June 13, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



361 



the elements, sliowing that the fall is not recent, and that the 

 original mass was made of crystalline iron as well as of ii-on filled 

 with crystals of olivine: in other words, the masses show two dis- 

 tinct groups. Of these, the 345-pouDd and the 75-pound ones are 

 nickeliferous iron of a highly octahedral structure and cleavage, 

 and are caillites, while the others are meteoric iron containing 

 olivine, and belong to the group known as " pallasites." 



The largest mass, a pallasite, weighs 466 pounds, or 311.818 

 kilos. It is thick, slightly flattened, triangular in form, somewhat 

 heart-shaped, and measures through the longest part 61 centime- 

 tres, or 24J inches; across the widest part, 43 centimetres, or 19 

 inches; and in the thickest part, 3? centimetres, or 14+ inches. It 

 is covered with large indentations measuring 10x6 x 3 centimetres. 

 The coating is more or less oxidized, but the olivine is perceptible 

 in all parts of the mass. 



The dimensions of the 345-pound mass (156.818 kilos) are 

 60x37x89centimetres, or 334xl4*X Hi inches. It is slightly arch- 

 shaped, is an ii-on with many pittings, and shows the characteristic 

 magnetic oxide of iron crust. 



The 3H-pound mass (95.909 kilos) is somewhat rounded, with a 

 circular depression on one side. 



There are two masses weighing 135 pounds (58.863 kilos) and 

 54.96 pounds (35.084 kilos) respectively. 



The 101.5-pound mass (46.136 kilos) is almost round, measuring 

 35X26x37 centimetres (13fxl0JXl0f inches). The exterior is 

 evenly pitted, and the centre of each pitting is an olivine crystal. 



The 75 pound one (34.09 kilos) is an iron, and measures 

 33x231x15 centimetres (12+x8*x5| inches). It is in shape like a 

 pear or ham, covered with large pittings. The crust has been 

 changed somewhat by weathering. 



The 71.5-pound mass (33.485 kilos (measures 37x23x33 centi- 

 metres (10+x9x8f inches). It is a jagged, irregular square, and 

 shows olivine crystals all over the exterior. 



The 60-pound mass (27.373 kilos) measures 36x21x17 centime- 

 tres (14r|X8x6t inches). It is an elongated, rounded piece, with 

 one large flat side showing large spaces filled with olivine. 



The 40-pound mass (18.181 kilos) measures 33X31x31x13 cen- 

 timetres (8|x8iX8i X 5i inches). It is of irregular shape, with one 

 large projecting point. 



The 36 pound mass (16.363 kilos) measures 32 x 22 x 16 centime- 

 tres (8ix8ix6J inches). It is a flattened spheroid, containing 

 some olivine, but almost entirely iron, showing large pittings like 

 the 7o-pound or the 345-pound masses. 



There are also about a dozen small masses weighing 12, 7, 6, 5, 

 8, and 1 pounds each, and a few weighing only one ounce each. 

 The 211 and 6 pound masses belong to the University of Minne- 

 sota; the 125-pound mass, to Harvard University; the 54.96-pound 

 mass, to the University of Kansas; the others are in the collection 

 of the writer. 



Tlie specific gravity of the masses is very variable, and was 

 found to be as follows : of the 6-pound mass, 5. 17; 40-pound mass, 

 6.41; 71.5-pound mass, 5.33; 75-pound mass, 7.37; 345-pound 

 mass, about the same density as the 75 pound mass; 466-pound 

 mass, about tlie same density as the 71.5-pound mass. 



The following analyses of the Kiowa meteorite were made by 

 Itfr. L. G. Eakins in the laboratory of the United States Geologi- 

 cal Survey: — 



Olivine. 



Iron. 



Per Cent. 



SiO, 40.70 



AloOs tr? 



FegOa. 18 



FeO 10.79 



NiO 02 



MnO 14 



MgO 48. 0» 



99.85 



Dark Outer Zone 

 of Olivine. 



