Pa Rt. I the Story of Meteorites - Forgotten Books

SM N IANSCIENT IF IC S ERI ES

4

E ditor-in-cfziqf

CHARLES GREELEY ABBOT ,B .Sc .

Secretary of theSmitfisonit m I nstitution

Published by

SM [THSON IAN S ERI ES . IN C.

N EWYORK.

PART I

TH E STORY OF M ETEOR ITES

By

GEORGE P . MERRI L LH ead Curator, D ep artment of Geology ,

U. S . N ational M useum

PA RT I I

GEM S AND GEM M INERALS

By

WI LLIAM F . FOSH AG

Assistant Curator, D ivision of M ineralogy and P etrology ,

D ep artment of Geology , U. S . N ational M useum

VOLUME THREEOF T H E

SMITHSONIAN SCIENTIFIC SERIES

I 929

COPYRIGHT 1929, BYSM ITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SERIES

,INC .

[Printed in the United S tates o fAmerica]

Copyrigh t Under the Artic les o f the Co pyrigh t Conven tiono f the Pan-American Republics and the

United S tates,August I I , 19 10

C ON T ENT S

PART I

THE STORY OF METEORITES

INTRODUCTORY AND HI STORICA LPH ENOM ENA INCIDENTA L TO FALLAREA S OF D I STRI BUTIONNUM B ER

,S IZE

,AND FORM .

COM POS ITION AND STRUCTURENAM ES AND C LA SSI FICATIONWH ENCE D O TH EY COM E ?

EARLY US ES OF METEORIC IRONB I B LI OGRAPHYAPPENDIX I : C LA S SI FICATI ON OFMETEORITESAPP ENDIX I I : LI ST OF M ETEORITES SEEN TOFA LL

PART II

GEMS AND GEM MINERALS

INTRODUCTIONCRYSTALS AND THEI R GROWTHPROPERTI ES OF MI N ERA LSKINDS AND OCCURRENCE S OF GEM MINERALSSYNTHETIC GEM SCOLLECTION S AND COLLECTORSCUTTING OF GEM SGEM S MENTIONED IN TH E BI B LEB I B LI OGRAPHYINDEX

I L LU S T R AT I ON S

LIST OF PLATES

PART I

A fall ing.

me teori teLooking into “

emp ty spaceFal l of a me teori te in a fieldMeteoric Stone , N ew Concord, OhioSmal l stones o f Ho lbroo k , Arizona, me teori teMeteoric stone , A llegan ,

MichiganMeteoric iron , Mazapi l

,Mexico

Me teor Crater, ArizonaPortrai t o f E . F . F. Ch ladn iD iagram o f earth and sun

V iew of a port ion Of the moon’

s surface

Fall of a me teori te at M on tpreis, S tyriaMe teoric iron , Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, MexicoT he Cape York me teoric ironT he Wi llam ette m e teoric ironT he Bacubiri to , S inaloa, Mexico , m e teoric ironIron me teori te , Owens Val ley, Cal iforn iaPo l ished sl ice o f Cumberland Fal ls

,Kentucky , m e teoric

StoneEtched surface o f sl ice from Casas Grandes me teoric ironPo l ished surface from fragmen t o f Adm ire , Kansas, pallasi te ; granu lar and hexahedral structure o f m e teo ric irons

M icrosec tions o fm e teori tesPo l ished sl ice from Moun t Vernon

,Ken tucky , pallaSite

M icrosec tions o f meteori tesM icro sec tions Ofm e teori tesChondru les and chondri t ic struc tureF ive views of Chondru les as shown in thin sec t io ns( I ) Chondru le in the Parnallee m e teoric stone ; (2) fe ldsparin the Esthervi l le me teori te

( I and 2) To luca meteoric iron before and after heat ing ;(3) po l ished surface of Cum berland Falls m e teoric stone .

Portrai ts o f F. Berwerth , .J L . Sm i th , H . C . Sorby,and C . U .

Shepard .

Portrai ts o f S . Meunier, A . Datibrée,G . T schermak

, and D .

Olm stedPortrai ts o f H . A . New ton and Norm an LockyerB iela’s come t before and after d ivisionT he Tucson , Arizona, me teoric ironT he Baldwyn , M ississi ppi , m e teoric stoneThe Bath Furnace , Kentucky, me teoric stoneFragment from Ensishe im me teoric stoneT he Fe l ix, A labam a

, meteoric stoneT he Fisher

,Po lk Coun ty

,M inneso ta

,m e teoric stone

T he Gopalpur, India, me teoric stoneT he Hessle

,Sweden , me teoric stone

T he K i lbourn,Wisconsin , m e teoric stone

One individual o f the Modoc , Kansas, m e teoric S toneTwo views Of the N ’

Gourema,Africa, m e teoric iron

PART I I

Charac terist ic forms o f crystalsQuartz w i th inc lusions o f ru t i le , The t is hair stone , and a

crystal of quartzK im berley m ine , K im berley, Sou th AfricaTrenches in d iamond bearing perido t i te

,P i ke Coun ty

,

ArkansasUncu t diamonds

,Arkansas .

Glac ial map o f the Great Lakes regio nSapphire m in ing, Palm adulla, CeylonSapphire m in ing, Judi th Basin Coun ty , Mon tana

Bery l and emerald crystalsBeads o f c i trine and rose quartzCharacterist ic forms of agateLandscape or ‘ $

moss’

agatesBeads and cut S tones Ofs1l1C1fied wood, Fossi l Forest , ArizonaOpal diggings, V irgin Valley, NevadaTourmal ine . Crystals from Mesa Grande , Cal iforn ia, andcross sec t ion from MadagascarTourmal ine-fe ldspar m ine , Au burn , MaineGroup o f tourmal ine crystals, Mesa Grande , Cal iforn iaRoeb l ing co l lec t ion

Tourmal ine m ine , Mesa Grande, Cal iforn ia

F ive cu t gems from Isaac Lea and Ro ebl ing co llect ionsSpodum ene crystal, varie ty Kunzi teChinese H an disk o f JadeVarisc i te , Lew iston , Utah , and turquo ise in m atrix

,Los

Cerri llos, N ew MexicoTurquo ise m ine , near Los Cerri llos, N ew MexicoAmazonstone and smoky quartz, P i kes Peak, Co loradoT i tan i te (Sphene)Sem i-prec ious stonesMalachi te and azuri te , B isbee , ArizonaIce land spar, i l lustrat ing doub le refrac t ionSem i-prec ious stonesPortrai t o f James Sm i thson .

