2s AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



The finders at first supposed that ttiey had come upon a ledge of solid 

 iron, but the meteoritic character of the mass was soon ascertained. 

 Later one of the prospectors removed the meteorite to his own ranch 

 three-quarters of a mile distant, hut the owners of the land on which it 

 had been found instituted suit for its recovery, and the contest was 

 carried to the supreme court of the State before the finder relinquished 

 his claim. The specimen was received at the Museum in April, 1000. 



The most striking characteristic of Willamette, next to its size, is the 

 series of hollows and deep pits which indent its surface. The broad 

 shallow hollows on the front side, " brustseite," (side now turned toward 

 the wall) were probably caused by friction against the atmosphere and 

 consequent melting and flowage of the iron during- the Bight of the meteo- 

 rite through the air. The deep pot-like pits on the rear side (the side 

 now facing the center of the Foyer) are most probably duv to rusting 

 while the meteorite was lying in the ground where it fell, and they seem 

 to have had their origin in the decomposition of spheroidal nodules of 

 troilite. Note also the cylindrical holes which penetrate deeply into the 

 iiia^s from both sides. These probably began with the decomposition 

 of rod-like masses of troilite. In addition to these holes and pits the 

 surface of the mass is indented with small shallow depressions which 

 also seem to be a feature of the decomposition of the iron. 



A fractured face shows Willamette to be remarkable for its coarse 

 granular texture, the grains being bounded by almost definite planes 

 suggesting crystals. A polished and etched surface shows rather broad 

 Widmanstatten lines. Chemical analysis shows that the meteorite 

 contains about 91.55 per cent iron, 8.09 per cent nickel and a small 

 amount of cobalt, phosphorus and sulphur. 



CANYON DIABLO. 



(Siderite. I 



Canyon Diablo is a siderite which is popularly famous chiefly from 

 the fact that it contains diamonds. This gem stone has been definitely 

 proven to occur in only two meteorites, the other being a Russian fall. 

 although many masse-, arc known to contain carbon in the form of a soft 



