14 FIRST FLOOR, SOUTH PAVILION 



rapid progress. This statue of Mr. Jesup was executed by William Couper 

 and was presented to the Museum by the Trustees and a few other friends. 

 The marble busts in the wall niches represent noteworthy pioneers of Ameri- 

 can science, and are the gift of Morris K. Jesup. These include Benjamin 

 Franklin, statesman and natural philosopher, Alexander von Humboldt, 

 geographer and geologist, Louis Agassiz, zoologist, Joseph Henry, physicist, 

 John James Audubon, ornithologist, Spencer Fullerton Baird, zoologist 

 and founder of the United States Fish Commission, James Dwight Dana, 

 geologist, John Torrey, botanist, Edward Drinker Cope, palaeontologist/ 

 and Joseph Leidy, anatomist. 



Circling this same hall is the collection of meteorites, popularly known 

 as "shooting stars," ranging in weight from a few grains to 36 tons. The 

 greater number of meteorites are stony, but the more interest- 

 ing ones are composed chiefly of iron, while certain meteorites 

 contain both stone and iron. The toughness of iron meteorites is due to 

 the presence of nickel, and the fact that they were so difficult to cut led to 

 the adoption of an alloy of nickel and iron in making the armor plate for 

 battleships. Meteorites have a very definite structure and when polished 

 (see specimens on the right with electric lamp) show characteristic lines 

 which together with their composition are to the expert absolute proof that 

 the specimens are meteorites. 



"Ahnighito" or "The Tent" at the left is the largest known meteorite 

 in the world, and was brought from Cape York, Greenland, 



Ahnighito by Admiral R. E. Peary. It weighs 36 tons, and its trans- 

 Meteorite " 



portation to New York was an engineering feat. Opposite it 



at the right is the curiously pitted " Willamette " meteorite 



Willamette from Oregon which was the subject of a famous lawsuit. 



eteorite [The collection of meteorites is fully described in Guide 



■ Leaflet No. 26.] 



Suspended in the center of the room is a three-inch incandescent globe 



representing the sun. Standing directly beneath this globe one may see 



suspended from the ceiling other lights representing the four 



oael oi planets of the Solar System which are nearest the sun, and 



q,tc-i-«™ installed in such a manner as to show relative size and distance 



System 



from the sun, and orbit around the sun. The respective 

 orbits are subdivided into sections representing the solar day, and the 

 relative diurnal position of each planet is shown. The "Signs of the 

 Zodiac" are imbedded in the floor. 



