229, W. £. Hidden—Mazapil Meteoric-iron. 
as shown by its history, that I have delayed announcing it until 
the evidence of its fall had been substantiated as thoroughly as 
possible. 
The general freshness of surface, which shows very perfectly 
the flow of the melted crust; the presence of unusually large 
nodules of a very compact graphite; the very slight superficial 
oxidation, and its dissimilarity toother meteorites of the region, 
are all interesting features of this iron, and serve to confirm the 
statement of its recent fall. When received it weighed about 
3950 grams. Its present weight is 3864 grams, or ten pounds 
four and one-quarter ounces, troy. Its greatest length is 175 
millimeters, as measured diagonally across the mass. In its 
thickest part it measures about 60 millimeters. It could be 
described as a flat irregular mass, covered with deep depressions, 
having a smooth surface. (See figure 1.) ; 
The evidence of the fall is set forth in the following com- 
munication from Professor Bonilla. 
(Translation).—“It is with great pleasure that I send to you 
the Uranolite which fell near Mazapil, during the night of the 
27th of November, 1885. That you may the better appreciate 
the great scientific interest which this uranolite possesses, I will 
state that everything points to the belief that it belongs to a 
fragment of the comet of Biela-Gambart, lost since 1852. I here 
give you the history of this celestial wanderer. On the second 
day of December (1885) I received, to my great. delight, from 
Eulogio Mijares, who lives on the Conception Ranch, 13 kilo- 
meters to the east of the town of Mazapil, a uranolite, which he 
saw fall from the heavens, at nine-o’clock on the evening of the 
27th of Nov., 1885. The fall, simply related, he tells as follows, 
in his own words :— 
‘**Tt was about nine in the evening when I went to the corral to 
feed certain horses, when suddenly I heard a loud sizzing noise, 
exactly as though something red-hot was being plunged into cold 
water, and almost instantly there followed a somewhat loud thud. 
At once the corral was covered with a phosphorescent light and 
suspended in the air were small luminous sparks as though from 
a rocket. I had not recovered from my surprise when I saw this 
luminous air disappear and there remained on the ground only 
such a light as is made when a match is rubbed. A number of 
people from the neighboring houses came running toward me 
and they assisted me to quiet the horses which had become very 
much excited. We all asked each other what could be the 
matter, and we were afraid to walk in the corral for fear of 
getting burned. When, in a few moments, we had recovered 
from our surprise, we saw the phosphorescent light disappear, 
little by little, and when we had brought lights to look for the 
cause, we found a hole in the ground and init @ ball of light.* 
We retired to a distance, fearing it would explode and harm us. 
“* Una bola de lumbre.” 
