490 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vol,. 50 



might be due either to impact or to vulcanism. The association of 

 the fused pumiceous masses with the smashed material, together with 

 the transition of one form into another, is such as to suggest a 

 common origin for both. 



The slightly disturbed and unchanged condition of the deeper-lying 

 sandstone seems to prove the superficial character of the phenomena. 

 Where disturbed, the beds apparently dip downward, as though 

 forced out of position by some power acting from above. This ap- 

 parently prohibits the consideration of a deep-seated cause. There 

 being nothing in the beds themselves to bring about such results, 

 one is forced to the consideration of an extraneous source; and, if 

 extraneous, I can conceive of but two — the electric and meteoric. Of 

 these, only the latter seems worthy of serious consideration. 



Velocity of Meteorites and Possible Depth of Penetration. — Un- 

 fortunately we have little to guide us in estimating the speed at which 

 a meteorite reaches the earth and its consequent power of penetration. 

 The velocities as given by various observers vary between 2 and 45 

 miles per second. These last, however, are the initial velocities, the 

 velocities possessed by the meteors on entering our atmosphere and 

 while still at considerable altitudes — in some instances 50 or 60 

 miles — and which become very materially reduced by atmospheric 

 friction long before reaching the earth. Indeed, from the calcula- 

 tions of Schiaparelli and others, it is commonly assumed that a 

 meteorite reaches the surface at the speed of an ordinary falling 

 body. A. Herschell, as quoted by Flight, 1 calculated the velocity of 

 the Yorkshire (England) meteorite at the time it reached the ground 

 as but 412 feet a second. The Guernsey, Ohio, meteorite was esti- 

 mated by Prof. E. W. Evans 2 to have reached the earth while travel- 

 ing at a speed of 3 or 4 miles a second ; that of Weston, Connecticut, 

 while at a height of some 18 miles, was estimated by Professor Bow- 

 ditch 3 to have a velocity of 3 miles per second. Newton 4 calculated 

 the speed of the fire-balls which passed over the Ohio and Mississippi 

 Valley in August, i860, as 30 to 35 miles per second, and stated 5 

 that the Stannern, Moravia, stone came into our atmosphere with 

 a velocity of 45 miles per second. These higher velocities are 



1 A Chapter on the History of Meteorites, p. 219. 



'Amer. Jour. Science, vol. 33, 1861, p. 30. 



"Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. 3, 1815, p. 213. 



* Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. 33, 1862, p. 338. 



"Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. 36, 1888. p. II. 



