METEORITE STUDIES. III. 
’ BY OLIVER CUMMINGS FARRINGTON. 
LEIGHTON. 
_ This meteorite fell at 8 p. m., Sunday, January 12, 1907, eight 
miles south of Leighton, Colbert County, Alabama. The exact place 
of fall was near the old Bethel church in township 5, range 10, west 
of the Huntsville meridian. So far as is known to the writer only a 
single stone of the fall is preserved. To Dr. A. Graves of Leighton 
and Professor E. A. Smith of the University of Alabama the Museum 
is indebted for such information as it possesses regarding the fall. 
According to Dr. Graves the meteor which produced the meteorite 
passed over the region with a mighty roar which ended in a report 
something like pistol-firing in rapid succession and from which “ par- 
ticles flew like sparks from a coal of fire.’’ A stone from this meteor 
struck in the yard of the residence of Mrs. M. D. Allen. Mrs. Allen 
and her daughter Mattie were standing on their front porch and saw 
the meteor, heard the explosion, then heard a whizzing in the air and 
the striking of a stonein the yard. On going to the place they found 
the stone which is now preserved, sunken to the depth of about 12 
inches. This stone weighed one pound and fifteen ounces (877 grams). 
About one ounce was chipped off from one corner by the parties who 
found the stone, in order to examine its interior. Accordingly the 
weight of the stone as received by the Museum was one pound and 
fourteen ounces (850 grams). The shape and size of the stone may 
be roughly described as like that of a man’s fist. It is shown in 
fager, Plate LV. The greatest length is 4 inches (1o cm.), the 
height 2% inches (6 cm.). About three-fourths of the surface is 
covered with crust, the remainder has a rough, irregular, fractured 
appearance. The lack of crust on part of the uncrusted surface is 
probably due to the breaking done by the finders, the remainder per- 
haps represents a fracture of the stonein the air. The large fractured 
surface is roughly triangular in shape with sides about 3 inches (7.5 
em.) in length. The encrusted surfaces of the stone are all smoothed 
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