[Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. XXII, pp. 335-337, Pll. XXXV-XXX1X. 

 27 December, 19121 



THE KINGSTON, N. M., SIDEKITE 1 



By Edmund Otis Hovey 



(Bead before the Academy 1+ November, 1912) 



In the year 1891, a prospector was ransacking the region along the 

 North Branch of Percha Creek, near the Solitary Mine, about four miles 

 north of Kingston, Sierra Co., New Mexico, in a search for horn silver 

 (cerargyrite), when he stumbled upon what he supposed to be a solid 

 mass of the ore for which he was hunting. This was lying upon a ledge 

 of granite and, according to the account of the finder, had been brought 

 to view by erosion. The approximate position of the locality is latitude 

 32° 58' North, longitude 107° 50' West. A small fragment was broken 

 off and sent to an assayer, who informed the finder as to the real nature 

 of his specimen. Another small piece was sawed from the other end of 

 the mass. These two pieces would weigh together about 5 ozs. (142 

 gm.), while the mass as delivered to the Foote Mineral Co. weighed 

 28 lbs., 6 ozs. (12,870 gm.) ; hence the total original weight was about 

 28 lbs., 11 ozs., or 13,012 gm. Mr. Warren M. Eoote of Philadelphia 

 very kindly sent the specimen to me for description and gave me the 

 foregoing information regarding its discovery and history. 



The iron, which is a holosiderite, has been named Kingston from the 

 post office nearest to the place of discovery. As found, it was lenticular 

 in shape, and its dimensions were 204 x 167 x 70 mm. No sign of the 

 original crust remains, and the "thumb marks" have been much ob- 

 scured by oxidation. The exterior, however, presents several broad, shal- 

 low depressions, which are clearly shown in Plates XXXV and XXXVI, 

 but nothing to indicate which was the briistseite. Crevices along which 

 oxidation has taken place to a considerable degree penetrate the mass 

 along the plates and are particularly noticeable in Plate XXXV, fig. 1 

 and Plate XXXVI, fig. 3. A combination of these cleavage crevices per- 

 mitted the breaking out of the fragment that was first submitted to assay. 

 The surface is thickly indented with oxidation pits 1-3 mm. across and 

 shallow in proportion to their diameter. 



The material furnished me for investigation consisted first of the 

 whole mass and then of the two end pieces and seven slices into which 



* Published by permission of the Director, American Museum of Natural History. 



(335) 



