266 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



Brezina 5 described the structure as follows : 



Original weight of mass, 2,150 grams. Bands long, straight, much bunched, 0.17 to 0.27 mm. in width, containing 

 close packed ribs of porous cohenite. Granular kamacite, with oriented luster. Tsenite strongly developed. Fields 

 large and irregular, plessite predominant, dark gray, occasionally showing half obscured repeating lamelte in the 

 fields. 



Cohen reviewed previous accounts of the meteorite and described its structure as follows: 



According to Hidden this iron was covered with rust, and in the main possessed a cubic form with a conical pro- 

 jection and a somewhat convex face full of large pittings. There was a flattening on one surface, and since the Wid- 

 mannstatten figures appeared to be distorted at this point, Hidden supposed that the mass struck at this place. 

 Although the lamellae sometimes according to their position are said to show relations to cubic faces, this is not observ- 

 able upon the figure accompanying the article. Upon a cubic section surface the lamellse must intersect one another 

 at right angles. In the middle of a section several particles of solid iron chloride were observed; in the cut they seem 

 to be surrounded with swathing kamacite, which would indicate that it was an original constituent present before 

 the crystallization of the kamacite, if it were not observed that a pseudomorphous formation occurred here. Hidden 

 stated that by rubbing a surface with sulphur the smell of hydrogen sulphide was made noticeable and he attributed 

 this to occluded hydrogen. This could not be true, however, since sulphur and hydrogen do not unite except at a 

 higher temperature. 



Meunier referred Laurens and Carlton to a separate group, "Carltonite," since he considered the plessite an 

 independent alloy of nickel (Carltonin), which played the part of plessite in other octahedrites. Carltonine is much 

 more difficult to oxidize, finer-grained, and contains no combs. He further emphasized the absence of iron sulphide 

 and schreibersite in the Laurens iron. 



The bands vary from 0.17 to 0.27 mm. in width and are long, straight, often grouped, granular, and give an oriented 

 luster. They often contain throughout their entire length, grains and elongated crystals, which are arranged with 

 larger or smaller interstices between, and do not seem to be connected; the larger these grains, the broader the bands. 

 Whether this substance is cohenite, as Brezina recently conjectured, or schreibersite, requires a more exact investi- 

 gation to determine. The taenite is well developed and is sharply distinguished from the kamacite. The strongly 

 predominating fields are of varying dimensions, free from combs and consist of dense, dull, dark gray plessite, which 

 is sometimes shimmering and sometimes contains central skeletons. The grains and ribs in the kamacite are appar- 

 ently mingled with some troilite, which also occurs in a few small, irregular grains, bordered with a delicate wreath 

 of schreibersite grains and all these together inclosed in swathing kamacite. 



Laurens has an alteration zone 4.5 mm. wide. 



The iron is principally (1,537 grams) preserved in the Vienna Museum. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1886: HIDDEN. On two masses of meteoric iron of unusual interest. 2. The cuboidal mass of meteoric iron from 



Laurens County, South Carolina. Amer. Journ. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 31, pp. 463-465 (Analysis by Mackintosh.) 



2. 1887: BREZINA and COHEN. Photographien, pi. 24. 



3. 1893: BREZINA. Ueber neuere Meteoriten (Nurnberg), p. 163. , 



4. 1893: MEUNIER. Revision des fers me'tiSoriques, pp. 65-66. 



5. 1895: BREZINA. Wiener Sammlung, p. 269. 



6. 1905: COHEN. Meteoritenkunde, Heft 3, pp. 262-264. 



Lea Iron. See Cleveland. 



Leavenworth County. See Tonganoxie. 



Leland. See Forest City. 



LEXINGTON COUNTY. 



South Carolina. 



Latitude 33 58' N., longitude 81 7' W. 



Iron. Coarse octahedrite (Og), of Brezina; Bendegite (type 6), of Meunier. 



Found and mentioned, 1880; described, 1881. 



Weight, 4.75 kgs. (10.5 Ibs.). 



This meteorite was chiefly described by Shepard/ his account being substantially as follows: 



This iron was found on the land of a farmer in Lexington County, South Carolina, who supposed it to be a valu- 

 able ore, indicating a mine on his property. On learning its true character, he sold it to Prof. C. U. Shepard, jr., of 

 the Medical College at Charleston. 



