280 



MEMOIR ON METEORITES. 



very satisfactory. When first seen by Lieut. G-oueh it was used 

 as an anvil, and had been originally intended for the Society 

 of Geography and Statistics in the City of Mexico. It is stated 

 that where this mass was found there are many others of enor- 

 mous size. These stones, however, it is well known, are to be 

 received with many allowances. Mr. Weidner, of the mines of 

 Freiberg, states that near the south-western edge of the Balson 

 de Mapimi, on the route to the mines of Parral, there' is a 

 meteorite near the road of not less than a ton weight. Lieut. 

 Gouch also states that the intelligent but almost unknown 

 Dr. Berlandier writes in his journal of the commission of limits 

 that at the hacienda of Venagas there was (1827) a piece of 

 iron that would make a cylinder one yard in length, with a 

 diameter of ten inches. It was said to have been brought from 

 the mountains near the hacienda. It presented no crystalline 

 structure, and was quite ductile. 



The meteoric mass in question, which is at the Smithsonian 

 Institution, is of the form represented in the figure, and one 



Fig. 2. 



well adapted for an anvil. Its weight is two hundred and 

 fifty-two pounds, and from several flattened places I am led 

 to -appose that pieces have become detached. The surface, 

 although irregular in some places, is rather smooth, with only 

 here and there thin coatings of rust, and, as might be expected, 

 but very feeble evidence of chlorine, and that only on one or 

 tv ■ spots on the surface. Specific gravity 7.81. It is highly 

 crystalline, quite malleable, and not difficult to cut with the 

 sa Its surface etched with nitric acid presents the Widmann- 

 st an figures, with a finely-specked surface between the lines, 



