The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-04
SHOOTING STARS
AS RICH PRIZES
Meteorites are Worth Their Weight
in Gold.
MOST NOTABLE COLLECTIONS.
\ siun.e Small Piece of some
Famous Meteor Worth Hundreds
of Duliars-Showers Fall
Next Week

BOSTON, Nov. ST any one Is 50
lucky as to find one OF the shooting
stars, which VIII tall in the meteofic
showers due the 18th and lith OF TINS
month, he may congratulate himself ol
having captured prize worth It's "elsal
in gold The number of collectors et me
teorites is increasing. and the cofnpesi
tton between the different capihets. Poo
lie and private, has caused great stt'-
vance in the price of rare specimens
The largest and finest collection OIL
rreteorites on this side of the Atlantic
Is the one in the Harvard MineraioSical
Museum in Cambridge. Reckoning bu-
rnneau collections it ranks about hfth
or sixth in the world. The Brush tiu-
scum has the best, collection, as 1t mas
OF so many other things, and the cabinets
l.r ,.urs. ANA r'tt4-t rank next The pr n
cipai part of the Harvard collection was
brought together by one of the most
distinguished of American chemists, the
late !. Lawrence Smith, of Louisville,
Nv. whose specimens were purchased
bv subscription in 1883, Professor Smith
himself being one of the subscribers.
Calculating the comparative value oil
collections of meteorites is something OF
an art, however. y main point TO De
taken into consideration is the number OF
falls so called, which are represented.
Ordinarily perhaps, each meteorlc mass
which is found represents d separate IAN.
but often d meteorite sEsits into several
pieces. falling 30 or 100 miles distant
from one another on striking, the earth $
atmosphere. The common origin of such
pieces is often demonstrated by analysis
or by general appearance. but more OF
ten perhaps it remains in doubt.
HARVARD-S COLLECTIONS
About 30 falls arc represented at
Harvard. with q total weigiit-another
factor in estimating comparative value
of about 2,Se0 pounds The largest me
teorite known is the famous one dis
covered by Peary in Greenland The
largest meteorite in the Cambridge col
lection weighs I.Iog pounds. But the
largest meteorite is not necessarily the
most valuable. Much depends on the
rnatte. of control y very large and
! famous nletecrite is Canon Diabio, SO
called. in accordance with the recog-
nized rule for naming meteorites. from
| the locality in Arizona where it was
! found Here great pieces of a thousau nd
| pounds or more can be obtained by any
one who wants them for the trouble
land expense of carsng them away In
other words. no one controls 1T. and 1t
/; has little o. no money value. On the
! other hand Il much smaller and less in
| serestinS meteorite owned wholly or
! mainly by q single cabinet IS likely 70
| be worth hundreds of dollars y single
| small piece Of some notable rleteoEite
I thus held may easily bring, for exam
! pie. at the rate of SO or 500 a pound.
!! The pound indeed is much too clumsy q
! standard for so valuable a material as
/ meteoric stone or iron. and the weight
/. of all specimens is recorded in the cata-
| logues in grams
| a museum needs only to keep the bulk
| piece of {. 1neteorite to retain control OF
il. Other pieces it exchanges with other
! collectors with view to increasing us
! representation of falls 1t IS interesting
| to note how carefully the weight anu dis-
| tribution of these various pieces are set
| down in museum records. One OF the
| most celebrated n1eteortfes III eHs mai
I yard Museum is Cynthiania- found IN the
| township of that name in Harrison coun-
| ty. XIV 1t weighed. when found. about
I G. GOO grams. of which 4.ff2 grams are
! ..prova ble'.-that is. can be assigned TO
/ different collections in various weights.
| OF this amount. the two largest pieces.
/ r-ere4.j,e- ~ sud 20 ---.---s respective
i ". are retained by the University, while
( other pieces. from single Gram. 10 up
!! wards of 400. are held Tor exchange.
! When control is thus retained. the mu-
! se,rn, is able to count the meteorite as
| one GIFTS "specia'ties. Harvard reck-
| ens 81 such speciaities in its collection
] controls. that is the LARGEST and most
!, representative pieces of 23 separate me-
ANCIENT TIMES.
] In ancient times and among savage
/ tribes meteorites have always been look
ed upon with more or less awe, and have