METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 209 



FRANKFORT. 

 Franklin County, Alabama. 



Here also Francfort, Franckfort, and Franklin County. 

 Latitude 34 SO' N., longitude 87 50" W. 

 Stone. Howardite (Ho) of Brezina. 

 Fell 3 p. m.,' December 5, 1868; described 1869. 

 Weight, 615 gr. (1.35 Ibs.). 



This meteorite was described by Brush, 1 his account being chiefly as follows: 



Mr. Benjamin Pybas, of Tuscumbia, Alabama, who took great pains in collecting all the facts connected with the 

 fall, states: 



"The meteorite fell December 5, 1868, 4 miles south of Frankfort, the county town of Franklin County, Alabama. 

 The country around Frankfort is broken and hilly, being the termination of the western branch of the Cumberland 

 Mountains. Frankfort is 16 miles southeast of Tuscumbia. 



"Mr. James W. Hooper witnessed the fall, and describes it as follows: 'About 3 p. m., the afternoon being cloudy 

 and cold, we heard a strange, harsh, roaring noise up in the air. Three distinct reports were heard; at first these were 

 supposed to be cannon, but the noise immediately changed into a series of bursting sounds, like a great fire blazing 

 and crackling through the air. It appeared to pass from the north toward the south. Immediately after the first 

 sound or roaring had passed over, another was heard coming from the same direction; like the whizzing of a bomb- 

 shell as it cuts through the air, making a loud humming noise. I gazed intently in the direction of the noise and 

 found that something was coming downward at a rapid rate. I looked, with my hand up, standing in a dodging 

 position, for fear of its striking me, until I saw it strike some willow saplings about 70 or 80 yards from where I was 

 and fall thence to the ground. Upon going to the spot, I found a strange looking rock, nearly buried in the ground 

 and still warm.' 



'Major Slass, editor of "The Alabamian and Times' in this place, has taken considerable trouble to collect all 

 the information he could on the subject. He says 'that the noise was heard for several miles round before the final 

 explosion. It burst, apparently, over the heads of twenty men, who were at work felling wood 1.25 miles from Mr. 

 Hooper's house. One piece appeared to go southeast, another southwest, and the third northwest. There were after- 

 wards heard reports resembling the bursting of shells. One piece was heard to fall some distance from Mr. Hooper's, 

 making a loud crashing noise and frightening a lot of hogs near by.' 



"The reports resembling artillery were plainly heard for 20 or 25 miles east and west of Frankfort and from 15 to 

 20 north. I have no information as to the south. Mr. Hooper deserves much credit for noting the particulars of the 

 fall and for sending the meteorite for analysis and description. He refused with scorn money offers that must have 

 been tempting to a person of limited income, preferring the advancement of science to dollars and cents. 



"In a personal interview he told me that he was sitting by a fire with his family when he heard the first noise. 

 He instantly arose and walked 40 or 50 yards from the house before the meteorite fell. His sister, Miss Hooper, living 

 near, called to her brother to 'run quickly, the house is on fire don't you hear it?' Mr. Hooper thinks it was three 

 or four minutes from the first noise until its fall." 



The stone weighed 615 gr. at the time it was secured; and its weight entire could not have been more than 650 gr. 

 It is oblong in form, with rectangular sides. The crust was entire, except for a small comer, although the whole mass 

 seemed to have a fresh fracture running through it. The coating has a very brilliant luster, as bright as if newly var- 

 nished, strongly resembling that of the Stannern, Petersburg, Tennessee, and Bishopville stones. It seems to have 

 been in a condition of viscid fusion, as shown by the ridges on the edges. The crust was so thin that the olivine could 

 be distinguished through it in places. 



Seen with the naked eye, the fractured surface shows a pseudoporphyritic structure, having a gray ground with 

 black, green, white, and dark gray spots upon it. 

 Analysis by G. J. Brush and Win. G. Mister: 



Oxygen. 



Silica 51.33 26.37 



Alumina 8.05 3.75 



Ferrous oxide 13. 70 3. 04 



Chromic oxide 0. 42 



Magnesia 17. 59 7. 04 



Lime 7.03 2.06 



Soda 0. 45 .11 



Potash 0.22 .03 



Sulphur 0.23 



Nickeliferous iron . . trace 



12.28 



99.02 



Specific gravity, 3.31. 

 716 15 14 



