272 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



about the same dimensions as the raised portions. If one considers the larger schreibersites, or rather the hollows 

 formerly filled by them, the number of the hollow places decreases, the form of the latter becomes distinctly fusiform, 

 and finally there prevails around the schreibersite a nickel-iron with usually a smoother etching surface and of mostly 

 darker color. Only isolated, groovelike depressions occur on this nickel-iron, always surrounded with an exceedingly 

 fine, bright band. Where it is somewhat thicker it gives rise to portions with a prettily netted appearance. These 

 peculiarly constructed etching bands surrounding the schreibersite give the etched section of the Linville meteorite 

 a very characteristic appearance, different from that exhibited by any other meteoric iron. 

 Analysis by Sjb'strom: 



Fe Ni Co Cu C P S 



Total composition 83.13 16.32 0.76 0.02 0.11 0.23 0.02 =100.59 



Nickel-iron 83.07 16.05 0.75 0.02 0.11 =100.00 



The comparatively high content of carbon accounts for the fact that, by etching, the iron becomes coated with a 

 black, easily removable substance. 



Mineralogical composition: 



Nickel-iron 98. 46 



Schreibersite 1. 49 



Iron sulphide .. 0. 05 



100.00 



Specific gravity (Leick), 7.4727, of 202.5 grams at 15 C. This low figure for an iron so rich in nickel is doubtless 

 to be referred to the occurrence of hollows in the inner part of the tolerably large pieces, and this is the more probable 

 since hollows occur on the surface and upon the cut faces in large numbers. This meteoric iron shows only traces of 

 polar magnetism and gives a specific magnetism of 0.29 absolute units per gram. 



Linville belongs to the ataxites rich in nickel without etching bands and etching flecks. It has the varnishlike 

 gloss produced by etching, in common with the Morradal and Smithville meteorites; it is distinguished from the other 

 representatives by a somwehat finer grain, by the pin-pricked etching surface, as well as by the peculiar etching zone 

 which surrounds the schreibersite. If we would make still further subdivisions, we may distinguish, in addition to 

 the Babbs Mill group, a Linville group. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



The meteorite is somewhat distributed, Vienna possessing the largest quantity (214 grams). 



1. 1888: KUNZ. On two new masses of meteoric iron. 1. Meteoric iron from Linville Mountain, Burke County, 



North Carolina. Amer. Journ. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 36, pp. 275-276. (Illustration of mass and etched plate.) 



2. 1895: BREZINA. Wiener Sammlung, p. 295. 



3. 1899: COHEN. Meteoreisenstudien VIII. Ann. K. K. Naturhist. Hofmus. Wien, Bd. 13, pp. 145-147. 



LITTLE PINEY. 



Pulaski County, Missouri. 



Here also Pine Bluff.o 



Latitude 37 55' N., longitude 92 5' W. 



Stone. Spherical chondrite (Cc), of Brezina; Montrejite (type 38, subtype 1), of Meunier. 



Fell 3.30 p. m., February 13, 1839. . 



Weight: Variously given, Shepard says 50 pounds. 



The first account of this meteorite was by Herrick, 1 as follows: 



On the afternoon of February 13, 1839, a meteor exploded near the settlement of Little Piney, Missouri (latitude 

 37 55' N.; longitude 92 5' W.) and cast down to the earth one stony mass or more in that vicinity. Mr. Forrest 

 Shepherd, of this city, who was at the time exploring this region in the line of his profession, viz, thatof a mineralogical 

 . and geological surveyor, hearing of the explosion of the meteor, exerted himself to collect all of the circumstances of 

 the occurrence. He subsequently succeeded in obtaining several fragments of one of the stones thrown down by the 

 meteor. Mr. Shepherd has favored me with an opportunity to examine these fragments, and has also communicated 

 to me the details below related. 



The meteor exploded between 3 and 4 o'clock p. m., of the 13th of February, 1839, and although the sky was clear, 

 and the sun of course shining at the time, the meteor was plainly seen by persons in Potosi, Caledonia, and other 

 towns near which it passed. At Caledonia, which ia about 9 miles southwesterly from Potosi, the meteor passed a 

 little north, and at the latter place, a little to the south of the zenith. Its course was almost precisely to the west. 

 The most eastern spot at which it was seen is about 15 miles west of St. Genevieve, or about latitude 37 50 / N., longi- 

 tude 90 W. ; the most western is Little Piney, near which it exploded. To the observers at the latter place, the meteor 

 appeared of the size of a large star. They represent its motion as very slow; but do not state how many seconds it 

 was in sight. We have no data for determining the meteor's size or velocity, or the inclination of its path to the hori- 

 zon. The direction of the meteor's motion with regard to that of the earth was probably such that the velocity of the 



The name Pine Bluff would be more appropriate for this meteorite than that of Little Piney, sinco tho fall occurred, according to Shepard, 

 only 2 miles from Pine Bluff but 10 miles from Little Piney. Although both of these places seem to have been post offices at the time of the fall, 

 neither exists at present. As the name Little Piney has become better known by usage it may as well be retained. 