Portrai ts o f C . S . Bemen t,W . S . Vaux

,George Vaux

,and

Isaac LeaPortrai ts OfWashington A . Roebl ing

,F . A . Canfield, George

F. Kunz, and W . S . D isbrow

LIST OF TEXT FIGURES

PART I

Fall of m eteori te at Ensishe im ,Germany

Area o f distri bu t ion o f Canyon D iablo me teori teFal l ofmeteori te at Knyahinya, HungaryThe afterglow of me teori tesAreal distribu t ion OfHom estead, Iowa, fal lD iamond crystal out o f Canyon D iablo me teori teD iagrams o f an iron show ing Widmanstatten figures

PART I I

Egleston i te crystal w i th 482 facesBri l l iant cu tDoub le bri l l ian t cu tHalf bri ll ian t cu tTrap bri ll ian t cu tPortuguese cu tS tar cutRose cutTrap or step cutStep bri ll iant or m ixed cu tTable cutCabochon cut .

P R E F A C E

THI S book i s not in tended for the speci al is t ; rather forthose Who—whether or not engaged in o ther l i nes Of

work—are in teres ted in the progress Of sc ience and in themethod Of i ts progression . I t was with the l atter partieularly in mind that the narrative form was adop ted forcertain chapters . H OW a conclusion has been arrived ati s,to the pub l i c mind, bel ieved to be Of as great in teres t

as the conclusion i tself.GEORGE P . MERRI LL .

PART I

STORY OF M ETEORITES

By

GEORGE P . MERRI LLH ead Curator, D epartment of Geology,

U. S . N ational M useum

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like our own,have planets

,nonluminous in themselves

,

whol ly invisi b le to the naked eye,and made Vi si ble wi th

the telescope on ly by a sl igh t and temporary dimmingof the l igh t when one happens to cross the face Of a s tarunder observation . These planets again may have sti l lsmaller bodies revolving in known and regular orb i tsabou t them

,as our Jupi ter has i ts moons . None Of these

i s s tationary,bu t al l are progressing through space in a

regular,orderly manner. The astronomer can tel l wi th

a fair degree of exactness thei r relative posi tion a thousand years ago and what i t wi l l yet be a thousand yearshence .

In addi tion there are untold mill ions Of smaller bodies,

the presence Ofwhich i s wholly unsuspected by the casualobserver . These, i n seemingly errati c courses, are flyingthrough space in every conceivable direction and atalmost incredib le speed . Giving no ligh t by themselves

,

of a size too smal l to yield an appreci able amoun t of reflec ted l ight, i t i s only when in thei r wanderings they b ecome momentari ly luminous through con tact wi th theearth and i ts atmosphere that they make their presenceknown .

Now every schoolboy knows that when he throws hisball i t remains in the air only SO long as the speed imparted to i t i s sufficien t to overcome the attractive powerof gravi ty . When this Slackens

,i t falls to the ground .

SO with these various bodies which we have j us t considered. All are travel ing through space at varyingspeeds and at rates well-n igh incredible

,unthinkable to

us even wi th our recen tly acqu ired knowledge Of speedingairplanes and high-power guns . The wri ter once s toodon the deck Of a s teamer opposi te Indian Head

,on the

Potomac,and watched one Of the enormous engines of

warfare in actual practice . There came a flash,then a

cloud Of smoke,and later the roar of the report . Turn ing

lei surely and looking down the river,there was seen in a

few moments the splash Of the proj ecti le as,wi th propell ing

[ 2 ]

INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL

force spen t,i t yielded to the at trac tion Of gravi ty and

came to res t . N ow the Shell from this piece Of ordnancehad a muzzle veloci ty Of some fee t per second ; or,in round numbers

,would travel a mile in two seconds .

Startl ing as such speed may seem,i t i s slow compared

wi th that Of the SO- called heavenly bodies by which weare surrounded and upon which

,from our earthly view

poin t,we have been gazing . Our rotund earth i tsel f i s

traversing i ts seemingly barren Void at a differen ti alspeed Of 19 . 8 miles per second . Our moon i s travel ingabou t our earth

,the earth abou t the sun

,and the sun in

i ts turn abou t a greater sun,and i t i s through the fine ad

j us tmen t of speed and gravi tational at traction alone thatthey are enabled to hold their rel ative distances . I t i sspeed

,speed and mass

,which holds the en tire visi b le

universe in i ts presen t seemingly stable form . But,one

may ask,whence the speed ?

Wi th what anawfu l world-revo lving powerWere first the unw ie ldy plane ts launch ’

d alongT he i l l im i tab le vo id $

wri tes Thomson in his S easons . What,i ndeed

,gave

them this “awful world-revolving power ? This i s aquest ion we shall not attempt to answer . We are alreadybeyond our depth in space—le t u s hasten back to earth andcon tinue our s tory Of the smalles t and most insignifican tOf these celes ti al bodies

,which are to be the subj ec t Of

our s tudies . Whence their origin and the source of thatawful power that launched them on thei r way i s asye t known on ly in theory . Their des tiny can

,however

,

be foretold .’ Such are the laws of gravi ty that

,whenever

one Of them comes in i ts wanderings suflicien tly wi thin theattractive power Of a larger wanderer

,i t i s drawn toward

i t and perhaps,l ike the moth in the flame

,completely

consumed . Astronomers tel l u s that each day 4OO,OOO,OOOOf them enter the earth ’s atmosphere

,and that Of these

are of suffi cien t s ize to form a shooting s tar,or

[ 3 ]


meteor—a s treak in the sky such as that to which at tention was firs t called ; bu t SO great i s thei r speed and suchthe resis tance Of the earth ’s atmosphere that even in thefew seconds Of thei r fl ight they become heated to thepoin t Of i ncandescence and even consumed . Occasionally—rarely —one is Of sufli cien t s ize to survive in part andcomes to earth

,a scorched residual Of s tone or metal to

which i s given the name meteorite.

