240 H. A. Ward— Billings Meteorite. 



Art. XXII. — The Billings Meteorite: A new Iron Meteorite 

 from Southern Missouri; by Henry A. "Ward. 



A new siderite is now added to the six meteorites (four 

 siderites and two aerolites) already found in the state of Missouri. 

 The mass was found on the farm of Geo. Wolf about four 

 miles east of Billings, Christian County, Southwestern Missouri, 

 in breaking new ground in September, 1903. It was taken by 

 Mr. Wolf — who considered it an iron ore, — to a street fair held 

 in Billings in the same month, where it took the first prize as 

 Iron Ore. The attention of J. P. Thomas was called to it, and 



Billings Siderite, }/( size. 



he had a horse-shoe nail made from a piece of it and a hole 

 drilled through the edge of the mass to test its quality. Mr. 

 Thomas shipped it with a large number of specimens of iron 

 ore to Kansas City, Mo., where it was bought by Mr. R. E. 

 Bruner, a gentleman who possesses a fine collection of minerals. 

 It remained in Mr. Bruner's hands until I obtained it from him 

 last November. 



In general shape the Billings siderite rudely resembles an 

 axe or hatchet, as may be seen from the cut here given. Its 

 extreme length is 15 J inches ; its greatest breadth 8f inches. 

 The thickness at the larger end is 5 inches, while from the 

 middle the mass flattens out into a blade or wedge, which is 

 about 3 inches thick on a medium line, and slopes off to a blunt 

 rounded edge at the sides and end. This iron has evidently 



