Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-01-29
METEORITES OF MEXICO
A Chunk That Fell in chihuahua Weigh
ing Over Twenty five Tons.

The most remarkable meteoric irons
of America rs respects size and weight
are found upon the tablelands of
Mexico, SAYS w. 2. Blake in the n. Y.
Independent. Through the efforts of
Prof. Castillo the mineral collections
of the Minerva, the Mexican school of
mines, in the Cigy of Mexico, have been
of late greatly enriched by the addition
of full-sizcd 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
masses of iron.
The largest irons occur in the state
of Chihuahua and are known as the
''meteorltes of CAupaderos.n Accord
ing to the history of Philip H., they
were discovered by the explorer An-
tonic de Espejo in 1851. This refers
to the two largest blocks. living in the
soil some 800 yards apart, but evident
~ 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
bott. The smaller of the blocks so
represented by the cast is about Z feet
i'll length and feet inches in breadth,
and Is inches in thickness Its density
is $50, 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 6 IL feet in width, about 10 inches
in thickness. Its mass is calculated AZ
two cubic meters, and its weight 81. 900
pounds.
The two portions if united would
present the appearance of IN irregular
! plate or tabular mass over fifteen feet
| long, from three to six feet wide and a
half a yard thick. and would weigh
| nearly twenty-five tons, Both masses
contain the metal troilite, q proto-
| sulphid of iron characteristic of
meteoric masses. giving additional
evidence if any were needed, of the
extra-terrestal origin of these irons.
| 1t is hard to conceive how such a
massive plate of metal could have been
broken asunder. 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.
! MeteoritcS also contain quantities of
gases occiuded in their substance.
Fractures were clearly shown in the
Iowa mcteorites and in those which
fell several miles apart in India in
! 1861, which lit together.
There are three distinct zones in
which meteorites have fallen in MeXi-
co: /. That Of OaXaca, where new
blocks and masses are found from time
to time and are characterized by the
| absence of trO}ite aud their inaltera-
| bility in the air. 2. That of TOuCa,
| in which immense quantities of little
| fragments are found, especially at and
near Aiquiqilco, in the valley of ToIu-
ca. These irons decompose rapidly il
the air, becoming rusty and covered
with exudations of chloride of iron and
| green etioresceuees containing nickel.
The largest mass weighs about ninety
| pounds 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
atterable by exposure, and they con-
tain trohte 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.