730 METEORIC STONES AND SHOOTING STARS 



surface of iron meteorites peculiar to them, and thus far never found on 

 any other stone or metal. They are called Widmanstattian figures. In 

 the Bates County, Missouri, meteorite they consist of four systems of lines, 

 those in each system parallel to each other, and crossing those of the other 

 systems at obliques angles. To obtain these lines it is necessary to thor- 

 oughly polish the surface of iron, then lay on nitric acid, rub this off and 

 the lines appear. (See p. 741.) 



SIZE OF METEORITES. 



The Bates County Iron meteorite was a little over 85 lbs. before being 

 cut. The Tazewell, East Tennesse Iron meteorite was 55 lbs. That of iron 

 from Coahuila, Mexico, fifty miles northwest of Santa Eosa, and now in the 

 Smithsonian, 252 lbs. Tucson, Arizona, of iron, 1400 lbs. Eight others 

 from Coahuila, obtained by Dr. Butcher, from 290 to 800 lbs. A mass. of 

 meteoric iron now in Chihuahua, weighs about 3,853 lbs. Probably the 

 largest known meteoric mass is of iron, and discovered by Dr. John Evans, 

 in Oregon, in the mountains east of Port Orford. and supposed to weigh 

 several tons. 



The San Grregario, Chihuahua, meteorite weighs 1006 lbs. A mass of 

 meteoric iron near Melbourne, Australia, is said to weigh five to six tons ; 

 another mass near by weighs one and a half tons. The Gribbs meteorite in 

 the Yale College cabinet, weighs 1635 lbs. It was brought from Red Eiver. 

 Don Eubin de Cells discovered one in the District of Chaco-Gualamba. 

 South America, whose weight was estimated at 32,000 lbs. There is another 

 at Bahia, Brazil, whose weight is 14,000 lbs. The Siberian meteorite found 

 by Pallas, weighed originally 1,600 lbs., and contained embedded crystals 

 of Chrysolite.* 



A mass of meteoric iron from Greenland, weighing several thousand 

 pounds, was on exhibition at the Centennial. A Swedish Scientific Expedition 

 to Greenland, in 1871, brought away twenty large pieces of meteoric iron. 

 The largest, of 21 tons, was deposited in the Eoyal Academy, Stockholm ; 

 the next, of nine tons, at Copenhagen. 



CATALOGUES OP METEORITES. 



Dr. Otto Buchner, Leipzig, 1863, catalogues the fall of 153 stony me- 

 teorites, commencing with a fall of Nov. 16, 1492, and ending Oct., 1862. 



The various cabinets of the world included in 1863, the following: 



Vienna 194 i Gottingen 125 



London, (British Museum) 190 | Paris, (Garden of Plants)... 53 



The largest private collections ; 



E. P. Gregg, Manchester, England 191 



Eeichenbach, Vienna 176 



Nevill e, London 1 01 



Auerbach, Moscow 76 



Newman , Prague 61 



J. Lawrence Smith, Louisville, Kentucky 60 



C, U. Shepard, Amherst College 151t 



* Dana Mineralogy, p. 16. f Ameriean Journal ot Science, November, 1863. 



