E E. Howell — Meteorite f ram Puquios, Chili. 225 



The iron reached us in an absolutely perfect condition. It 

 had apparently lain for a considerable time half buried in the 

 soil with its upper surface exposed to the weather and drifting 

 sand which combined to bring out the structure of the iron 

 without oxidization, making an exceedingly interesting and 

 attractive object. 



Puquios Meteorite, \ natural size. The line a, b, indicates where section was 



made. 



The general form of the meteorite is such as might result 

 from the wearing away of a rhombic prism, one end wearing 

 thinner than the other. (See accompanying cut.) The surface 

 is unusually smooth, showing only a few shallow pittings. 

 The two largest diameters are 10 and 5^ inches (25-|Xl4 cen- 

 timeters), and the weight was 14 lbs. 1\ ozs., or a trifle over 6|- 

 kilos. 



Although the surface of this iron is unusually interesting, 

 the interior proves to be still more so. The etched sections 

 show that the mass has been subjected to fracture and disloca- 

 tion, resulting in a distinct and undoubted " faulting" of the 

 Widmanstatten figures, and of the troilite. Most of these 

 faults are so small and faint that they cannot be reproduced in 

 an illustration, but are clearly seen with a pocket lens. The 

 following cut of one of the etched sections, f natural size, 

 and produced by photographic process, shows three of these 

 lines of faulting which is the especially interesting feature of 

 this meteorite. So far as I am aware these are the first faults 

 noted in an iron meteorite. 



The novelty of this phenomenon and the exceeding tough- 

 ness of meteoric iron, making a sharp fault seem almost an 

 impossibility, require that the evidence of such a fault should 

 be clear and conclusive before its acceptance as a fact ; and 

 such is fortunately the case. The largest fault is seen in suc- 

 cessive sections for 2J inches, or as far as the iron has been 

 cut, and apparently extends the entire length of the mass, the 



