METEORITES OF NORTH AMERICA. 409 



Under the microscope in thin sections, the stone is seen to be composed of extremely variable chondri, often frag- 

 mental, and scattered particles of silicate minerals embedded in a dark opaque ground which, by reflected light, 

 shows up as a network of deep-blue metallic iron and its oxidation products and brilliant points of yellow-white troi- 

 lite. Olivine, enstatite, and a monoclinic pyroxene constitute the silicate portion. These are, in large part, in the 

 form of fragmental chondri, though sometimes quite perfectly oval. The olivine chondri show the common barred 

 and porphyritic forms, the latter with a more or less glassy or fibrous base. Some of them are mere aggregates of polar- 

 izing points without evident interstitial matter. There are also occasional large, scattered, single crystals and frag- 

 ments not constituting chondri. The enstatites occur under similar conditions and also in fan-shaped radiating forms, 

 very much broken and otherwise imperfect, and in dense crypto-crystalline forms, presenting no opportunity for opti- 

 cal determination. The monoclinic pyroxenes are the least abundant of the silicates and show the usual (in meteor- 

 ites) polysynthetic twinning and low.(15 to 20) angles of extinction. They are colorless or of a gray color and, but 

 for the inclined extinctions, distinguished with difficulty from the enstatite. They occur in chondri as well as in 

 scattered isolated forms. No feldspars nor minerals other than those noted were observed. 



The most striking feature of the stone is the broken and fragmental condition of the chondri and the variety of 

 forms manifested. It is best comparable, so far as the writer's experience goes, with that of Tieschitz, Moravia, 

 described by Tschennak. It belongs, therefore, to Brezina's class of kugel chondrites Cc. It will be known as the 

 Selmaj Alabama, meteorite, and is the fourth stony meteorite thus far reported from that State. 



Since the above was written, the stone has been purchased by the American Museum of Natural History, New 

 York City. 



Hovey * gave the following description of the meteorite : 



The collection of meteorites in the foyer of the museum has recently been enriched by the addition of an aerolite, 

 or stone meteorite, which was found in March, 1906, about 2 miles north-northwest of Selma, Alabama, near the road 

 to Summerfield. The fortunate finder was Mr. J. W. Coleman, of that city. 



Mr. Coleman states his belief that the meteorite fell on July 20, 1898. At about 9 o'clock of the evening of that 

 day at least five observers at different stations from half a mile to two and one-half miles from where the stone was 

 found saw a brilliant meteor pass through the air leaving a "trail of fire 10 or 12 feet long." The meteor seems to 

 have traveled in a direction somewhat west of north, and its flight is said to have been accompanied by a heavy rum- 

 bling noise. No other similar meteorite has been noted in the immediate region, and this meteorite does not seem to 

 show any more decomposition of surface than might have taken place in the 8 years that have elapsed since the date 

 of its assumed fall. The identity of this find with the shooting star of July 20, 1898, can not of course be established 

 with certainty, but it seems probable. 



This meteorite, photographs of which are reproduced, is one of the 10 largest aerolites ever found. Most such 

 bodies break to pieces in the earth's atmosphere, probably on account of unequal heating due to friction against the 

 air, and shatter into scores and even hundreds or thousands of fragments before they reach the ground, and this is the 

 largest entire aerolite now in the United States. 



The Selma, as this meteorite will be called, is 20.5 inches high, 20 inches wide, and 14 inches thick, and it weighs 

 306 pounds (138.6 kgs.). A piece of perhaps 4 pounds weight has been lost from the mass, hence it is probable that the 

 original weight was 310 pounds. It has kin buried in the ground where it fell for several years, so that the original 

 glassy crust has been largely decomposed and washed away, and the characteristic "thumb-mark" pittings have been 

 partly obscured. Some portions, however, remain aa in indication of its original condition. In shape the meteorite 

 is roughly polygonal, without pronounced orientation features, though it seems probable that the side shown in one of 

 the figures was the "brustseite," or front, during flight through the atmosphere. The mass is deeply penetrated by 

 cracks on both sides, but principally on the rear. The cracks do not radiate from one or more centers, nor is the 

 apparent rigidity of the mass affected by them; hence they do not seem to have been caused by shattering due to 

 impact with the earth. The position and character of the fissures indicate that they were due to unequal heating 

 through friction with the air during flight through the atmosphere, the tension produced being insufficient to cause 

 complete fracture. 



Macroscopic examination of a cut and polished fragment shows the stone to have a dark brownish-gray color, and to 

 be made up of spherical or nearly spherical chondri, or particles, firmly embedded in a similar matrix. The largest 

 chondri are one-eighth inch (3 mm.) in diameter, though those more than one-half aa large are rare. A strong magni- 

 fying glass is needed to show one the minute grains of iron scattered through the mass. 



The specific gravity of the stone is 3.42, as determined upon a fragment weighing 4.56 ounces (129.4 grams) and 

 showing some effects of decomposition. A chemical analysis of the material has not yet been made, but Dr. G. P. 

 Merrill, of the United States National Museum, has had sections cut and polished, and has published a brief scientific 

 description of the meteorite in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum for 1906, where he gives the 

 find the name which we have adopted. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. 1906: MERRHX. A newly-found stony meteorite. Science, n. s., vol. 24, p. 23. 



2. 1907: MERBILL. On a newly-found meteorite from Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 



32, pp. 59-<31. (Two plates and analysis.) 



3. 1907: HOVEY. The Selma meteorite. Amer. Mus. Journ., vol. 7, pp. 8-12. (Three plates.) 



