July i8, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



39 



teor, and described it as like the report of a hundred-pound can- 

 non, which shook his house, and jarred the windows. He at first 

 supposed the disturbance to be produced by the explosion of a 

 boiler at Gann's elevator, in the neighboring town of Riley. Mr. 

 Sprengle, father of L. J. Sprengle of the Washington Republican, 

 not only heard the meteor, but looking toward the zenith, shading 

 his eyes frona the glare of the sun, saw just below that luminary 

 a swiftly moving mass of waving mist, followed by a double trail 

 of bluish smoke. 



This aerolite was seen by many observers at a much greater 

 distance from the place where it fell. Mr. D. C. Ruth of Hal- 

 stead, Harvey Courlty, Kan. (a hundred and thirty miles distant in 

 a direction slightly west of south), saw a large fire-ball moving 

 through the atmosphere at a few minutes before one o'clock on 

 June 25. It was also seen at Topeka (eighty-seven miles south- 

 east) by a neighbor of H. R. Hilton, Esq. It was reported by 

 the newspapers as having been both heard and seen at Atchison 

 (a hundred and two miles distant) and at Leavenworth (a hun- 

 dred and fifteen miles distant), the last two places being in a 

 direction east-south-east from Washington A note received 

 from C. W. Marston, Esq , of Cedar Junction (a hundred and 

 thirty miles south-east from Washington) makes the following 

 statements: "An aerolite passed in sight (3f this place on Wednes- 

 day, June 25, at about 1 p.m Of the several who saw it, Mrs. 

 John D. Randall says of it, 'It was a ball of fire as large as a 

 table. It had a trail like a comet, and it wabbled like a kite.' " 



At Beatrice, in Nebraska, forty miles north-east of Washington, 

 it was reported as a brilliant meteor passing over the city from 

 north to south, leaving a distinct tiery trail behind. The fact 

 that at places to the north of the point of collision with the earth 

 the meteor appeared to be moving toward the south, while at 

 places to the south it appeared to be moving toward the north, 

 corroborates the testimony given by the nearly perpendicular 

 sides of the hole it made in the ground, that it passed through the 

 atmosphere from the vicinity of the zenith. 



The meteor reached the ground, and buried itself out of sight, 

 four feet deep, below the eighteen inches of upper alluvium 

 in the underlying shaly clay or "gumbo." This spot is 

 located three miles and a half north of Washington, in Farming- 

 ton Township, about a hundred yards from the north and south 

 road, near the south-west corner of the north-west quarter of the 

 south-west quarter of Section 13, Township 2, Range 3, east of 

 the sixth principal meridian. The farm belongs to Mrs. Lydia V. 

 Kelsey of Iowa, and was rented by Mr. J. H. January, who was 

 on that day breaking the prairie sod. The noon hour had not 

 quite expired, and Mr. January was underneath his wagon mak- 

 ing some repairs, when he heard the sound of the approaching 

 meteor, and came out to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. 

 He had hardly gained the erect position, when the meteor struck 

 the ground only a few rods distant, throwing up the earth to a 

 height of forty feet into the air, and outwards for about twenty- 

 five feet. It was also seen to strike the earth by Miss Guild, a 

 teacher, who was returning to her home in the counti-y after her 

 forenoon's attendance at the Washington County Normal Insti- 

 tute, and was at the instant driving her horse and cart along the 

 north and south road, only a hundred yards distant. As soon as 

 her frightened and trembling horse had recovered from the shock. 

 Miss Guild drove to the spot, which she reached at the same mo- 

 ment with Mr. January. As soon as Mr. January had calmed his 

 frightened horses, he began to dig for the aerolite; and with the 

 help of a neighbor, Mr. J. D. Foster, and three other men, he 

 reached the upper surface of the stone in one hour, but it required 

 three hours to remove the mass from its bed, it was so firmly held 

 in place by the compressed "gumbo." The stone was not hot 

 when reached, which may be explained by the fact that it seems 

 to have passed through the minimum amount of air from a direc- 

 tion but a few degrees south of the zenith. It was covered, how- 

 ever, by the usual burned crust. The stone was found to have 

 been cracked, doubtless by the force of collision acting upon a 

 body already under the disrupting strain of unequal temperatures. 

