NO. 5 HEXAHEDRITES — HENDERSON 21 



hexahedrite must be considered. However, if a hexahedrite were 

 struck in space by an oncoming octahedrite, both the target and the 

 impacting object would probably show deformation resulting from 

 their collision. In this meteorite, neither part is deformed. Although 

 collisions between meteorites must have taken place in space, this 

 specimen lacks the most important features one would expect if one 

 iron meteorite penetrated another. 



Hexahedrite stragglers in western North America. — Three isolated 

 hexahedrites from the western part of the continent remain to be 

 considered. 



1. The Wathena, Doniphan County, Kans., iron. This 556-gram 

 iron (Henderson and Perry, 1949) was found in 1939 near Wathena, 

 Kans., in a locality about 400 miles northeast of the nearest grouping 

 of hexahedrites. Since no other hexahedrites have been found in the 

 intermediate area, the Wathena iron is assumed not to be associated 

 with the foregoing groups. 



2. The Pima County, Ariz., iron. This 210-gram mass is reported 

 as having been found before 1947 near Tucson, Ariz. Nothing is 

 known of its history except that it was at the University of 

 Arizona for many years before it was accessioned into the national 

 collections and described by Henderson and Perry (1949). It has 

 exceptionally well developed flight surfaces. Although this strange- 

 looking specimen is small enough to have been easily carried by man, 

 it is thought probable that it fell where it was found, near Tucson. 



3. Chico Mountain, Brewster County, Tex., iron. The 212-gram 

 specimen in the National Museum apparently is all that remains of 

 what was reported to be a 2-ton meteorite. So little is known about 

 the history of this iron, and since it was found west of the area in 

 which the meteorites listed in table 5 were found, the Chico Mountain 

 iron is grouped with the stragglers. 



SOUTH AMERICA 



Chile 



The hexahedrites from Chile are given in table 7, arranged by their 

 increasing latitudes, and plotted on the map in figure 5. Henderson 

 (1941) reported that these irons may represent a shower. On the 

 other hand, the finding of these irons aligned along a railroad could be 

 due to the fact that the exploration in this region followed the course 

 of the railroad. Nitrates were hauled to the railroad for shipment, and 

 the included irons could have been rejected from the ore before 



