The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-05-21
KossILs EROh rHs sKI.
The Curieus Theory OF y German Neturalist-
what Scientific Men Say.

II reckon we are on the Same errand,"
said q pleasant-spoken man. who had como to
halt with us beside n largo mass Of metal in
the Smithsonian Institution and like US, had
fshed out n microscope ready for use. Ihave
heard so much" he continued. about these
fossil plants and animals In meteorites that
thought would come and soc for myself. Looks
as though 1t had had a hard time. don't III"
The mass. which label said weighed 1,400
pounds. was battered and dented. as II 1t had
been flying around In space for ages.
Il suppose this II caused by the intense heat
produced when It struck our atmosphere" said
the stranger tapping a large dent with his
hand glass. and then gazing ut 1t through the
| lens. Perhaps it's because am not familiar
with fossil forms. but don't see anything that
looks a. II 1t had ever been alive"
Here an attaohe OF tho museum passing was
| questioned as 10 the chemical composition OF
the meteorite. Il don't believe there's much
chemistry about that" said the man: its the
tin ball that used to DO on the Senate flagstaff.
1t was struck by lightning four or Ave years
ago. and was so bont up that they sent 1t here
as curiosity"
The stranger and the writer shook hands In
silence. They were led to the real visitor from
the sky. which stood hard by on q pedestal. 1t
was only q mistake in the labels. The real
meteorite would probably he good lift for four
or nve men. 1t resembles in shape mimic Ice
berg frozen in fantastic shapes. Several great
oral depressions appear in It, evidently formed
space. it is a solid mass Of IRON IRON. and the e
stranger. after a careful examination, gave up
that there are two kinds Of meteorites, stone
the fine dust Of the stone ones arc placed In n
Sydro9en and ntroSe y y'THh These gases have
probably been absorbed by the iron Of the
Chladni's theory that they are small bodies re-
| volying In space their spectrum corresponds
sss ths Th ksDs TALL and d s
Colony In 1885, Prof. WoeEier concluded that
After this Prot, Kesselmayer described oertain
curious forms that he observed in these bodies ;
read before the Royal BavarIan Academy OF
Sciences spoke Of these forms. From these
He has not lacked, supporters. When he
mo ned ndPPE any
carefully examined the sections and declared
!. weinland Of the Philadelphia academy Of
| Sciences not only accepts DR.: Hahn's discov
but sS f. e classify The ami
cies known, TO us. In tho " columns and tibres "
OF G0mbel he sees the stomata, the rays and
al8e he says, are strown about in the material
neIs and others are determined az allied to
Leptothrix. Leptomitus. and Hysterophyma-
All these forms can only DO seen in perfection
DR.. Rachel Of this city says; But what is the
most Interesting feature of all the organisms
light in meteofites is their fiiiputisn size e.
The coral tree referred TO presents itself to the
larger than pin head It's greatest diameter
measures nine-tenths oi millimetre, and the
single cells not more than about fve-tenths Of
amillimctre. All the other organisms detected
cuin OF spongss. Tor instance. being absolutely
iormation Of those e" esess fossils could I mot
possibly have beep different from what We
II to SS with our eFTeStrss
preserve them Httss death by process Of inai-
thsreores ' must SSye had oss
period Of existence; il must have had an az
Sssn s With IN
Cause has been Of Its destruction and Its utter
tss to
aspn Ss to the HsG Il Is
On the sui beet, the latter saii to The reporter:
u: s the aS.Sfd hSs o
IS f Ss ss in
matter to come 10 US in tho way described. but
the forms he has described are well known. and
have been known for years to every mineralo-
gist. Here section from the interior OF an
iron meteorite that was brought to me some
asimilar discovery, He paid some one $40 Tor
the section which showed number Of curious;
plants. but they had been Produced by apply
Ing nitric IAN and hydIS,ch9rtc acids 70 tho sur
mineralogists as Widmannstattian figures.
and of course q clover fraud. Hahn however
seems 70 be in dead earnest and evidently BE-.
Prof: Lawrence Smith says" the geolosist
cS,,Ia were these remains present we
lime were discovered and analyDed by. myself.
and In these, cases the carbonate OF lime was
posted on the surface after their fall. In the
microscopic examination OF these polished
minerals. eustatits and bronzite. will, by their
and C,bsr mnS
ing but q rare resemblance and furthermore
the very nature Of these minerals preeiudes the
minr al ~ even In 'erres-
~, Here Is ! Ietie:" adfsd Tho geologist, on
tuition. He seems to think Hahn a crank:
1:IS the R psn., 2, rrG' .1n
These form. which h. accurately describes fsure,
2s s;sr s IL ma spG s sSs
IN nG nsa .Ie forms a and s
euliar manner a, TO give them ihs aPpsarance SONS
the American meteOritas which have examined show
these forms In great besuty but Prof Hahn the only
r .s s.. na 1s sa. in i % @
Of the long and Aborous 81 0ermau Proes
sor who found whole fora and fauna which he
with double Latin and which he found IN his mi
cToscopic examination OF basalt"
The only pieces Of the meteorite OF K nyahinya
in this country arc owned by Mr.. John Nichols
Of this city. He finds no trace Of organic forms.
He saws: An examination which have made
/ ant In In 1T
Hahns statement as TO what he saw. and il
therefore remains only to decide whether the
deductions that he made are correct. The
doubtful forms arc very clearly defined and SUI
hclently large 70 be examined with, precision by
one inch objective. One prominent object
minutive clam shell is found TO measure Las by
Lao OF al inch. was Il disappointed TO fnd that
high powers failed 10 develop structure which
indicated decisivcly the nature OF these forms"
Gen. sherman In the Chair.