THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 73 



there are a very large number of specimens of meteoric stones, and 

 the National Museum at Washington is not deficient in such speci- 

 mens. In the Royal Academy at Stockholm are exhibited several, 

 the largest weighing 25 tons, which were brought from Greenland 

 by a Swedish Expedition of 1870, these being part of the "iron 

 stones/' of the existence of which the Esquimaux of Baffin's Bay 

 had informed Captain Ross, the Arctic navigator. 



To come down to recent years, ^n April, 1875, and May, 1879, 

 two meteors of great size and brilliancy were observed in the West- 

 ern States, illuminating the whole of Iowa, and parts of Missouri, 

 Illinois and Wisconsin. Singularly enough both exploded over 

 Iowa, scattering fragments of their mass over areas embracing six 

 counties, accompanied with a noise like thunder. A full account is 

 given in the Iowa State records, where it is stated that their chemi- 

 cal constitution differed from all meteorites analyzed elsewhere, 

 these containing 7 per cent, of iron, a tenth of i per cent, of nickel, 

 17 per cent, of calcium, 47 per cent, of silica and 27 per cent, of 

 ferrous oxide. The fragments of the meteor of 1879 fell chiefly in 

 Emmett County, one of which, weighmg 470 lbs., was sent to the 

 British Museum, and another of 170 lbs. was sent to the State 

 Museum of Minneapolis. At the time of its fall, some boys were 

 herding cattle near a small lake five or six miles south-west of where 

 the large masses fell, and they reported that just after the fireball 

 passed over they saw and heard what seemed like a shower of hail- 

 stones falling on the water. Two large fragments of this meteor fell 

 by the roadside, and a lawsuit was undertaken to decide whether 

 they were the property of the finder, as wild game, or of the owner 

 of the land, as being real estate ; and it was decided in favor of the 

 latter. 



In 1878, near Covington, Indiana, a Mr. Grover, of Newton 

 Fountain County, was killed in his bed by what was supposed to be 

 lightning, but which further examination showed was a meteoric 

 stone of pyramidal shape, weighing 20 lbs. This was unearthed in 

 the cellar, some feet under the ground, traced there by the rent 

 torn through floors and everything in its passage. The corpse was 

 mangled as if by a cannon shot. 



In 1879 near Bucyrus, Ohio, a similar death occured, the 

 victim being a Mr. Meisenthaler, of Whitestone Township, a well- 

 known cattle raiser of that district. As he was driving his cattle at 



