HOVEY, THE FOYER METEORITES 39 



SELMA. 



{Aerolite.) 



The Selnia meteorite is believed to have fallen at about 9 o'clock, 

 p. m., July 20, 1898, but it was not found until March, 190G. The 

 meteor of July 20, 1898, seems to have traveled in a direction some- 

 what west of north, and its flight is said to have been accompanied by 

 a heavy rumbling noise and a "trail of fire ten or twelve feet long." 

 The meteorite was found about two miles north-northwest of Selma, 

 Alabama, near the road to Summerfield, and it takes its name from 

 the nearest town, as is the rule with meteoritic falls. 



Selma weighs 306 pounds in its present condition, and it is probable 

 that its original weight was about four pounds more, one or more small 

 fragments having been lost from the mass. It is one of the ten largest 

 aerolites ever found, and is the fourth largest aerolite that has fallen 

 in the United States. The others having been broken up, this is proba- 

 bly the largest entire stone meteorite in the country at the present time. 

 Its dimensions are: length, as it rests on its pedestal, 20^ inches; width, 

 20 inches; height, 14 inches. 



In shape Selma is roughly polyhedral without pronounced orienta- 

 tion features, but it is probable that the upper side, as the specimen 

 now lies, was the "brustseite" or front during the flight of the mass 

 through the atmosphere. This side is bluntly pyramidal in shape. 

 The original glassy crust of the meteorite has been mostly decomposed 

 and washed away so that the characteristic thumb-marks, or piezo- 

 glyphs, have been partly obscured. These peculiar markings may be 

 seen on the front of the meteorite and in the illustration on page 37. 

 The mass is deeply penetrated by cracks on both sides, and the position 

 and character of the fissures indicate that they were caused by unequal 

 heating during flight through the atmosphere, the tension produced 

 not being enough, however, to cause complete fracture. 



During the years while the meteorite lay buried in the ground altera- 

 tion due to decomposition advanced considerably. A cut and polished 

 fragment shows the unaltered stone to have a dark brownish-gray 

 color and to be made up of spheroidal "chondrules" firmly imbedded 

 in a matrix of similar matter. The largest chondrules observed are 

 one eighth inch across, but these are extremely rare and most of the 



