S. C. H. Bailey — Aerolite from Rensselaer Co., N. Y. 61 



but quite smooth, with its line of union with the interior 

 scarcely distinguishable, the clear black outside layer being 

 but little thicker than stout note paper. The interior upon a 

 freshly fractured surface is of a reddish brown color with a 

 slight trace of blackish green when held in a certain light; its 



texture is very fine, compact and hard, a little slaty in struc- 

 ture, and shows no traces of iron even under the lens, but 

 when cut with the diamond saw, the iron appears in brilliant 

 specks, very uniformly and abundantly distributed through the 

 mass, so finely and equally disposed as to remind one forcibly 

 of the fabric formerly known as " pepper and salt cloth." The 

 stone bears a high polish which seems to give a degree of trans- 

 lucency to the surface which then assumes a mottled appear- 

 ance, with patches of clear seal brown, spots of a gray color 

 and a few "kugelcben " or grains of an oolitic structure. The 

 aerolite was encircled with a zone of broad, deep pittings, as 

 shown by the engraving. In its general aspect upon a cut 

 surface it more nearly resembles the Seres, Macedonia, stone, 

 thau any with which I am familiar. 



A circumstance, as connected with the enquiry, for how long 

 a time an aerolite may resist the action of the soil and atmos- 

 phere, may here be mentioned. Mr. Bancker, its finder, states 

 that many years prior to the discovery of this aerolite under 

 the tree as before mentioned (probably fifteen years or more) 

 he found this, or a similar stone in size and appearance, in his 



