442 



MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



The following table gives analyses of the Toluca irons by Uricoechea and Boecking: 



Uricoechea. 



Xiquipilco. 



Fe 90.400 



Ni 5.020 



Co 0.040 



Schreibersite 2.990 



P 0.160 



s 



Cu trace 



Cr 



Sn trace 



Mn trace 



Insoluble... 1.110 



Boecking. 



99.720 98.234 99.207 99.204 



The insoluble part of this meteorite consists, according to Uricoechea, as already indicated above, of olivine and 

 of a milk-white, a clear glistening, a ruby red, and a transparent sky-blue mineral. But according to Boecking: (1) In 

 the case of Xiquipilco, it consists of a white and bright yellow, shading to reddish mineral substance, entirely free from 

 graphite flakes; (2) in the case of Ixtlahuaca, it consists of a yellowish mineral, apparently olivine, and of graphite 

 scales; and (3) in the case of Tejupilco, for the most part of small yellow crystalline fragments and a very small quan- 

 tity of graphite flakes. 



According to a communication by G. A. Stein, an early publication of the results of an investigation of the large 

 iron mass brought over by Stein may be expected from Professor Wohler. 



Wohler 15 gave the following data: 



Nowhere on earth have so many masses of meteoric iron been found in one and the same neighborhood as in the 

 valley of Toluca in Mexico. They have been known, as Partsch stated, since 1784 from notices in the Gazeta di Mexico. 

 The time of their fall is unknown. Concerning their locality, where they were found, many perplexities and mistakes 

 prevail, and the names of many places in that region have been given as the locality of the masses in question (most 

 frequently Xiquipilco and Ixtlahuaca); at all events there can be no question that all these masses originated from 

 one meteor. 



The latest and most trustworthy description of this iron mass is due to Mr. G. A. Stein, of Darmstadt, who owns 

 mines and smelting works in Mexico and who had opportunity during a stay of several years to collect exact information 

 concerning the occurrence of this iron and to possess himself of four of these masses, which he brought to Europe with him. 

 One weighed 5.5 pounds and is at present in the possession of Doctor Jordan, of Saarbruck, and which he described 

 to me as a still intact, compact, and elongated drop. Of the three other masses, one weighed originally 13 pounds, the 

 other 19.5 pounds, and the third 220 pounds. I obtained from Stein some very fine large fragments which he had cut 

 off from these specimens with the wish that I should employ these carefully collected shavings for the determination 

 of the constituents of this iron mass. The results of the analysis of the 13-pound mass made by Doctor Uricoechea under 

 my direction have already been given. The analyses of the other two masses were recently undertaken in my labora- 

 tory by Doctor Pugh, of Philadelphia. First, however, will be given the interesting description by Stein concerning 

 the occurrence of these masses, as he communicated it to me: 



"Since I had often heard of meteoric iron which, according to report, had been found in several localities of the 

 valley of Toluca, I traveled in person, in July, 1854, in order to obtain definite information concerning the matter, to 

 Ixtlahuaca, a small town on the right bank of the Rio de Leruca, or Santiago, not far from 10 leagues north of Toluca. 

 After I had collected the desired information concerning the same I wended my way to the Hacienda Mafii, which lies 

 on the west fork of the range of mountains which bounds the valley of Toluca on the east. The hacienda is 4 leagues 

 east of Ixtlahuaca, 8 leagues east by northeast from Toluca and belongs to the diocese of an Indian priest town which 

 lies about a league therefrom, by the name of Jiquipilco or Xiquipilco. In the barns of the proprietors of the hacienda 

 was found the 220-pound piece of meteoric iron, which I forthwith bought after I had previously obtained the other 

 masses from the same ma", Ordonez by name, through the medium of a friend. Concerning the finding of these masses 

 Ordofiez stated as follows: 



" 'The largest was found about 15 years before in a small glen called by the name of Bata, 0.5 league southward from 

 New Jiquipilco (there are two towns by this name, the old and the new, not far from each other) and 1.5 leagues south- 

 ward from Mafii, among the rounded stones of the river bed, but not covered with them. The brook had almost no 

 water in the dry season and very little in the rainy season. The iron mass can not, accordingly, have rolled far away, 

 but must have fallen in the neighborhood of where it was found, which was further evidenced by the fact that it retained 

 tolerably sharp angles. 



'"The 19.5-pound mass was found 0.25 league northeast of Mafii upon an elevation in a stony -clay soil, as well as 

 another piece 0.375 league east of Mafii. In the same glen where the largest one was found, although not in the same 

 river bed, the 5.5-pound mass was found by myself, as I accidentally struck it with my foot in crossing. About one-third 

 league east of this locality, about 20 years before, there is said to have been found an iron mass of about 300 pounds 

 weight. From the same neighborhood came also the 13-pound mass.' 



