Keyes—Meteorites on the Painted Desert. 139 
and similar favorable climatic and geologic conditions 
other desert tracts would doubtless yield meteoric ma- 
terials in equal abundance. 
Occurrence of Meteorites in Desert: Regions. 
Although the abundance of meteoric materials at Can- 
yon Diablo excites wide attention and is even regarded 
as something unparalleled, it does not appear to be quite 
so unusual as has been generally inferred. The marked 
success of the Indian trader Voltz in collecting meteoric 
stones for the purpose of sale as curiosities is merely 
the result of exceptional diligence along lines which are 
the experience of many a ranchero of the Mexican table- 
land. Few of the stock ranches of the grazing country 
do not have lying about the premises some larger or 
smaller fragments of the ‘‘heavy stones.’’ 
As already noted meteoric falls are probably not more 
frequent in desert regions than elsewhere on the earth’s 
surface; but the anomalous climatic conditions tend to 
give them great prominence. The thin air, the cloudless 
skies, and high altitudes contrast sharply with the thick 
atmosphere, the prevailingly cloud-covered firmament of 
the sea-coast of humid countries. In the high dry re- 
gions the frequency of meteoric manifestations immedi- 
ately arouses the wonderment of the sojourner from 
cloudy-land. The constant stream of light-paths across 
the heavens reminds one every night in the year of the 
November meteoric showers of other parts of the world. 
As especially emphasized later on arid climate strongly 
militates against the rapid decay of rocks. There is 
practically no such phenomenon in dry regions as chemi- 
cal decomposition of rock-masses as it is known in the 
moister regions of the globe. For years, without notable 
oxidation, meteoric stones and irons remain on the sur- 
face of the desert. When they fall in humid lands mete- 
oric masses are immediately lost to view in dense vege- 
tation, are covered by soft earth, and are subject to rapid 
disintegration; but in desert regions the very reverse is 