 The entire mass weighed a hundred and eighty-eight pounds, and 

 was divided b3' this crack into two portions, weighing respectively 

 a hundred and forty-four and forty-four pounds. The smaller 



mass was soon subjected to a process of sledge-hammering by the 

 hundredsof people whoalmostimmediately visited the spot. Near- 

 ly every citizen of Washington has in his pocket a small fragment 

 of the stone. Tne portion remaining, weighing a hundred and 

 forty-four pounds, is somewhat wedge-shaped, in dimensions 

 nineteen by seventeen inches, by eight inches at the base. The 

 writer obtained fi'om Mr. J. D. Foster for analysis a fragment 

 weighing two pounds and a quarter. In color the stone is dark 

 slate, resembling a compact trap-rock. An analysis has been 

 made by Mr. E. E. Slosson, assistant in our chemical depart- 

 ment, whose preliminary report is as follows: — 



"The stone is of a gray color, and in texture resembles por- 

 phyry. A few metallic grains are all that can be distinguished 

 with the naked eye. Under a microscope by chemical treatment 

 the following minerals can be detected: 



"1. A white crystalline silicate, insoluble, forming about half 

 the mass of the whole; probably enstatite or a similar bisilicate of 

 the pyroxene group. 



"2. A black translucent crystalline silicate intermingled with 

 the above, though less in amount. It is decomposed by aqua 

 regia, and contains iron; probably a uni-silicate of the olivine 

 type. These two minerals are in some fragments arranged in 

 alternate microscopic layers of equal thickness. 



"3. Malleable niokeliferous iron in small irregular masses, inti- 

 mately mixed with troilite and the silicates. 



"4. Troilite or pyrrhotite in microscopic particles disseminated 

 through the whole rock, estimated from sulphur to be about 10 

 per cent. 



"5. Chromite, distinguishable as small black magnetic crystals 

 in the residue after treatment with the acids. 



"6. A few scattered silicious crystals, yellow and red; too 

 small to determine, probably olivine. 



"The following is an approximate analysis of a small fragment: 

 metallic iron (with part of the iron in silicates), 14.958 per cent; 

 troilite, 10; soluble silicates (olivine), 25.147; insoluble silicates 

 (enstatite), 49.9; nickel and chromite, undetermined; specific 

 gravity of fragment weighing two pounds and a half, 3.48, water 

 at 25° C." 



The hundred and forty-four pound mass has been bought by 

 the writer and Professor F. W. Cragin of Washburn College, To- 

 peka, in equal partnership, for the benefit of the museums of 

 their respective institutions. F. H. Snow. 



University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan., July 7. 



Another Meteorite from Kiowa County, Kan. 



Since my communication in Science of May 9, in reference to 

 the Kiowa County (Kansas) meteorites. I have again visited the 

 locality, and obtained a 218i-pound pallasite. This is not a new 

 "find," but is one which was first discovered upon the farm of Mr. 

 James Evans more than a year ago. The location may be seen 

 by consulting the map illustrating Mr. Kunz's article in Science of 

 June 13. Only about one square foot of the surface of this mete- 

 orite, just level with the ground, was exposed to view, and it thus 

 easily escaped subsequent observation on the unploughed, grassy 

 prairie. The dimensions are 20^ by 16i inches, by IDA inches at 

 base. The shape is that of an irregular triangular pyramid, and 

 it stands easily upon its base. The specimen, not having been ex- 

 posed to the weather and the dangers of rough usage, as were the 

 other members of this group, presents fine clusters of olivine crys- 

 tals in several cavities upon two of its faces. There are eight 

 cavities on one face. Some of the cavities are four inches in di- 

 ameter and two inches deep. Nearly all the cavities contain fine 

 crystals of yellow olivine and of chromite. Some of the former 

 are ij of an inch in diameter, and so perfect that the angles can 

 readily be measured. This specimen is also unique in that the 

 crystals of chromite are so large and so prominent. The chro- 

 mite has a fine lustre, gives a dark-brown powder, and scratches 

 glass. 



Much of the olivine is black and glassy, with a conchoidal 

 fracture. It shades imperceptibly into the honey-yellow and 

 colorless varieties. The light variety yields a light-brown pow- 

 der, and is very brittle. Its fusibility is about five. 



