Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1901-03-07
METEoRITEs GOOD AS GOLD.
Chances to Get Rich when shooting
Star showers Come Upon
the Earth.

II any one is so lucky as to find one
OF the shooting stars in the meteoric
showers, he may congratulate himself
on having captured prize worth its
weight in gold. The number Of col
lectors Of meteOrites is increasing. and
the competition between the different
cabinets, public and private, has caused
a great advance in the price of rare
specimens.
The largest and finest collection OF
meteorites on this side of the Atlantic
is the one in the Harvard Mineralogical
museum in Cambridge. Reckoning
European collections it ranks about
fifth or sixth in the world. The Brit
ish museum has the best collection, as
IL has OF so many other things, and the
cabinets in Vienna and Paris rank
next. says the New York Sun.
Calculating the comparative value OF
collections of meteorites is something
of an art. main point to be taken
into consideration is the number OF
falls" so called, which are represent
ed. Ordinarily, perhaps. each meteoric
mass which is found represents a sep
arate fall; but often a meteorite splits
into several pieces, falling so or 100
miles distant from one another on
striking the earth's atmosphere. The
common origin of such pieces is often
demonstrated by analysis or by general
appearance, but more often, perhaps,
ii remains in doubt.
About 275 falls are represented at
Harvard. with a total weight-another
| factor in estimating comparative value
of about 1850 pounds. The largest
meteorite known is the famous one dis
covered by Peary in Greenland. The
largest meteorite in the Cambridge
collection weighs 1,l00 pounds. But
the largest meteorite is not necessarily
the most valuable Much depends on
the matter of control" A very large
and famous meteorite is Canon Diablo.
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 thousand
pounds or more can be obtained by any
one who wants them for the troubls
and expense of carting them away. In
other words. no one controls II. ano II
has little or no money value. On the
| other hand. much smaller and less
interesting meteorite owned wholly
or mainly by a single cabinet is likely to
be worth hundreds of dollars. Asingie
small piece OF some notable meteorite
thus held may easily be valued, for ex-
ample. at the rate of SIS or 500 pound.
The pound, indeed, is much too clumsy
a standard for so valuable material
as meteorite stone or iron, and the
weight Of all specimens is recorded in
the catalogues in grammes.
In ancient times and among savage
tribes meteorites have always been
looked upon with more or less awe
and have often been objects of worship.
The Palladium which fell at Troy. for
example. was doubtless a meteorite
In three small meteorites discovered
by the Peabody museum on affairs
raised by the mound builders Of the
Little Miami valley in Ohio, Harvard
possesses the only authentic prehis-
toric examples known to exist. Such
archaeological or historical interest
naturally adds much TO the market
value of a meteorite. A well-known
American collector recently secured
from the shah of Persia a number OF
pieces from a famous semi-sacred
meteorite which had been in the pos
session Of the royal family for genera
tions, and by disposing of bits to va.
rious European museums on his way
home, was able, he said. to pay all the
expenses Of his trip to Teheran.
The earliest American fall recorded
is Campo del Cielo. from the Argentine
republic. 1888; and the first in the
United States is the Weston, Connecti-
cut, 1907.