There are those who argue that our en tire earth wasbuil t up by a process Of accretion—an i ngathering Of theseflying bodies . I f SO

,t ime indeed must have been illim it

able . “In the beginn ing” i s pushed back beyond thepossi b le reaches Of human imagination ; for i t has beenes timated from such scanty data as are available that theearth ’s mass i s

,a t the presen t rate of incoming matter,

increased by only some tons annually,an amount

which,i f con tinued for 3 years and evenly dis

tri bu ted,would form a fi lm Of but one inch in thickness

over the en tire surface .

But enough Of this . Let us consider an actual occurrence Of one Of these incoming bodies as given in the publications Of the t ime .

On the even ing Of February 1 2,1 875 , a t hal f pas t ten

O ’clock,there suddenly appeared over northern Missouri

,

at a height estimated as fifteen miles,a brigh t l ight

,

seemingly emanating from a sol id body which passedrapidly from the sou thwest to the northeas t in to sou thernIowa

,where

,a t an al ti tude of abou t two miles

,an explosion

took place,sending to the earth a Shower Of i rregularly

shaped s tones varying in weight from a few ounces tomany pounds and aggregating not less than 700 pounds .Accoun ts of the phenomenon as given by eyewi tnessesare somewhat vari able

,though rarely contradictory . By

one Observer,the Obj ec t was descri bed as Oblong in shape

,

wi th a train ten or twelve times the length Of the body,

giving an in tensely bri ll i an t ligh t Of crystal l ine whi tenessat the cen ter

,fiery red on the bottom

,and throwing out

[ 4 ]

PLATE 2

Fall of a m e teori te in the m idst of a field . (From L’

Astronomie)


red sparks and purplish j ets Of flame . T O another,i t

was Of horseshoe Shape greatly elongated, the ou ter edgevery bril l i an t

,then a narrow dark space wi th a core Of

in tense bri ll i ancy,SO vivid as to blind the eyes for a mo

ment . Again,to an Observer at the Iowa Agricul tural

College,i t appeared in the form Of an immense rocket

wi th s treamers flowing from the hinder part,the fron t

being smooth and curved l ike a saber . I ts color was a tfirs t bri l l i an tly whi te

,i lluminating the Sky l ike a flash

of l ightning,fading gradually in to yellow

,then to deep

orange,almos t scarle t

,when i t burs t . The phenomenon

was Observed throughou t a region at leas t 400 miles inlength

,from southwes t to northeas t

,and 250 miles in

breadth . The “explos ion” mentioned gave rise to detonations SO violen t as to shake the earth and to j ar thewindows l ike the shock Of an earthquake

,and was com

pared by some to the discharge Of a forty-gun battery .

This was followed by a rushing,rumbling

,and crashing

sound that seemed to follow the meteor ’s path . Theproduc t Of the fall

,as already noted

,was a large number

Of i rregular fragments Of s tone,the larges t Of which

weighed perhaps 1 20 pounds . They were mostly en tirelycovered wi th a black coating beyond question due to thefusion and sudden cool ing Of the outer portions of thefragmen ts in their passage through the atmosphere .

(Plates 3 and A feature of addi tional in teres t l ies inthe fact that bu t a portion Of the meteor fell a t thi s poin t .What seemed the larger portion con tinued on i ts way and

,

i f i t fel l to earth,was never heard from .

This description,typical Of many

,will serve to i llus

trate the ordinary phenomenon of a shooting s tar andmeteoric fall . I t is not s trange that such phenomenaShould early have attracted widespread at ten t ion . Nei theri s i t s trange that there Should have been among those notactual witnesses Of the even t a considerable amoun t OfSkepticism regarding the fall Of s tones from the heavens .Like instances have

,however

,been recorded from very

[ 5 ]


early t imes,and i t i s al together probable that such Scrip

tural references as the fol lowing refer to s imilar phemomena

And the stars o f heaven fe l l unto the e arth, even as a fig tree casteth

her un t ime ly figs, when She is Shaken Of a m ighty w ind . (Rev . vi,

And there fe l l a great star from heaven , burn ing as it were a lamp .

(Rev. vi i i ,And there appeared ano ther great wonder in heaven ; and beho ld a

great red dragon , having seven heads and ten horns,and seven crowns

upon his heads.

And his tai l drew the third part Of the stars o f heaven,and did cast

them to earth . (Rev . x i i, 3 ,

Satisfactory pictori al i l lus trati ons Of such events arenot abundant

,for the s imple reason that the period Of

fl igh t i s too brief for even the mos t experienced Of snapshot photographers Or rapid del ineators and that thephenomena are comparat ively rare . The fall invari ablyoccurs at unexpected moments and in unexpected placesand few are prepared to view i t wi th the calm and discriminat ing eye which scientific accuracy demands .Those i llustrations which have thus far been publ ishedwere unquestionably drawn from memory

,aided in some

cases by a faci le imagin ation . There i s abou t them,how

ever,nothing incredible

,and i t i s fel t that the composi te

V i ew given in our fron t ispiece may be accepted as conveying an approximately correc t idea .

The description Of the Homes tead,Iowa

,fall

,from

which we have SO fully quoted,i s a modern one . I t i s

that of a fall which took place many years after the poss ible fal l of s tones from the Sky

” had become an established fact . Let us go back and ci te an earl ier occurrence and note the effec t upon the general public as wellas upon the scien tific mind

,and also the gradually ex

panding views held as evidence was presen ted by succeeding falls . Naturally bu t few Of the many can beconsidered, and the reader i s referred to the classi c worksOf Chladn i, I z arn , and the Catalogue Of Biot for further

[ 6 ]




pending it as a m irac le : and a great m any peop le cam e h i ther to se e thisstone

,respec t ing which there were singu lar discourses. Bu t the learned

sai d they did no t know what it was,for it was som e thing supernatura l

that SO large a stone should fal l from the atmosphere : but that it was

a m irac le Of God : because , befo re that t im e, no thing o f the kind hasever been heard Of

, seen , or descri bed . When this stone was found,

it had entered the earth to a depth equal to the he ight Of a man . Whateverybody asserted was, that it had been the w i l l OfGod that it shou ldb e found . And the no ise o f it was heard at Lucerne , at V i l l ing, andmany o ther p laces, so loud that it was though t the houses were all

overturned . T he people talked a great dea l Of this stone whichwas suspended in the cho ir, where it st i l l is, and m any come to see it .

