131 C U, Shepard on a Meteoric Stone. 



Art. XI. — N'ofice of a Meteoric Stone winch Jell at Petersburg^ 

 Lincoln county^ Tennessee, August bth^ 1855 ; by Charles 



Upham Shepard. 



A BRIEF account of tliis stone is contained in the Geological 

 Reconnoissance of Tennessee by Prof. James M. Safford, the 

 geologist of the State. "^ I shall first give the substance of his 

 account ; and then subjoin some observations of my own, derived 

 from an examination of the entire specimcUj which through the 

 kindness of Prof Saflford, I have been permitted to make. 



The particulars of the fall were communicated by the Rev. T, 

 C. Blake of Cumberland University. The stone, which at first 

 weighed three pounds, fell two miles west of Petersburg, in Lin- 

 coln county, at about half past three P. ar., Aug. oth, 1855, 

 during, or just before, a severe rain-storm. Its fall was preceded 

 by a loud report, resembling that of a large cannon, followed by 

 four or five less reports. These were heard by many persons in 

 the surrounding country. This stone was seen immediately 

 after the reports, to fall to the ground. The observer of its fall 

 was James B. Dooley, Esq. It approached him from the east, 

 appearing while in progress, to be surrounded by a luminous 

 halo two feet in diameter. It struck the ground only one hund- 

 red and fifty yards from him ; and buried itself about eighteen 

 inches in the soil. When first removed, it w^as still too hot to be 

 handled. As first described by Prof Saflford, it had one edge 

 broken, showing an ash-grey color within, varied by patches of 

 white, yellowish and dark colored minerals; while its surface 

 was invested with a very thin black and shinino- crust, as if it 

 had been coated with pitch. One extremity of the stone has an 

 irregular rhomboidal figure, measuring 2f by 2^ inches. Placed 

 upon this end, the body presents the form of a slightly oblique, 

 and tolerably defined oblique rhombic prism, 4^ inches long. 

 The upper end however, is not w^ell formed, but runs up to one 

 side in a somewhat flattened edge. Three adjacent sides in- 

 cluding the base are rough, being covered with cavities and pits ; 

 the others are smoother and rounded. The specimen acts upon 

 the needle; fragments of it readily yield particles of nickeliferous 

 iron, by trituration in a mortar. The specific gravity of the 

 entire mass is 3'20. 



The following are the results of an examination and analysis 

 made upon fragments of the stone by Prof J. L. Smith of the 

 Medical Department of the University of Louisville. '^The min- 

 erals present are pyroxene (the principal portion of the mass), 

 olivine and orthoclase (disseminated), nickehferous iron, (formin-" 



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