METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 145 



14. 1881: SMITH. Anomalie magnetique du fer me'teorique de Sainte-Catherine. Comptes Rendus, Tome 92, pp. 



843-844. 



15. 1885: BREZINA. Wiener Sammlung, pp. 207, 214, and 234. 



16. 1885: HCNTINGTON. Crystalline structure. Amer. Joum. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 32, p. 288. 



17. 1887: HUNTINGTON. Catalogue of all recorded meteorites, pp. 61-62. 



18. 1887: FLETCHER. Cubic crystals of graphitic carbon. Nature, vol. 36, p. 305. 



19. 1893: MEUNIER. Revision des fers me'teoriques, pp. 29, 34*, and 72. 



20. 1894: HUNTING-TON. The Smithville meteoric iron. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts arid Sci., vol. 29, p. 259. 



21. 1895: COHEN. Meteoreisen-Studien, IV. Ann. k. k. Naturhist. Hofmus., Wien, Bd. 10, pp. 83, 84, and 85. 



22. 1897: WUIJING. Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen, pp. 87-89. 



cosmA. 



Loma de la Cosina or Cerro Coaina, near Dolores Hidalgo, State of Guanajuato, Mexico. 



Latitude 21 V N., longitude 100 34' W. 



Stone. Crystalline chondrite (Ck) of Brezina; Sigenite (type 24) of Meunier. 



Fell 11 a. m., January, 1844; mentioned, 1866. 



Weight, 1.2 kgs. (2.6 Ibs.). 



Brief mention of this meteorite was made by Burkart 2 as follows: 



This stone fell some time in January, 1844, at about 11 o'clock in the forenoon. The fall of the stone and the 

 preceding flash of light were observed. The entire stone had an oval form and a distinctly crystalline structure. 

 Specific gravity (Krantz), 3.095. 



Buchner s gave the following account: 



Herr Dr. Krantz. in Bonn, has kindly sent me for publication the following notice: "From Professor Castillo, in 

 Mexico, Gehimrath Burkart and I received about a year ago half of a meteorite, hitherto umnentioned, with the 

 following notice: In January, 1844, about 11 a. m. (date not given), a strange sound aroused the attention of laborers 

 on the hill of Cosina about 8 leagues east of Dolores Hidalgo. At the same time they saw an illuminated body proceeding 

 in a straight line and leaving behind a trail of light. The light as well as the trail was white and weak. As the sound 

 ceased a cloud of dust arose and the laborers ran to see what had fallen. They found a hole 2 feet deep out of which 

 they raised the meteorite. 



"The stone has an oval form somewhat compressed in the middle. It has some similarity to the meteorite of 

 Bremervorde. It is distinguished, however, from all hitherto known meteorites by its remarkable crystalline structure. 

 The whole mass consists of crystals, the form of which is not discernible. Under a lens they show adamantine luster 

 and may be anorthite. Iron is sparsely present. The specific gravity I found to be 3.095." The remark that the 

 meteorite is like that of Bremervorde is peculiar, since while this consists almost wholly of crystals Bremervorde is not 

 crystalline. 



Meunier * classifies the meteorite as sigenite, and Brezina 5 as crystalline chondrite. Cas- 

 tillo * gives a more extended account of the meteorite than other writers, but his statements 

 are meager enough. He says: 



Meteorite de Loma de la Cosina it fell upon the hill of this name 35 km. east of the village of Dolores Hidalgo 

 on a clear day in the month of January, 1844, at 11 a. m., in the presence of laborers who raised it by means of a goad 

 from a hole 2 feet deep in which it had buried itself. It was of an amygdaloidal form and was broken in two pieces, 

 having a total weight of 1.2 kg. The meteorite is composed of mixed feldspar and meteoric iron and is surrounded by a 

 dark crust of the same iron. The smaller fragment was presented and sent by me to Mr. Burkart, in Bonn, who gave 

 one part to the British Museum (Natural History) and another to the Vienna Natural History Museum. 



The above seems to complete the known history of the meteorite. The whereabouts of 

 only 284 grams are traced by Wulfing, 7 although he states that according to Rath a fragment 

 is in the collection of the School of Mines in Mexico and that Castillo perhaps possessed a piece. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1865: BURKABT: Verh. naturhist. Verein Bonn (Sitzber.), Bd. 22, p. 71. 



2. 1866: BURKART: Fundorte III. Xeues Jahrb., p. 401-102. 



3. 1866: BUCHNER: Neue Meteoriten. Ann. Phys. und Chem., Poggendorff, Bd. 129, pp. 350-351. 



4. 1884: MEUNIER. Meteorites, p. 188. 



5. 1885: BREZINA. Wiener Sammlung, pp. 191 and 233. 



6. 1889: CASTILLO. Meteorites, p. 12. 



7. 1897: WULFING. Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen, pp. 89-90. 



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