And when K ing Maxim i l ian was here, the Monday after Sain t Catherines day o f the sam e year, his Exce llency caused the stone whichhad fallen to be carried to the cast le ; and after c o nversing a long t im e

w i th his Lords, he said : T he people o f Ensishe im shou ld take it ; andhe gave orders that it shou ld b e suspended in the church and that noperson should be perm i t ted to take any part o f it .

1 H is Exce llencyhowever to ok two fragm ents : o ne Of wh ich he kept and the o ther hegave to Duke S igismund Of Austria .

2

Equally worthy of reproduction in i ts en tirety is anaccoun t Of a fal l said to have taken place in Berkshire

,

England,i n 1 628 . Unfortunately none Of the materi al Of

this fal l i s known to have been preserved . The accoun t,

as given by Lockyer in h is M eteoritic Hyp otltesis , i s s tatedto be from “a very rare trac t

,a copy of which i s in the

Bri tish Museum” and which bears the following ti tleLooke Vp and See Wonders : a m iracu lous Appari t io n in the Ayre ,late ly seen in Barke-shire at Bawlkin Greene , neere Hatford

, 9th

Apri l,1620. (Imprinted at London for Roger M i tche l l .)

1 N everthe less eager co l l ectors have been successfu l in scat tering fragments o f theS to ne wide ly. Wiilfing l ists six ty co l lec t1ons in various parts o f the World co ntainingeach from o ne to 400 grams o f it, grams s til l remaining at Ensisheim ; in the

N ational co l lec tions at Washing ton the fal l is represented by two piec es we Ighing re

spec tive lv 200 and 250 grams. T he o riginal we igh t o f the e ntire mass is given as

grams.

2T he co ndition o f the popu lar m ind regarding such evidence is shown by a letterwrit ten by an eyewitness o f the fal l . Th is o pens as fo l lows : “T he cause o fmy wr1tingto you at t his time is by reason o f the accident that the Lord sen t amo ng us. I haveheard o f the Lord by the hearing o f the ear as the prophe t speake th, but now m ine eyeshath seen him . You W l ll marve l that I write thus, for no man hath seen God at anytime ye t in his works we see him daily, but now after a more sp ec ia l manner. Thenafter giving a c lear accoun t o f the who le o ccurrenc e , the wri ter co nc ludes with an ex

hortation to unbe lievers : “N ow le t the athe I S t stand amazed at this work o f the Lo rd .”

[ 9 ]


I t begins as follows

SO Benumm ed wee are in our Sences, that albe i t God h im se lfe Ho l lain our E ares, w ee by our Wi l ls are lo ath to heare him . H is dreadfull

Pursiuan ts Of Thunder and Liglztning terrifie vs so lo ng as they have vsin the ir fingers, but b eeing Ofl

'

,wee dance and sing in the m i dst of o ur

Fo ll ies .

Then,con tinuing

,the au thor tells how

the foure great quarter-m asters o f the World (tlzefoure E lements)have bin in c iuil l warres o ne aga inst ano ther As for F ire , it hathden ied o f late to warm e vs

,bu t at vnreasonab le rates and extream e

hard condi t ions. Bu t what talke I o f this earthy nourishm en t o ffi re ?

H ow have the F ires o fHeaven (som e few years past) gone beyond the irbounds, and appeared in the shapes Of Com e ts and Blazing S tarres ?

T he d ire is the Shop Of Thunder and L ightn ing . I n that, haththe late b in he ld a Muster o f terri b le enem ies and threatners Of Ven

geance , which the great General] Of the F ie ld, who Conduc ts and Comm ands all such Arm ies (GodAlmigltty ,

I meane) auert from our K ingdom e , and shoo te the arrowes of h is indignat ion some o ther way, uponthe bosomes Of those that would confound his Gospell Manyw indowes hath he se t o pen in He aven ,

to shewe what Art i l lery hee haslying there , and m any o f our K ings have trembled, when they wereShewne vuto them . What blazing S tarres (euen at Noone-dayes) inthose t im es hung houering in the A ire ? H ow m any frigh tfull E cclipsesbo th o f Sun and Moone ? I t is no t for m an to dispute w i th God

,

why he has done this so Often but, w i th feare and trem b l ing

cast ing our eyes vp to H eauen , let us now beho ld him,bending his

Fist o ne ly, as late ly he did to the terrour and affrigh tm en t o f all the

Inhabi tan ts dwe l l ing w i thin a Towne in the County o f Barkshire

T he nam e o f the Towne is H atford, som e e ight m i les from Oxford.

Ouer this Towne , vpon Wensday be ing the n in th o f th is instan tMone th o fAp ril 1 628 , about five Of the c locke in the afternoone thism iracu lous prodigious, and fearefull handyworke o f God was pre

sen ted T he weather was warme , and wi thout any great shewe

o f distemperature , on ly the Skye waxed by degrees a l i t tle gloomy, ye t

no t 8 0 darkened but that the Sunne st i l l and anon,by the power o f the

brigh tnesse , brake through the thicke c louds.

A gent le gale o f w ind then blow ing from b e tweene the West and

Northwest, in an instant was heard,first a hideous rum bl ing in the

Ayre, and presen t ly after fo l lowed a strange and fearefull peal ofThunder runn ing up and downe these parts o f the Coun trey, but it

strake w i th the loudest vio lence,and more furious tearing o f the

Ayre, about a place cal led l e l ite H orse H ill , than in any o ther.

