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 HEXAHEDRITES 



By EDWARD P. HENDERSON 



U. S. National Museum 

 Smithsonian Institution 



(With Four Plates) 



INTRODUCTION 



Hexahedrites are the simplest of the iron meteorites and a com- 

 paratively easy type to recognize, yet many have been incorrectly 

 classified. In several places these irons were found distributed in 

 such a manner that they seem to have fallen as a shower. This 

 investigation of the worldwide distribution of hexahedrites was made 

 to determine how general these local concentrations are. In assem- 

 bling the geographic data, certain characteristics were noted which 

 could have a bearing on the scatter of these irons. 



Acknowledgments. — Because these topics were discussed with 

 many investigators in diverse disciplines over the years, it is difficult 

 to credit specific points to the proper source. The author realizes 

 that some names probably have been overlooked and to them he 

 offers apologies. The following persons have made substantial con- 

 tributions to this study: H. J. Axon, University of Manchester, 

 Manchester, England; Harrison Brown, California Institution of 

 Technology, Pasadena, Calif. ; V. Buchwald, Technical University, 

 Copenhagen, Denmark ; Walter Corvello, National Museum, Rio de 

 Janeiro, Brazil ; Roy S. Clarke, Jr., U. S. National Museum, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. ; M. E. Lipschultz, Goddard Space Flight Center, National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D. C. ; Brian 

 Mason, American Museum of Natural History, New York City ; 

 Charles Olivier, formerly of Flower Observatory, University of 

 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.; Sharat Roy (deceased), Chicago 

 Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 111. ; Harold Urey, University 

 of California, La Jolla, Cahf . ; H. Wanke, Max Planck Institute, 

 Mainz, Germany. 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 148, NO. 5 