Per Cent. 



SiOs 34.14 



FeO 33.30 



NiO tr 



CoO 03 



MnO 09 



MgO 40.19 



S 5.42 



99.66 



103.07 

 Less for S 2.71 



The iron is brilliant white, enclosing the troilite, and surrounding 

 the olivine crystals. Occasionally small etched surfaces show deli- 

 cate figures like that of the Linnville Mountain meteorite. 



Troilite exists plentifully in rounded grains from one to five 

 millimetres in diameter, and in thin folia mixed with and sur- 

 rounding the olivine crystals, as well as running into and filling 

 small spaces in the body of the iron, either as flat plates or 

 rounded masses. Several flat circular plates (crystals?) of graph- 

 ite two millimetres in diameter vs'ere observed. 



The olivine crystals are very brilliant, and break out entire, the 

 faces OQ many of them being distinct enough to measure the an- 

 gles. The spaces from which they break are highly polished, 

 showing every crystal face with a mirror-like polish; and in the 

 centre there is a coating of a shining black mineral that is jet 

 black in color, and crushes into a jet black powder. 



Many of the olivine crystals are in two distinct zones, — the inner 

 half a bright transparent yellow, the outer a dark-brown iron- 

 olivine. In reality this dark zone is an intimate mixture of the 

 troilite and the oHvine, as the analysis by Mr. Eakins and a mi- 

 croscopical examination of the crystals by Mr. J. S. Diller of the 

 United States Geological Survey fully proved. 



This group of meteorites, which has recently come to me for 

 description, possesses more than ordinary interest, on account both 

 of the peculiar composition and structure, and also of the un- 

 doubted ethnological relation. It is especially interesting because 

 of its probable connection with the meteoric iron found in the 

 Turner mounds. 



100.86 

 The specific gravity of the iron freed from olivine was found 

 to be 7.93 at 33.4° Celsius; of the olivine, 3.376 at 28.2". 



FIG. 3. — SECTION OF METEORIC IRON. 



In the spring of 1888, Professor F. W. Putnam found on the 

 altar of mound No. 3 of the Turner group of mounds, in the Little 

 Miami valley, Ohio, several ear-ornaments made of iron, and sev- 

 eral others overlaid with iron. With these were also found a 

 number of separate pieces that were thought to be iron. They 

 were covered with cinders, charcoal, pearls (two bushels were 

 found in this group of mounds), and other material, cemented by 

 an oxide of iron, showing that the whole had been subjected to a 

 high temperature. On removing the scale. Dr. Kennicutt found 

 that they were made of iron of meteoric origin.' One of the pieces 

 weighed 38 and the other 53 grams. 



In the autumn ot 1883 a mass was found on the altar of mound 

 No. 4 of this same group, which weighed 767.5 grams (37.25 

 ounces). Dr. Kennicutt suggested that these were all parts of 

 some larger meteoric mass. The results of the investigation were 

 published in connection with the description of the Atacama me- 

 teorites, because in structure they approached more closely to the 

 latter than to those of any other occurrence known of at that 

 time. In the Liberty group of mounds in the same valley. Pro- 

 fessor Putnam found a celt five inches long, and in another of 

 the Turner mounds an ornament five inches long and three inches 

 wide, made also of the same meteoric iron. 



The Carroll County meteorite was found in 1880, about three- 

 quarters of a mile from Eagle Station, Carroll County, Ky., ten miles 

 from the mouth of the Kentucky River, and about seven miles in a 

 direct line from both the Kentucky and the Ohio Rivers. The dis- 

 tance to the Turner mounds, where Professor Putnam found the me- 

 teoric iron and the ornaments made of it, is about sixty miles. 

 The mass, which weighed about 80 pounds, or 36.5 kilos, was 

 rusted on the surface to a depth, in some places, of 10 to 13 milli- 



1' 16th and I7th Reports of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, p. 382. 