[ 10 ]


The who le order of this thunder carried a kind of M aiesticall state

w i th it, for it main tayned (to the ofl'

righ ted Beho lders’

seem ing) thefashion o f a fought Battaile .

I t beganne thus : First , for an onse t , wen t ofl'

o ne gre at Cannon as

it were o f thunder alone,l i ke a warn ing peece to the rest that were to

fo l low . Then a l i ttle whi le afterwas heard a second ; and so by degreesa third, vntill the num ber Of 20 were discharged (or there-abouts) invery good o rder, though in very great terror.

I n som e l i tt le distance o f t im e after this was audib ly heard the soundo f a Drum beat ing a Re treate . Am ongst all these angry peales sho t03 from H eauen , this begat a wonderful adm irat ion ,

that at the end

of the report Of euery cracke , or Cannon-thundering, a hizzing N oyse

made way through the Ayre, no t un l i ke the flying o f Bullets from the

mouthes Of great Ordnance ; and by the j udgm en t Of all the terror

stricken w i tnesses they were Thunder-bolts . For one Of them was

scene by many people to fal l at a place cal led Bawlkin Greene , be inga m i le and a half from Hatford : Which Thunder-bolt was by one M istrisGreene caused to be digged out of the ground, she be ing an eye

-witnesse,

amongst m any o ther, Of the manner o f the fall ing .

T he form o f the Stone is three-square , and picked in the end; in

co lour ou twardly blackish,som ewhat l i ke Iron : crusted over w i th

that blackness abou t the thickness o f a shi l l ing . Wi thin it is a soft,

of a gray co lour, m ixed w i th som e kind o f m inerall, sh in ing l i ke sm al l

peeces o f glasse .

Th is Stone brake in the fal : T he who le peece is in we igh t n ine teen epound and a halfe : T he greater peece that fe l l o ff we ighe th five pound

,

which w i th o ther smal l peeces be ing put together, m ake foure and

twenty pound and be tter

The following condensed accoun t Of a fall near Laigle,

France,as given by Biot in T illoch ’

s P hilosophical M aga

z ine,i s also worthy Of reprin ting in i ts en tire ty on ac

count Of i ts importance in set tl ing in the minds Of scientific men the question of the ul traterres tri al origin Of

meteori tes .

On Tuesday,Apri l 26

,1 802

,about o ne in the afternoon

,the weather

be ing serene , there was Observed from Caen , Pon t-Audemer, and the

environs o f A lencon, Falaise , and Verneu i l , a fiery globe Of a verybri l l iant splendour

,which moved in the atmosphere w i th great rapidi ty .

Som e moments there was heard at Laigle,and in the environs o f

that c i ty to the extent of more than thirty leagues in every direc t ion ,

a vio len t explo sion which lasted five o r six m inu tes.

At first there were three or four reports l i ke those o f a cannon,fol

[ I I ]


lowed by a kind o f discharge which resembled a firing of muske try ;after wh ich there was heard a dreadfu l rum bl ing l i ke the beat ing o f a

drum . T he air was calm and the sky serene , except a few c louds,

such as are frequen t ly Observed .

The no ise pro ceeded from a sm al l c loud which had a rec tangu larform , the largest side be ing in a direc t ion from east to west . I t ap

pe ared mo t ion less all the t im e that the phenom enon lasted . But the

vapour o f which I t was com posed was proj ec ted mom en tari ly from the

differen t S ides by the cfl'

ec t of the successive explosions. This c loudwas about half a league to the north-north-east o f the town of Laigle ;it was at a great e levat ion in the atm osphere

,for the inhab i tan ts of

two ham le ts a league distant from each o ther saw it at the sam e t im e

above the ir heads. I n the who le canton o verwh ich this c loud hovered,

a hissing no ise l i ke that o f a stone discharged from a Sl ing was heard,and a mu lt itude of m ineral m asses exactly sim i lar to those dist inguished by the nam e of meteoric stones were seen to fal l at the sam e

t lm e .

T he distric t in which the stones fe l l form s an ell ipt ical exten t Of

about two leagues and a half in length and nearly one in breadth,the

greatest dim ension be ing in a direc t ion from sou th-east to north-west ,form ing a dec l inat ion o f about Th is direc t ion which the meteor

must have fo l lowed is exac tly that o f the magnet ic merid ian ; which is arem arkab le resu l t .

T he largest of these stones fe l l at the south-east extrem i ty o f the

large ax is o f the e ll ipse ; the m iddle-S ized ones fe l l in the cen tre,and

the sm allest at the o ther extrem i ty . I t thereby appears that the

largest fe l l first,as m ight naturally b e supposed .

T he largest Of all those which fe l l we igh 17% pounds . T he smal lestI saw we igh about two gro s

,which is the thousandth part Of the former.

T he num ber that fe l l is certain ly ahove two or three thousand .

I n this account I have confined m yse lf to a S imple re lat ion o f fac ts ;I have endeavored to view them as any o ther person would have done ,and I have employed every care to present them w i th exac tness . Ileave to the sagac i ty Of phi losophers the num erous consequences thatm ay b e deduced from them ; and I shal l cons ider myse lf happy if theyfind that I have succeeded in plac ing beyond a doubt the most aston

ishing phenom enon ever Observed by man . (See also pageIn Gilbert ’s Annalen for 1 806 i s an accoun t Of a s tone

Shower which gives in terest ing evidence Of an ab i l i ty tosee things . Reference i s made to a fol io volume of woodcu ts in the ducal l i brary Of Gotha where i s recorded afearful phenomenon and miracle which was seen on MarchI,1 564, between M eche l and Brussels . The sky on the

l 1 2 ]


occasion was clear a t firs t,bu t abou t n ine o ’clock became

fiery,throwing down a reflection upon the earth SO that

everything became yellowish . In the mean time there appeared i n the Sky figures of three men in royal robes andwi th crowns upon thei r heads

,remain ing visi ble for nearly

three—fourths of an hour,when they gradually drew near

together and in the course of another fi fteen minutes disappeared . Then frightfu l s tones fell, large and small,some of which were five or Six pounds in weight . So faras known none of this materi al has found i ts way in tocollections . 3

The firs t fall of a meteori c s tone in America of whichthere i s a sati sfactory record was that of Weston in southern Connecticu t . This took place on the morn ing ofDecember 14, 1 807, at abou t hal f pas t six . I t was o hserved by a large number of persons and offers a goodi llustration of the fate that has befallen many a meteori cs tone on S imi lar occasions . The accoun t here given ismainly an abstrac t from the report of Professors Si ll imanand Kingsley in the American yournal of S cience.

