Janvary 4, 1917] 
NATURE 351 
and Steel Institute. One of the principal features 
of this paper is a table including practically all 
known falls of meteoritic iron, their original 
Fic. 1.—A number of iron meteorites showing their fragmentary form, from which it will be seen that 
some might be used entirely to form weapons and implements, whilst the protuberances of others 
might be cut off by primitive implements in order to form other weapons. 
and Okano are shown in two views each. Rowton is the only British specimen known; it fell near 
Wellington, Shropshire, on April 20, 1876. These meteorites are all drawn to the same scale, each 
square surrounding the illustration representing r in. 
weight, whether malleable (that is, suitable for 
being wrought into objects of utility) or non- 
malleable (not suitable for such purposes). This 
NO. 2462, VOL. 98] 
table was compiled with the object of removing 
all doubt concerning argument number two. The 
résumé of this table gives us the amount of 
meteoritic iron known at the 
present day—about 250 tons. 
Of this total the very consider- 
able amount of more than 99 
per cent. is malleable. Since 
this considerable mass of ap- 
proximately 250 tons has been 
accumulated practically within 
the last century, we might dis- 
pose of argument number three, 
concerning the scarcity of 
meteoritic iron. 
This réswme cannot be sur- 
prising, as meteoritic iron is, 
generally speaking, pure iron- 
nickel alloy, such as we are now 
producing artificially; and the 
latter is certainly ductile and 
malleable. 
The general appearance of the 
majority of meteorites gives one 
the impression that they were 
fragmentary, and suggests that 
they formed portions of larger 
masses. A single fall might 
spread over a considerable area, 
and it is obvious that many 
masses of known falls must 
thus be difficult to find, or be 
lost, particularly such smaller 
pieces as might be wrought into 
useful objects. 
The accompanying illustration 
(Fig. 1) shows the fragmentary 
form of a few masses of meteori- 
tic iron, from which we see that 
it is not like a cannon-ball, as is 
frequently supposed, and that 
it should not be so very difficult 
to sever such fragments. This 
disposes of argument number 
four. 
Meteoritic iron was cut by the 
ancients in the same way as they 
cut pieces off the large masses 
of native copper found on the 
banks of Lake Superior, though 
it is not of course suggested 
that iron can be cut as readily 
as copper. When Cortez com- 
pleted the conquest of Mexico 
the Spaniards noticed that the 
Aztecs possessed knives, dag- 
gers, etc., made of iron, and 
the question as to whence they 
had procured this iron became 
Algoma, N'Gouroyma, gq perplexing problem to the 
Spaniards, which they were 
: never able to solve. When 
asked, the natives mysteriously 
pointed to the sky, and indicated that they 
obtained their iron from the regions above. It 
was left to science to unravel the mystery. The 
