250 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



JENNIES CREEK. 



Wayne County, West Virginia. 



Here also Charleston, Kanawha County, and Old Fork. 

 Latitude 38 2<X N., longitude 82 22' W. 

 Iron. Coarse octahedrite (Og), of Brezina. 

 Found 1883; described 1885. 



Weight: Three masses of 23 pounds, 2 to 3 pounds, and 535 grams, respectively. Known existing weight, 

 1,100 grains (2. 4 Ibs.). 



This meteorite was almost wholly described by Kunz, 1 as follows: 



During the early part of April, a 9-ounce piece of mineral, supposed to be silver, was sent to Dr. H. G. Torrey for 

 determination by Maj. Delafield Du Bois, of Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. Torrey found it on examination to be an 

 iron of meteoric origin, and kindly loaned it to me for description. The piece delivered to me was supposed to be all 

 of the fall, and on this supposition it was described as the Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia, meteorite, in 

 a paper read at the Ann Arbor meeting of the American Association. Through the kindness of Maj. Du Bois, Mr. J. 

 F. Hoard and Dr. John N. Tilden, who went to considerable trouble in ascertaining it, I am able to announce the true 

 locality. 



Mr. Hoard writes that the iron was found on land belonging to Maston Christian, situated on the "Old Fork" of 

 Jennys Creek, a tributary of the "Tug Fork" of Big Sandy River (Tug Fork being the boundary line between West 

 Virginia and Kentucky), in the upper end of Wayne County. The pieces were all found in the creek bed, i.e., the ravine 

 or gulch through which the creek flows. The first piece, weighing probably 2 or 3 pounds, was found by Christian's 

 wife sometime earlier than the spring of 1883. It was supposed to be simply a rich "kidney" of limonite, and was 

 soon lost sight of. In the spring of 1883, however, a second piece was found by Christian himself while drifting staves 

 in the creek. This piece, which weighed about 23 pounds, created considerable excitement and speculation. It is 

 even stated that a shrewd speculator, who had in his possession a lump of the metal, had realized largely by burying 

 it on different lands, digging it up again, and then selling the pieces of property successively as being silver bearing. 

 The rumor was current that the vein was from 9 to 16 inches thick. It was broken up and distributed among several 

 parties interested in the find, and as it was friable, much of it was lost in this manner. About the first of December, 

 1885, a third fragment was picked up by Mr. Christian in a pool of still water, only 15 or 20 feet from where he found 

 the other. It weighs 535 grams (about 17 ounces), is all broken except one side which is altered to limonite, and has 

 no visible trace of unaltered crust. Its measurements are 88 mm., 57 mm., and 46 mm. The total amount found thus 

 far in the three pieces is probably 26 or 27 pounds. Both of these latter pieces were found in water and had a coating 

 of rust or earthy matter similar to that found on "kidneys" of ore, which was removed easily with the hands or by 

 washing. 



The iron is octahedral and made up of crystalline blocks of plessite and kamacite, irregular in shape, brittle, hav- 

 ing rounded ends and cleaving readily. Between these are also thin, springy, and flexible folia or plates of schrei- 

 bersite, some of which are 6 or 8 mm. square. The latter mineral was also observed in two other small pieces sent to 

 me. Troilite was also observed in these. The original weight of the piece loaned me for description was 275 grams; 

 one small slice of 34.5 grams weight had been removed to show the internal structure, so that the larger piece now 

 weighs 228.2 grams. Three cuts show the exact size of these pieces, and the markings on the etched surface as well 

 as the octahedral structure on the exterior of the iron have been accurately reproduced by photography direct from 

 the iron. (Original size as follows: length, 66 mm,; width, 40.5 mm.; height, 33.5 mm.) The exact date of the fall 

 of this iron is not known, and the surface where not cracked off is altered to limonite to a depth of 2 mm. It belongs 

 to the "grobe Lamellen" of the new classification of Dr. A. Brezina. The Sevier County, Tennessee, and the Arva 

 irons nearest approach it in structure. The following anrysis was kindly made by Mr. J. B. Mackintosh, E. M., of the 

 School of Mines, New York. 



Iron 91. 56 



Phosphorus 0. 13 



Nickel and cobalt (by difference) 8. 31 



100.00 



The specific gravity of the figured mass is 7.344. The iron does not show any Widmannstatten figures, the crystal- 

 line structure being really brought out in relief by the schreibersite between the crystalline surfaces of the iron. 



Since this iron .was broken and scattered in small pieces, we may expect to see them turn up as a number of dif- 

 ferent falls, but the coarsely crystalline structure, and the broken appearance of the pieces which are characteristic of 

 this fall, will at once identify them. 



The late Judge M. J. Ferguson, while residing at Louisa, Kentucky, communicated to Mr. S. Floyd Hoard that 

 one summer about 5 years ago, at about 1 a. m., he witnessed a meteor of wonderful brilliancy falling in the direction 

 of the spot where these fragments have since been found; and that he predicted at the time that one would probably 

 be found in that vicinity. The windows facing that way were open, and the curtains drawn back. The light was as 

 brilliant as noonday, and of sufficient duration for him to step to the window and see the meteorite fall, as he thought, 

 a short distance away, and surely within the limits of Wayne County. 