The meteor was firs t seen as a globe of fire j us t passingbehind a dark cloud which did not

,however

,wholly o b

scure i t,the appearance being compared to that of the sun

seen through a mis t . I t came from the north,in a direc tion

nearly perpendicular to the horizon , never making angleswi th i t of more than four or five degrees

,and appeared

abou t two- th irds as large as the full moon . When notobscured by clouds i t flashed wi th a vivid l igh t

,com

pared to that of the so - called heat l ightn ing . A con icaltrain of waving paler l igh t

,i n length some ten or twelve

diameters of the body,followed i t . The in terval of ap

pearance and disappearance was es timated at abou t3 A good h istorica l account o f the fal ls known at the t ime and the at tendant phe

h omena, toge ther with the gradual ly deve loping views o n the subj ec t, is given in J .

I z arn’

s D es pierres tombées da c iel, ou Lithologie atmosphérique, Paris, 1 803 . Thisaccoun t, whic h canno t b e reproduced here, c lo ses with the rem ark : “Final ly it is henceforth use less to at tempt to e ither ques tio n or verify the fac t [o f the ir fa l l] and it on lyremains for us to become be t ter acquainted with it in order to find an explanation .

[ 13 ]


thirty seconds,and i t did not vanish instan tly bu t grew

fainter and fain ter un ti l i t finally disappeared abou t fifteen degrees Short of the zen i th .

Some thirty or forty seconds after i ts disappearancethere occurred three loud and distinc t reports l ike thoseof a four-pound cannon close a t hand . These were followed by a rapid succession of lesser reports so closetogether as to produce a continuous rumbling l ike thatof a cannon ball roll ing over a floor

,or a wagon runn ing

rapidly down a long and stony hill . The noise con tinuedabout as long as the meteor was ris ing

,and died away

apparently in the direction from which i t came . Theexplosions were in all cases followed by a loud whizzingor roaring sound which “exci ted in some the idea of atornado ; i n others of a large cannon shot in rapid motion ;and i t fi l led all wi th as ton ishmen t and apprehension ofsome impending catas trophe .” In every ins tance

,imme

diate ly after this was heard a sudden and abrupt noise,l ike that of a ponderous body striking the ground in i tsfall . After the explos ions there fel l a number of pieces ofs tone scattered over a considerable area

,the mos t remote

being n ine or ten miles from each other in a l ine c loselyfollowing the direction of fl igh t . With but one excep tionthe s tones were more or less broken . Over gramsfrom thi s fal l are preserved in the Mineralogical Museumof Yale Universi ty .

The most northerly fall was wi thin the l imi ts of Hun tingto n ,

where the meteori te s truck a grani te bowlderwi th a loud noise and was broken into fragmen ts

,the

larges t of which was not larger than a goose egg . Thisi s s tated to have been sti l l warm when picked up halfan hour later. A piece weighing some thirty-five pounds ,which seemed to resul t from the second explos ion , fel labou t five miles dis tan t from the first

,burying i tself to a

depth of two feet in the ground . This was unfo rtu

nately broken up and scat tered . Later a piece s tated toweigh seven to ten pounds was found half a mi le north

[ I 4 ]



a black m ass was seen com ing from behind the mounta in de l ’Oulétte ,descri bing

,as it descended in the air

,a quarter of a c irc le

,and sinking

into the ho l low o f the valley o f Libonez .

This rem arkab le c ircumstance was scarce ly perce ived by any but

chi ldren,who

,less alarm ed than more compe ten t persons wou ld have

been,fo l lowed the direc t ion , and have since po in ted out the exac t

spo t where this mass was swal lowed up . De lm as adds that he heardin the air a confusion o f vo ices

,which he thought were

,at least

,five

hundred devi ls,and whom he cons iders as the agents that transported

this alarm ing phenom enon ; at the moment he sai d to Claude Va isse ,one o f his ne ighbo rs (who , l i ke h im se lf

,was in the fie lds) , “

D o you

hear; do you understand the language o f all these people ?” Th isperson repl ied frankly

,

“ I do no t comprehend them ”

; but they werebo th persuaded that this m ass was carried by infernal spiri ts. De lm as

,

for the latter reason , sai d to Vaisse , “We have on ly t im e for o ne ac t o f

contri t ion,

”cast h is eyes o n the ground

,bowed his head , and tran

qu i l ly wa i ted for death . Such was the consternat ion o fall the w i tnessesof th is terri b le event that

,according to the ir confession , they fanc ied

they already saw the m ountains ro l l ing and heaped upon them .

T he alarm was such, that it was no t t i l l the 23d of the mon th thatthey reso lved to dig ou t this prodigy, o f which they knew ne i ther theform

,the nature , or the substance . They de l i berated for a long t ime,

whe ther they Should go arm ed to undertake this operat ion whichappeared so dangerous ; but C laude Serre (sexton) just ly o bserved

,

that if it was the devi l , ne i ther powder or arm s would prevai l againsthim ,

that ho ly waterwould be m o re effectual , and that he would undertake to make the evi l spiri t fly ; after which they set them se lves towork , and after having sunk nearly six fee t

,they found the aero l i te ,

we ighing rather more than 202 pounds (Engl ish) . I t was coveredw i th a black bi tum inous varn ish

,and some parts o f it had a sul

phurous sme l l . I t was requ isi te to break it to get it out ; there st i l lremains a mass we ighing abou t 100 pounds.

