Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-05

Diamonds Found In Meteorite and the Won
ders They Signify.


ders They Signify.
or ALL THE CURIOsITIEs WHICH THE
" wise men Of the Association for the Ad-
vancemeut of Science brought to Washington
for exhibition to their fellows the most extra
Such thing had never been seen or heard of
before; in fact, IL was the only specimen Of the
kind thus far discovered in the world. The
diamonds were little ones, but what they signi-
fed was big.
The meteorite in question was one Of many
found recently in Arizona near the Canon
Diablo. 1t was supposed by the discoveries
that they had hit upon An iron mine Of enor-
nous value, but investigation proved that the
great chunks Of metal picked up had been shot
out Of the realms of space. The place whence
they were obtained is known as the crater, be-
cause it looks like one. being circular hollow
100 feet in depth. three-quartsrs Of a mile wide
and surrounded by a wall of rock SO steep that
the bottom is strewn with the skeletons of
animals which have gotten in and been unable
to climb out again. Nevertheless, it is not Of
volcanic origin, as is proved with certainty by
the fact that there is no lava, obsidian-volcanic
glass-or other volcanic product In the neigh
borhood.
WHAT WAS IT THEN THAT MADE THE CRATER?
Biologists say that it was formed by the
impact Of q single gigantic meteor, which at
some time in the past struck the earth and
buried itself out of sight, leaving hole which
has since become partly filled up, surrounded
| by wall of rock that was forced out OF place.
| Imagine what q big one it must have been to
leave q cavity three-fourths OF q mile In width
where it hit this planet. The mass OF iron of
which it was composed is there yet, OF course
| Perhaps it was not sunk too deep to render
mining for its material Improbable. Frag.
ments of it formed the masses that were picked
up by the prospectors above referred to.
| 1t is worth mentioning, by the way. that
according to the most newly accepted theory
| the so-called 'craters" in the moon wert
formed by meteors in the same fashion.
| SUBJECT FOR SPECULATION.
| The fragment which contained the diamonds
above referred to has opened an absorbing sub
ject for speculation. 1t proves that there are
diamonds in other worlds than ours; but also
| it points to many other important conclusions
| The diamonds Of the famous Kimberly mines
| which at present produce almost the entire
| worlds supply of those gems, are all found q
the bottoms of just such craters as the one de
| scribed In Arizona. 1t is believed that thes'
craters, SO called, were formed by the impact
| of great meteors, because there is no other con
| ceivable way in which they could have beer
made, and for other reasons geological. III so
then 1t must be inferred that probably all th'
terrestrial sphere by meteorites. In othe
words, these precious jewels are not native {,
the earth, but have been fetched hither will
the dust of other stars. That accounts for tn
manner, hitherto deemed unaccountable, ii
which they are scattered everywhere througl
drift of all sorts. having apparently no birth
place or definite relation to other minerals.
Is THERE LIFE IN OTHER WORLDS!
Some scientists 60 SO far as to assert tina
diamonds, like COAL which is so nearly Of tn
same chemical constitution, could not possibl
come into existence without previous vegetabl
growths to generate their material For thi
reason they infer that the finding OF the gem
in the meteorite demonstrates that there mus
have been vegetable life, at all events, in tn
, place whence the meteorite came. II Their
| was vegetable life there 1t is fair presumI
| ton that there was animal life also. All thi
may be untrue, but it affords the first CUES
, glimpse that has ever been obtained into th
tempted to handle, namely, the questlo
whether life exists in other worlds than our
From the philosophical point Of view the fat
g cannot but be taken for granted in a univers
/ in which the sun is merely an inferior star
the fourth magnitude. Nevertheless, some al
. solute evidence on the point would be e.
tremely satisfactory.
\ WHAT MErEoRrTEs ARE.
t Meteorites ordinarily are nearly all iron, wi,
' a small percentage Of nickel. None of thel
L has ever been known to contain a particle
any precious metal. Nevertheless, many
them are worth many times their weight
g gold. because of some popularity of structu
i or otherwise. Every collector Of minera
q makes it matter of pride to have a specimt
. of every known kind of meteorite in his cab
y net II a new sort turns up and he has not
d single piece no is unhappy. 1t happens som
IS times that one weighing not more than poun
: of makeup that has not been seen before, W
= sell in bits for a couple of thousand dollars
= its possessor knows how to dispose of it. Pc
a pie are not less interested in other worlds. b
y cause they know nothing about the next one.