The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-11-08
GIFTS FROM SPACE
Wonderful Meteorites That Drop
to Us Out Of the Sky.
ONCE REGARDED AS SACRED.

!" the Es,r'y Days They Were OBJ
jsets 81 Reverence and Worship.
% 10 the Famous Stone at Mecca To-
snsi day-Thsit Fiery Flight TO Earth.
+, In considering the wonders of the
universe have you ever realized how
conspicuous among them are the me-
teorites. those wonderful messages
dropped from the sky for us to wonder
at and study?, They are the only ma
terial objects which come to the earth
from the vast outer world.
Among the collections shown in the
National museum at Washington is a
remarkably fine exhibit of meteorites.
1t includes complete meteorites rang.
ing in size from the merest pebbles to
great bowlder-like masses and casts re-
producing giant forms like that Of Ba.
cubirito, which has been estimated to
weigh twenty-five tons and still rests
where It fell In Mexico.
The National museum has issued a
handbook and descriptive catalogue OF
the meteorite collections in the mu.
scum, written by DR.. George P. Mer,
rill. head curator OF geology. from
which the following Is an q abstract:
Although meteoi4tes presumably have
fallen since time lnms norial. skep-
ticism was felt Ut nrst BY both the
popular and scientific minds regarding
the possibilities of stones falling from
space. In the few early recorded cases
where meteorites seen to fall were re-
covered they were regarded ~ objects
OF reverence and worship. A stone
which fell IN ancient Phrygia, in Asia
Minor. about 200 years before Christ
was wor1hiped Is Cybele. the mother
Of the gods. Another. which dates
back to the seventh century, is still
preserved at Mecca, where It is built
into the northeast corner Of the Ka'a-
ba and revered As one of the hottest Of
relics. The great Casas Grandes iron,
weighing about 5000 pounds, now in
the national collection at Washington.
was found in an ancient Mexican ruin
swathed In mummy clothes in man
ner to indicate that it was held in
more than ordinary veneration by the
prehistoric Inhabitants. ,...
The earliest known undoubted me-
teorites still preserved are those Of
Elbogen, Bohemia and Ensisheim, Up.
per Alsace. The first mentioned is
iron, the second q stone. The Iron was
found somewhere about the year 1400
Of our era. The Ensisheim stone. seen
to fall on Nov. 10. 1892. about the time
Columbus made his discoveries, was
accompanied with 4 loud crash like
thunder. Portions of this stone are to
be seen IN the National museum ex.
hibit
The fall Of a meteorite is usually &C.
companied by noises variously describ.
ed as resembling the fire Of musketry.
or even thunder. II tho
fall takes place during the periods Of
darkness It Is also accompan by q
dash Of light and followed by a .lumi-
nous rocket-nke trail. These phenome-
ma are due to the rapid passage Of the
objects through the air and q conse-
quent rise in-temperature. sufficient to
produce fusion of the outer surface
and even ignition. thus giving rise to
the thin. dark, glasslike crust which
Is found to cover all stony meteorites
The time Of passage through the at-
is. however, too short to per-
NIT the heat to penetrate to great
depths, and nearly all u,eteorites are
quite cool, or scarcely warm, on reach
Ing the surface Of the ground. It IL
to the sudden rise In temperature and
pressure Of the atmosphere that the
breaking up of meteorite and its
reaching the ground as q shower Of
rather than q single individ.
ual arc due.
We have little to guide us In estimat.
Ing the speed at which a meteorite
the earth and its consequent
power Of penetration. The velocities
Is given by varioussobservers vary be.
tween two and forty.five miles sec.
ond The greatest recorded depth Of
penetration of a meteoric stone Is that
Of Knyahinya, Hungary. where q GEO
pound stone penetrated to a depth Of |
eleven feet. On the other hand, still
heavier masses have been found under |
such conditions a. to lead one to infer |
that they scarcely buried themselves.
All statements relative to the temper.
lture Of meteorites Immediately after |
the ground must be accepted
guardedly, owing to their extremely
character. Some stones
which fell in Syria in 1859 are stated
10 have remained in Z state Of incan-
kescence for over i've seconds and for
/ quarter OF an hour were too hot to
be handled. On the other hand, the
phurmsala stone is said t. have been