New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-26
METEORS AND METEORIIES.
sToNc AND IRON VISITORS FROM INTER
STELLAR SPACE.
c,,r COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF SOME FAMOUS
SPECIMENS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS kE-
COMMA GREENLAND IRON.

.ror,,ouc MACS of iron which has been thought
=. ho , ,petnorite revives a number OF questions
os 70 The origin. composition and size OF ta' c"'
Of objects In a few instances these SKY
Stones" as they have sometimes beeh ca'icu'
,ova h.en worshipped or at least regarded with
n,cuIiar reverence. TIE sacred kaaba stone NJ
Nocco is boji,vcd TO b. Of rrleteoric origin. And
for four centuries there has hung suspended III
- u,tIc Christian church at Ennisheim. Alsace,
q bit Of rock that was actually seen 10 Ia" from
,ho heavens. In fact. this is the earliest incl
dent Of the kind Of which there Is a definite
record although thc phenomenon has been re-
rrrod IN bv many ancient writer's more or less
y,guelv Rv far the largest number OF speci-
,ncns that have been found, however, are oil uh-
known age No one has witnessed their de-
ccant Indeed their al character has in some
Instances long remained unsupported. Ihere
was preserved in the town house OF Elb"S'h'
Eohemia for several centuries a stone "hich
was not recognized as 4 meteorite uh'" 1911
The "Signct Iron of Tucson. AriZ. anu an
other chunk Of metal found near Staun'oh' va,
were used as anvils, and one OF them rendered.
service in "A ST one fence and also in house wall
before the collectors got hold OF them
Astronomers distinguish between shooting
stars" on metcors. and mcteorites. Inc i"'
,ner. which are by far the most numerous
cra duo to the passage through our atmosphere
OF stones which rarely weigh more thah a Ia"
Grains and which burned up durihS 'he
short period Of their visibility. Thc '"'o'''
with which they move. somewhere from u" "
fifty miles second. develops enough trlc'ioh aS
soon as they enter the carth's aeriai "hN''oPc "
rordcr them incandcsccnt Lord Kelvin says
that IL is as If they were Immersed In dow
nine oar.c al n temperature OF several thou
r..l ,bnt III.
Yale. once estimated that the number oil 'hcSc
it,. ohi.,,, thai come into the atmosphere Of
the entire globe is from ten million TO ili'ee"
million daily.
Pm, those masses which are large enough TO
survive this fiery ordeal are. relatively speaking
exceedingly rare. Perhaps not more IMAM
dozen are seen in the course of year ana IL Is
doubtful if more than very few hundred la"
without witnesses in that period OF time IhcSe
may weigh from A fcw ounces to seV"rai '"nS'
The flight Of the larger ones Is OFTEN a'''"''u
by n rumhling roaring sound. ana also ny
explosions The unequal heating OF any mineral
tends TO crack it into pieces. IL Is only TOT
few seconds that the mctcorite Is SUBJECTED l"
high temperature. and only the surface Is a''eu
urop This may be made 10 glow brilliantly:
and the ;hin varnishke coating found on these
visitors from outer space shows that LITTLE of
the material has actually been fused. Inc
strange pits. or "thumbmarks.' which are 80
Characteristic OF the exterior ~ acrolites. are
usually accounted for by the combustion OF
portions OF the mass and thus AFFORD acditiohai
evidence Of the heat endured. Yet specimens
have been picked up Immediately after falling
and found to hav. retained so much OF their
original cold the temperature OF inierStchar
space-that thu froze the fingers 1t Is not lk"iy
that the .nomcntary heat penctratcs far from
the surface 81 these strange objects
Meteorites are classified according 10 their
composition Nineteen out Of every twenty are
stony; in a very small proportion OF them metal
prepondcratcs Iron Is the principal mrtalhr
constituent. 4 small proportion II nickel Is
MIXED with il usually and traces 81 copper.
tin lead and several 81 what are called tn"
"rarer' metal, have also been found. Al ''a~t
thirty-fou Of the terrestrial elements have been
discovered in these bodies. but no element which
could not be Identified Sometimes th.sc are
combined "a sII's OF sodium. calcium ana l'i's-
sum. which can be- soaked out by immcrsnE the
specimen in water; but the greater part oI th'
stony material is inso.ublr. Stone b"ins more
brittle than iron. the stony metcoriteS are NOR"
liable to break up into small pieces than th's'
which are metallic. 1t sometimes happens
though that the iron is distributed un"vcny,
though in about equal proportions. ia an aeroltc
The mass may burst into "A hundred or "A th"n
sand fragments just before landing Some oi
these will be almost pure iron. and others merely
stone Tn. IRON is usually ductiic. even though
alleged but there is at least one *pecim"n
known that behaved like tempered steel In
1891 while with Pcary. Professor Angelo He'll