Meteorites of Iowa. — Torrey-Barbour. 71 
train of sparks : the heavy line of black smoke left in its wake to 
mark its course for a full ten or fifteen minutes : all were seen and 
marvelled at by the people of several states. Its course to the eye 
was from southwest to northeast, and its inclination to the earth 
most commonly judged to be about 55". One well authenticated 
but suprising report comes from Tabor, in the extreme south- 
western corner of the state, to the effect that the ' ' noise there was 
like thunder, and was compared by some to an earthquake shock, 
the jarring of the gi'ound being so evident, and that four distinct 
explosions were observed b}' one." 
This is a point of considei-able interest to us, for at Grinnell 
but faint noise, if any at all, accompanied the transit. Although 
the clamor over a both- contested game of ball on the athletic field 
of the campus hindered the students and faculty, who saw it, from 
making careful observations on this point, yei to satisfy' ourselves 
we visited all the fanners for some twenty miles northwest of 
Grinnell to find but one who thought possibly he heard a noise in 
connection with the passage through the air. It was surely ac- 
companied by little or only imaginary noise at this point. 
The train of smoke left b}' the meteorite seems worthy of notice. 
The velocity of the meteorite was such that its transit through the 
earth's atmosphere was momentary, and at the time the head 
passed below the horizon, the entire course of the meteor was 
marked by a broad ribbon of smoke, having straight, sharply de- 
fined edges. It was interesting to notice how this ribbon of smoke 
tapered off toward the higher atmosphere, as if vanishing in per- 
spective, showing the great rarity at that elevation. The smoke 
began to curl away gradualh% but lingered for a full fifteen or 
twenty minutes before disapi)earing entix'ely. Tiie fall was largely 
on unimproved land near Thompson, covering with fragments an 
elliptical area some two or three miles long b}' one and a half wide. 
(It seems as if the major axis might be taken roughly as the 
direction of the meteor, that is N. H as it appeared to the 
eye. Or, as professor Winchell suggests, the line of direction is 
more nearly that of the line of impact of the large fragments, that 
is N.W. ) The 6(3 pound fragment buried itself , close to a farmer 
in the field, more than three feet in the hard prairie soil. It was 
not dug out till the next day. Professor Wlncliell, who visited 
the spot at once, kindly informs us that the 6(5 pound stone was 
not hot when dug out, notwitlistanding all reports to the contrary, 
and that the clay around it was neither baked nor in any way 
