The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-04

often been objects of worship The Pal.
Iadtun which fell at Troy. for example.
was doubtless a msteorite. In three
s.If...tE 5tl=5,5 .tes discovered by the Pea,
body Museum on affairs raised by the
mound builders of the Little Miami NitI-
ley in Ohio Harvard possesses the only
authentic prehistoric examples Known 30
exist Such archaeological CT historical
interest naturally adds muck 10 the mar
ket value of a meteortte. a weil-knoWTh
American collector recently secured from
the Shah IF Persia a number of pieces
from famous senli-sacred meteorite
witch had been in the possession OF the
reyaI fanny for genera lions. and by dis
posing OF bits to various European m'i-
ss.ums on his WY hom., vas able. he
said. to pay all the expenses of his trip
10 Teherau.
The Harvard collection Is catalogued
according to date OF supposed fan. al
though it is admitted that these dates
are often very uncertain. rs the author
a. ~ avs eth connection
between the fire-balI which attracted at
found is often only assumed. and not
found is often only assumed. and not
established y meteorite. however, IS
more valuable if seen to fail Next to
t5a ~ historic Ohio snrc rtsts. the etr-
Hest falls represented at Cambridge are
three dating back 70 ittt-two in Sax
onv and one In Bohemia One each Is
/ ascribed to the fourteenth. fifteenth and
t sixteenth centuries and Is TO the eigh-
| teenth The earliest American fall re-
+, corded is Campo del CieIo from the Ar
! sentina Republic. 17ss, and the first In
+ the United States. is the Weston. Com
! necticut 1907.
/ MISTAKES COMMON.
| Not every specimen offered TO the col
+! !ectur of netsorIteS is genuine: indeed.
4 mistakes are common. Not long ago an
. old FARMER wrote to the Harvard .st.setin
stating that when he was boy, IN 1870.
he had seen a shooting star tan III The
field pack of his house, this he had now
dug up and he was :eady to receive an
| offer for it from the Museum On ex-H
/ animation the supposed :leteortte prov
/! - nc a con u4l ,,t..lter, yn-Ch Is,l Sui
! in tire old mans field or 2oH0O years.
| more or less. 1t is c@tentimss very
difficult thing TO locate the exact spot
! where a meteorite falls. The blindIrg
light, the whole startling nature OF the
phenomenon. will often cause m E5serv-
er TO think shat it has fallen oiose at
hand when in reality the distance may
be as much as - or even 30 miles.
i Meteorites are either OF stone, or OF
{ iron mixed with nickel Before the lat
ter are put on exhibition .hey are usual
/ " cut in two to show q polished surface,
which is etched with acid 10 bring out
| the variety of the structure. Certain
meteorites thus treated show what are
| Called VitImanstasttian dgures-a form
of crystalilz;ltion of great beauty which
is found in terrestrial iron. and then tnl-
Il#i KY on.y IN specimens from DISCO
Island, Greenland. where mass of bd-
salt has flowed up from thc interior OF
the earth.
Mateor.tes. of co,trse are the Gully
position of other celestial bodies than
our CIVIC Their general scientific .stsr-
est is that ttcv probably ~cpressHt the
composition OF the interior Of our etrtlt-
Although the Greenland iron Is the only
terrestrial iron resemblin=; srue 'nete1ric
iron. TIE crust of the earth contains
rocks very similar To both the stone and
the iron meteorites with the exception
that he. meteoric iron is represented by
some form of oxidiZution II iron The
oXidizurion has taken place, of iotirse- IN
tbs. nztssl-e of theSS rocks upward
through the eGrth's er.E'- +snother :tE-
4 aIosv is DIR Iwn from the connection be-
| tween iron and diamonds. In Set;th AZ
rica diamonds appear III rock much
like an iron meteoritc, with the dis-
rinrtion OF oxidization: and the first sue
esssfu, production or artificial diamonds.
yos from the cooling OF melted iron
under aressure Add TO these facts one
r,ore-that the Canon Diaoio n!eteorite
has been found 10 contain microscopic
sfiar1onds-apti tx will be seer f..s' inter
e..ti.s.- comparison OF terrestrial anf,
celestial mineralogy may become.