t. b 
The NOOOLECHE METEORITE, 
With CATALOGUE and BIBLIOGRAPHY of AUSTRA- 
LIAN METEORITES. 
By T. Cooksey, Ph.D., B.Sc., Mineralogist. 
(Plates xii., xiii., xiv.) 
The iron, which has been named the “Nocoleche” Meteorite, was 
presented to the Trustees of this Museum by Mr. George Raffel, 
in October, 1896, from whom the information was gleaned that 
it was found lying upon the surface of stony ground at a spot 
five miles south-west of Nocoleche Station, near Wanaaring, 
N.S. Wales. The specimen received was the whole of the mass 
found. Its existence was known twelve or eighteen months 
previously, but there is no record of any meteorite or meteoric 
showers having occurred in the district. The total mass weighed 
20,040 grams (equal to 44 , 181bs. avoirdupois), its external form 
is of a pronouncedly rugged character, and the iron is raised into 
points and ridges, the latter trending mostly in a uniform direction. 
This character is shown in PI. xii. At B (Pig. 1) is a projecting 
rugged nob, connected to the main mass by a neck which is almost 
penetrated at one point by a deep hole, very probably at one 
time containing a nodule of troilite* A similar hole, but consider- 
ably smaller, is situated in the large cavity at the opposite side. 
(PI. xii., Fig. 2). The remains of a black magnetic coating are 
found in many places, where it is mostly thin, but in protected posi- 
tions, patches remain which in places have a thickness of 2*5 mm. 
The external appearance, on arrival, however, was rusty and up 
to a certain level the colour was fresher than that above, suggest- 
ing that the iron was partially buried at the time of its removal. 
The form of the mass is no doubt partly duo to weathering. The 
length from A to B (Plate xii., Fig 1) is twelve and three-quarter 
inches, from C to I) eleven and a half inches, and greatest thickness, 
leaving out of account the projecting nob, five and a half inches. 
The specific gravity was found to vary slightly from place to 
place. One piece of the iron weighing 5*5824 grama, and visibly 
free from troilite, had a specific gravity of 7 721 (uncorr.); while 
another piece weighing 2*2798 grams., had a specific gravity 
of 7*796 (uncorr.) The specific gravity of a large piece weighing 
just over seventeen ounces, and containing small nodules of 
troilite (apparently a fair sample of the whole mass) was taken 
at the Royal Mint, Sydney, and found to be 7*69. 
The meteorite was cut by Prof. H. A. Ward, of Rochester, 
U.S.A., and the surface shown in Plates xiii. and xiv., etched to 
A 
