﻿306 W. E. Hidden — Meteoric Iron from Texas. 



the photo-engraving process, the result from etching this iron, but 



it only partly succeeds in its object. 

 This plate is three times natural size. 

 The white lines with arrows indi- 

 cate the directions of the fine lines 

 which covered the whole surface of 

 the iron previous to the last etching. 

 On a surface, five inches long (bot- 

 # torn of figure 2), which was smoothed 

 and polished nearly four years ago, a 

 small nodule of troilite was noticed, 

 and two small fissures filled with, 

 graphitic carbon. This surface showed 

 \ the metal to be of unusual whiteness ; 



Structure of Maverick Co. Iron. more . lik S the luster of mercury than 



any iron the writer has seen. The 

 iron is quite soft, being easily cut with a knife. Sp. grav., 

 7*522. The composition, as shown by Mr. J. B. Mackintosh, 

 E. M., in an analysis just completed, is : Iron 94*90 per cent, 

 phosphorus 0*23 per cent, nickel and cobalt (by difference) 

 4*87 per cent=100'00 per cent, sulphur and carbon in traces. 



This iron, which will henceforth be known under the name 

 of the Maverick County Meteorite, was found more than one hun- 

 dred miles in a due east direction from the famous Butcher 

 Irons from Coahuila* and that from the Sancha estate, f Mexico; 

 both described by Smith. But the density and composition of 

 these last two irons show marked differences from that of Mav- 

 erick County, Texas. •■ The Sancha iron had a density of 7*81 

 and presented the figures of Widmanstatt similar to that of the 

 Braunau iron " (Smith). The smooth surface and regular form 

 of this iron from Maverick County would also preclude its 

 being a part of another fall, as it seems to be complete in itself. 



The representation which Brezina givesj of the iron from 

 Hex Kiver Mountains (South Africa) resembles in its crystal- 

 line structure and inclusions the iron here described, in a 

 marked degree. It is also near to, if not similar with, the class 

 of meteoric irons, to which belong those from Auburn, Ala.,§ 

 and Davidson County, K C.|| This is the fourth mass of mete- 

 oric iron discovered in Texas. The others being known as the 

 Gibbs or Reel River, f the Denton County,*"* and the Wichita 

 Countyft irons 



Newark, N. J., June 12, 1886. 



*This Journal, vol. xlvii, p. 383-385. f Ibid, vol. xix, p. 151-323. 



\ Die Meteoritensammlung des k. k. mineralogisclien Hof-kabinets in Wien am 

 1. Mai, 1885. Tafel 3, fig. 5. § Ibid, vol. xlvii, p. 230. 



|| Ibid, III, vol. xx, p. 324. «[ Ibid, I, vol. viii, p. 218. 



** Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1857-60, vol. i, p. 623. 

 ff Ibid, p. 622, and this Journal, III. vol. xxriii, p. 285. 



