316 Dr. Walter Flight — History of Meteorites. 



found near Santa Eosa, a small town in the N. part of the State 

 of Cohahuila, in lat. 27° 55' N. and long. 2° 16' W. of Mexico, and 

 near the boundary of the Bolson of Mapimi. 



According to the report of Major E. W. Hamilton, published by 

 Shepard, the spot where he discovered a number of masses of 

 meteoric iron is called Bonanza, 30 to 40 miles north, and much 

 further west of Sta. Eosa. Here Hamilton found scattered over an 

 area, one to two miles in diameter, thirteen blocks of iron, twelve 

 of which had never been shifted ; the other, weighing 75 lbs., was 

 about to be sent to Sta. Eosa. The largest, a more or less rounded 

 block, is three feet wide and two to two and a half feet high; others 

 were estimated to weigh from two to three thousand pounds. 



Meteoric masses found in the neighbourhood of Sta. Eosa are 

 mentioned by J. L. Smith, and a fragment of one of them was 

 exhibited at the meeting of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science held at Chicago in 1868. It appears that Dr. Butcher 

 obtained from the son of Dr. Long, who had resided many years 

 in Sta. Eosa, an interesting account of a very brilliant meteor which 

 in the fall of the year 1837 passed over the town in a N.W. direction; 

 shortly after its disappearance over the mountains a rumbling sound 

 was heard, followed by a tremendous explosion. The next day Mr. 

 Long endeavoured to find traces of the meteorite, but after two days' 

 severe and rough riding the search was abandoned. Shortly after- 

 wards an Indian brought into Sta. Eosa a piece of what he believed 

 to be silver, weighing ten to twelve pounds, stating that it had been 

 found ninety miles N.W. of the town ; this proved to be meteoric iron. 

 Dr. Butcher, after this long lapse of time, determined to renew the 

 search, and, hiring eight Mexicans and two Indians as guides, suc- 

 ceeded in finding the irons about ninety miles from Sta. Eosa. They 

 consist of six masses, weighing 290, 430, 438. 550, 580, and 654 lbs., 

 which have been sent to the museums of the United States, and 

 two other blocks, weighing 353 and 450 lbs., which have since been 

 hit upon. 



This interesting group of meteoric irons consists of compact 

 "metal containing no silicate ; it is not difficult to cut with the saw, 

 has the specific gravity 7 - 692, and the composition : 



Iron = 92-95 ; Nickel = 6-62 ; Cobalt = 0-48 ; Phosphorus = 0-02 ; 

 Copper = trace. Total = 100-07. 



Although these irons differ as regards the amount of nickel they 

 contain from the meteoric iron of Santa Eosa described in 1855, 1 

 J. L. Smith believes that the disparity arises from an error in the 

 earlier analysis, and that it will be found that the Santa Eosa iron 

 belongs to the above group. 



The question which next arises is, — Are the two finds, described 

 by Hamilton and Butcher, one and the same ? Burkart, after care- 

 fully weighing the evidence of both accounts, allowed that there is 

 much to favour the assumption, and suggested that Shepard and 

 J. L. Smith would do good service to science by referring the subject 

 to the consideration of the two observers. 



1 O. Buchner. Die Meteoriten. Leipzig, 1863. Page 192. 



