Geology and Mineralogy. 483 



the crater, the details of its structure, and the distribution of the 

 meteoric material about it. All the evidence at hand supports 

 the conclusion that the crater owes its origin to an impact of a 

 meteoric mass, probably a dense cluster of iron meteorites and 

 possibly the head of a comet ; 10 million tons is given as the 

 minimum estimate of the probable weight of the mass. To 

 explain the fact that explorations thus far made have failed 

 to reveal the presence of a great meteoric mass, it is stated that 

 the drillings have only been carried on in the central portion of 

 the crater. It is now believed that the mass approached from the 

 north at a considerable angle, perhaps as much as 30° from the 

 vertical, and probably " lies under the southern wall of the 

 crater, some two thousand feet from where the drilling was done." 

 It is much to be desired that further and finally conclusive inves- 

 tigations of this interesting subject should be made at the 

 locality. 



4. New Meteorites. — A recent paper by Dr. O. C. Farringtox 

 gives an account of several new meteorites which have been 

 added to the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago. These 

 may be briefly mentioned as follows : the Ahumada iron, found 

 60 miles east of Ahumada in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, in 

 1909, weight 116 lbs.; the Bishop Canyon iron, weighing 19 lbs., 

 found in 1912 near Bishop Canyon, in San Miguel Co., Colorado ; 

 a large iron, weighing 1520 lbs., found in 1903 at the north end 

 of Davis Mountains, Jeff Davis county, Texas. This last iron is 

 remarkable in containing the largest amount of platinum thus far 

 recorded ("03 per cent). — Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Geol. Series, v, 

 No. 1, 1914. 



5. Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geologie, und Pcdaon- 

 tologie. XXXIX JBeilage- Band. Festschrift Max JBauer zum 

 seibzigsten Geburtstage gewidment. Unter Redaktion von R. 

 Brauns. Pp. 568 ; with portrait, 32 pis., 47 figs. Stuttgart, 

 1914. — It is interesting that notwithstanding the conditions exist- 

 ing in Europe it has been found possible to publish and distribute 

 this notable and massive volume. The great services of Pro- 

 fessor Bauer are here well and deservedly honored ; the table of 

 contents includes twenty-one papers, many of them exhaustive in 

 character, and admirably illustrated by plates and figures. 



6. Amethysts in Egypt. — It has been long known that the 

 ancient Egyptians used the amethyst extensively as an ornamental 

 stone. Recently it has been announced that extensive workings 

 have been discovered by G. B. Crookston, near Gebel Abu 

 Diyeiba, where the mineral occurs lining cavities in a kind of red 

 granite. A piece of amethyst had earlier been found by G. W. 

 Murray and C. M. Firth in Wady Bahan in lower Nubia. — Na- 

 ture, January 21, 1915. 



