The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-12-23
METEoRITes OF MEXICO.
A Chunk That Fell in chihuahua Weigh.
ing Over Twenty-Five Tons.

The most remarkable meteoric irons
of America as respects size and weight
are found upon the tablelands of
Mexico, says w. P. Blake in the N. Y.
Independent. Through the efforts of
Prof. Castillo the mineral collections
of the Mineria, the Mexican school of
mines, in the City of Mexico, have been
of late greatly enriched by the addition
of full-sized casts in papier-mache of
some of these enormous masses. the
great weight of which prevents their
being transported to the city. Some
of these casts or models were exhibited
at the Paris exhibition in 1889, and
have but recently been on exhibition
in Mexico. They are so we'll made
and colored that the visitor at first sup
poses that he sees the real and original
I masses of iron.
The largest irons occur in the state
of Chihuahua and are known as the
'meteorites of Chupaderos." Accord
ing to the history of Philip H., they
were discovered by the explorer An
tonic de Espejo in 1881. This refers
to the two largest blocks. lying in the
soil some 800 yards apart, but evident
ly broken one from the other at the
time of the fall. This becomes strik-
ingly evident when the two models
are brought together end to end, for
the ragged projections of one fit into
the impressions in the other, and the
thickness of the contact is the same in
both. The smaller of the blocks so
represented by the cast is about z feet
in length and feet inches in breadth,
and Is inches in thickness. Its density
is 7.S0. and its weight by calculation
is not less than Is, 500 pounds or over
| nine tons. The second and larger
portion measures over feet in length
and 1-2 feet in width, about 10 inches
in thickness. It's mass is calculated as
| two cubic meters, and its weight 81, 600
| pounds.
The two portions if united would
present the appearance of an irregular
plate or tabular mass over fifteen feet
| long, from three to six feet wide and a
half yard thick, and would weigh
| nearly twenty-five tons, Both masses
contain the metal troilite, a proto-
sulphid of iron characteristic of
meteoric masses. giving additional
| evidence. if any were needed, of the
extra-terrestial origin of these irons.
1t is hard to conceive how such a
massive plate of metal could have been
broken ssunder, even by the force OF
| the shock of contact with the surface
of the earth; but such fractures are
| common to meteorites. and are ex-
| planned by the resistance of the air,
| producing sudden and great heat of
| the outer portions of the intensely cold
body from the frigid regions of space.
| Meteorites also contain quantities OF
gases occluded in their substance.
Fractures were clearly shown in the
Iowa meteorites and in those which
fell several miles apart in India in
| 1861, which fit together.
There are three distinct zones in
which meteorites have fallen in Mexi-
CO: 1. That of Oaxaca, where new
blocks and masses are found from time
to time and are characterized by the
absence of trolite and their inaltera-
bility in the air. 2. That of Toluca,
| in which immense quantities of little
fragments are found, especially at and
near Xiquiqilco, in the valley of Tolu-
ca. These irons decompose rapidly in
the air. becoming rusty and covered
with exudations of chloride of iron and
green effiorescenees containing nickel.
| 1ne largest mass WelSuS ABOUT ninety
ponnds and others are of all sizes.
They are found in cultivating the fields
and in the small ravines after heavy
rains. 3. The region of the north
part of the republic comprising the
chihuahua falls and others north and
south of Jimenez which place may be
regarded as near the central line. The
meteorites of this zone are not very
alterabie by exposure. and they con-
tain trollte in abundance. Mention
should also be made of the celebrated
Irwin-Ainsa or Ring meteorite from
Sonora, for many years past in the
National museum at Washington.