A l l the facts above stated are proved by all the inhab i tants o f the

ham le t o f Libonez ; and espec ially De lm as,sen . and jun . ; James and

Claude Serre , Pe ter Charayre , John Chaudouard,An thony Dum as

and h is chi ld ; and also Mary Ann Vidal,a young girl o f about fourteen

years o f age ; the two lat ter, who were less frightened, fo l lowed the

direc t ion o f the stone , and ac tual ly found the place where it wasburied . Concern ing all which we have drawn up the presen t p rocerverbal as a con t inuat ion o f the history o f these phenomena

,a copy o f

which we shal l send to M . the Prefec t . (Drawn up and agreed uponat our house , the 25 th o f June

,

We , the Mayor o f Juvinas, cert ify, that three days after,on the

26th of June,on visi t ing the p lace where this stone fel l , ano ther was

[ 16 ]

PLATE 3

Me teoric S tone , N ew Co nco rd,Muskingum Coun ty

,

and Guernsey Coun ty,Oh IO

About fifteen m inu tes be fore I p .m .,o n M ay 1

,1 860

,

the people o f sou theastern Oh io and no rthwesternVirgi n ia were start led by a loud no ise l1kened to the

firing o f he avy canno ns,o r to the explo sio n o f a steam

bo at bo I ler. I n all,twen ty- three dl stinc t de to nat l o ns

were heard fo l lowed by a serI es o f rat t l ing reverberat ions . T he area o ver which these sounds were heardwas no t less than 1 50 m I les in diam e ter. T he cause o f

these sounds was the fal l ing o f a large num ber o f stonym e teorI tes upo n an area about 10 m iles long by 3 m ilesw ide . T he largest we Ighed 103 pounds . I t struck theearth at the foo t o f a large tree and pe ne trated a hardc lay 2 fee t 10 inches . T he e n t ire we Igh t o f the sto nes

recovered was about 770 pounds, d istri bu ted am ongthirty spec imens


found at a short distance from it,which we ighed abou t two pounds

and a quarter; it was co vered w i th a sim i lar varn ish , and en t ire lydist inc t from the first . (A true copy de l i vered by us

,the Mayor o f

the Commune o f Juvinas, the 3d o f July,

A mass Of thi s s tone weighing over forty- two ki logramsi s preserved in the Natural History Museum of Paris .The remainder in fragments Of one gram and upward i sscattered through the collections of over sixty museumsand private collectors .Continu ing in chronological order

,we have next to

mention one of the most noted of American falls—thatof Guernsey County

,or N ew Concord

,Ohio

,i n 1 860 .

This was described by an eyewi tness as follows

On Tuesday,the first o f M ay, at twenty-e igh t m inutes past twe lve

o’

c lock , the peop le o f that vic in i ty were almost pan ic-stricken by a

strange and terrible report in the heavens, which shoo k the houses

for many m i les distant . T he first report was imm ediate ly o verhead,

and after an interval o f a few seconds was fo l lowed by s im i lar reportsw i th such increasing rapidi ty that after the num ber o f twen ty-twowere coun ted they were no longer dist inct, but became con t inuous,and died away l i ke the ro aring o f distant thunder, the course of the

reports be ing from the m eri d ian to the southeast . I n one instancethree m en working in a field, the ir se lf-possession be ing m easurab lyrestored from the shock o f the more terrible report from above

,had

the ir attent ion attrac ted by a buzzing no ise o verhead , and soon ob

served a large body descending stri ke the earth at a distance o f aboutone hundred yards. Repa iring thi ther they found a newly-made ho lein the ground, from which they extracted an irregu lar quadrangu larstone we ighing fifty-one pounds. This stone had buried i tse lf twofee t beneath the surface

,and when o b tained was qu i te warm . (See

Plate

Accounts by other observers differ somewhat,bu t are

not seriously contradic tory . From all i t would appearthat the explosion was heard over an area not less than I 50miles in diameter ; that the cen tral poin t from which thesound emanated was near the southern part of NobleCoun ty, Ohio, and that the course was over the eas ternend of Washington County

,then across the in terior of

Nob le County over the sou thwestern corner of Guernsey

[ I 7 ]


and the northeastern corner of Muskingum,wi th a direc

t ion of abou t forty-two degrees wes t of north,the s tones

reaching the ground at an angle of abou t s ixty degrees .Over thirty pieces were found as a resul t of this fal l

,

scat tered over the neighboring farms,and weighing from

less than one to 103 pounds, the total weight being estimated at upwards of 770 pounds or 3 50 ki lograms . Ofthese the larges t

,the 103-pound mass, i s in the museum

of Marietta Col lege,Ohio . Examples of this fall are to

be found in upwards of fifty col lec tions the world over,

i n fragmen t s and complete individuals of all sizes up tothe larges t mentioned .

A Shower of meteori c s tones which fell near Hessle,

near Upsala,Sweden

,at p .m .

,January 1

,1 869, i s

worthy of note on accoun t of the perfection of the record,

as well as for the large number of individual s tones andthei r somewhat unusual character. The fall i s recorded asbeing accompan ied as usual by a noise l ike heavy thunder

,

which was followed by a rat tl ing sound as of rapidly drivenwagons

,ending wi th a musical

,organ-l ike tone and then

a hissing sound . The s tones fel l in great number and ofvarying weights

,from less than one to grams

,the

total weight being unknown,though grams are

distri bu ted throughou t the various museums and othercollections of the world . They were s trewn over an arealying thirty degrees eas t of south to thirty degrees wes t ofnorth . Although so bri t tle as to be crumbled betweenthe thumb and finger

,but few were broken by force of

impact,and one which fel l on the ice rebounded withou t

rupture . The most s triking and unusual feature, however

,was the presence of a coffee-colored carbonaceous

matter in powder and in loose masses as large as the hand .

