Mallet — Stony Meteorite from Coon Butte, Arizona. 347 



Art. XXX. — A Stony Meteorite from Coon Butte, Arizona; 

 by J. W. Mallet, University of Virginia. 



I was told of the existence of the aerolite described in this 

 paper by Mr. D. Morean Barringer of Philadelphia, who found 

 and owns the specimen, and has permitted me to examine and 

 describe it. 



Mr. Barringer and Mr. Benjamin C. Tilghman, members of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, have for 

 some time been engaged in exploration at the locality known 

 as Coon Butte in Coconino County, Arizona, whence large 

 quantities of meteoric iron — commonly called Canyon Diablo 

 iron — have been brought, and these gentlemen have recently 

 sent a paper to the Philadelphia Academy on the subject of 

 this exploration and their conclusions from the results they 

 have thus far reached. 



Mr. Barringer has sent me the following account of the cir- 

 cumstances under which he himself found the meteorite I 

 have examined : 



" On June 24th, 1905, while riding with Mr. S. J. Holsin- 

 ger in a general northwest direction from the crater to our 

 reservoirs in Canyon Diablo gorge, my attention was attracted 

 by a rather curiously shaped stone lying on the surface of the 

 thin soil which covers the level limestone plain extending for 

 many miles in every direction in this region. The rather 

 sharply pointed protuberance was what particularly attracted 

 my observation and made me realize that it could not be a 

 water-worn bowlder such as are frequently found in this 

 region." " Upon getting off from our horses and examining 

 the stone I at once suspected that it might prove to be an aero- 

 lite, and of course became much interested in the discovery. 

 The greater portion of it was exposed to view, it being- 

 imbedded in the loose soil only to about an inch in depth. 

 Two of the broken corners, as I remember, were exposed to 

 view, and the fractures exhibited seemed to be quite fresh. 

 I infer that these corners were broken off at the time of the 

 fall. The locality at which it was found is typical of the 

 region, namely a nearly bare or naked plain covered by loose 

 soil and dotted here and there with bunches of sage brush, 

 grease wood, etc. As I remember, the exact spot at which 

 the stone was discovered~is between a mile and a mile and a 

 half distant from the crater in a general western direction, 

 and about ten and a half miles in a southeast direction 

 from Canyon Diablo station." " We made a thorough search 

 for the fragments which had been broken off from this stone, 

 but failed to find them. I infer that the stone struck the earth 

 at some distance from the spot where it was found, and 



