very heterogene- 
ous in character, with segregation 
masses rich in chlorides, phosphides, 
etc., which might easily have sepa- 
rated along their lines of contact 
from the more homogeneous portions 
and have from their very nature 
