no. 4 



TEKTITE SPECIMENS — CLARKE AND CARRON 



15 



tion with regard to the Martha's Vineyard specimen, a unique find 

 so far for this region, is equally unsatisfactory. 



A general similarity in appearance between moldavites and Georgia 

 tektites has been frequently noted. This similarity, as was suggested 

 earlier, also holds true in the same very broad sense for the Martha's 

 Vineyard tektite. However, similarity to one class of objects does 

 not preclude similarity to another class. In fact, the Martha's Vine- 

 yard tektite shows an interesting similarity to the bottom of a bottle 

 now in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution (USNM 

 58.1 15 A) . This olive-green bottle was probably made in Keene, N. H., 



Fig. 3. — Scale drawing of bottom of a bottle from Smithsonian Institution 

 collection (cat. No. 58.1 15A) with Martha's Vineyard tektite superimposed. 

 The bottle was probably made in Keene, N. H., during the period from 1825 

 to 1850. 



in the second quarter of the 19th century. 7 The chemical composi- 

 tion of this bottle is undoubtedly quite different from that of the 

 Martha's Vineyard tektite. Its index of refraction is greater than 

 1.50, and under the microscope this grain appears to be ordinary un- 

 strained bottle glass. However, the radius of curvature, the perio- 

 dicity of the radial pattern along the curved edge, and the circular 

 pattern in from the edge (see fig. 3) of the Martha's Vineyard speci- 



7 Paul V. Gardner, Division of Ceramics and Glass, U. S. National Museum, 

 Smithsonian Institution, oral communication. 