This,though largely los t, was found to be made up of

granules con tain ing metall i c parti cles which could beextracted wi th a magnet

,leaving a residue consis ting of:

carbon , 5 1 .6 per cen t hydrogen , 3 . 8 per cen t”oxygen

per cen t ; si l i ca , per cen t ; ferrous oxide, per cen t ;

[ 1 8 ]


magnesi a,

per cen t ; l ime, per cen t ; and soda, wi thtraces of l i thi a

, per cen t. Jus t what i s the meaningof this i s not yet apparen t .Beyond ques tion the most remarkable meteori c shower

,

within the l imi ts of the Uni ted S tates and wi thin historictimes

,was that of Es thervi l le

,Emmet Coun ty, Iowa,

which took place on May 10,1 879, a t 5 p .m . The three

larges t masses weighed 170, and 500 pounds respective ly, bu t there were in addi tion very many smal lerpieces weighing from the frac tion of an ounce to twen tyeigh t pounds each . The 92%-pound mass and some 600of the smaller fragmen ts are in the museum of YaleUniversi ty .

This meteor was plainly visi ble in i ts fl igh t through theair and was described as looking l ike a ball o f fire wi th along train of vapor or clouds of fire behind i t . I ts heightabove the earth when firs t seen was es timated at fortymiles . The sounds produced by the explosions inciden talto i ts breaking up were referred to as terri ble and indescribable

,as scaring cat tle and terri fying people over

an area of many square miles . The first explosion,for

there were several,was louder than the loudes t arti llery ;

this was fol lowed by lesser sounds,and then by a rumbling

noise l ike the passage of a train of cars over a bridge .Approximately 1 16 ki lograms from this fal l are preservedin the Bri tish Museum

,s ixty ki lograms in the Universi ty

of Minnesota, fi fty kilograms in the Un ivers i ty of Paris,and forty-eigh t I n Yale Universi ty . Over seven ty

.

of thecollections the world over have represen tative specimens

,

of less,bu t varying weights .

Sti ll another shower which i s worthy of recall,even a t

the risk of wearying the reader,was that which took place

near Holbrook in Arizona on July 19, 19 1 2 . At half pastSix i n the afternoon

,while i t was s ti l l dayligh t, the meteor

was heard passing over Holbrook,travel ing almos t due

eas t wi th the usual sounds and leaving a train of thinsmoky vapor . I t made a very loud noise

,l ast ing for hal f a

[ 19 ]


minute to one minute,which was l ikened by wi tnesses

to the rumbling of a rapidly driven farm wagon on a roughroad

,to escaping steam

,to distan t or long-continued

thunder,or the booming of cannon . One large exp losion

was quickly followed by several smaller ones in rapidsuccession and s tones began fall ing “ raising many pufl

’

s

of dust for a mile or more over the dry sand of the desertl ike those produced by bullets or the firs t drops of rainin a heavy shower . The meteor was not seen in i tsfl igh t

,as i t was too early in the even ing for i ts luminosi ty

to be visib le .”

The s tone was repeatedly shattered in i ts passagethrough the ai r and the surfaces of the fragmen ts almos timmediately fused again , so that each piece as found IScovered wi th the b lack crus t so characteri s ti c of meteori cstones . The really extraordinary feature of the fal l i sthe number of the pieces

,of which there were est imated

to be some varying in S ize from that of a pea to fiveor s ix inches in greates t di ameter. The accompanyingplate (Plate 4) from the original description 5 shows theactual S izes and shapes of the smaller forms .The two following falls s tand in marked con tras t wi ththose j us t given

,each yielding a single individual s tone as

a record of the event .The firs t

,that of a s tone at Alfiane llo

,I taly

,fel l on the

afternoon of February 1 6,1 8 83 , and though stated to

have been accompan ied by a loud detonation,gave no

evidence of breaking in to fragments . Owing doubtlessto the t ime of day

,no l ight accompanied the fall

,bu t i t

left behind a trai l of vapor comparable wi th the smokefrom a rapidly moving locomotive . The direc tion offl igh t was from north-northeas t toward the sou th-sou thwes t . The stone penetrated the soi l to the depth of ameter

,shaking the ground l ike an earthquake

,and

,in

ciden tally, frightened a nearby peasan t in to a fain ting fi t .But a single s tone fel l

,which weighed approximately 260

5Wm . Foo te, Amer. your. Science, Vo l. 34, N ovember, 1 9 1 2.

[ 20 ]


PLATE 5

Me teoric S tone , A l legan ,A l legan Coun ty

,M ichigan

This sto ne,we ighing abou t 70 pounds, fe l l o n the m orn ing OfJuly 10

,

1 899 , o n the Thomas H i l l,Saugatuck Road

,near A l legan

,Mich igan .

T he m ass cam e o ut o f the no rthwest and burI ed i tse lf abou t e igh teeninches I n a loo se

, sandy $011. T he fal l was accompan ied by a loudrepo rt fo l lowed by a rum bl ing and a hissing sound . T he sto ne was

dug up a few mmutes after the fal l and 13 stated to have been to o ho tto handle . T he charac terI S tic b lack crust shows we ll-m arked l ineso f flow and fusion struc ture

,bu t the m ass cou ld no t have had a h igh

tem perature o n stri king the ground as the grass ro o ts adhering to itShow no S IgnS o f charring . T he ash-gray groundm ass is exceedinglyfriab le and is m ade up o f an agglom erate of part ic les o f o l ivine

,

enstat i te , chrom i te,

n icke l-Iron,tro I lite

,and schre erSite . I ts

struc ture is cho ndri t ic and charac terized by the large mm and

spher1cal perfec t ion o f m any o f the Chondru les


kilograms (572 pounds) though i t qu ickly became brokenup and the pieces scattered . About one-fifth of theoriginal weigh t has been preserved

,the l arges t piece, of

grams,being now in the museum at Berl in .

The Allegan,Michigan

,fall

,on the morn ing of July 10

,

1 899, was also of a S ingle s tone . (Plate This wass tated by observers to have come from the northeas t

,

and to have buried i tself in the sand to a depth of eighteeninches

,striking wi thin ten rods of a man working in the

fields .Atten tion was firs t at trac ted to i t by a cannon like

report,followed

,as the s tone came nearer

,by a hissing

sound as of an engine b lowing o ff steam . When firstseen in the ai r i t had the appearance of a b lack ball abou tthe size of a man ’s fis t

,and as i t passed overhead i t was

described as leaving a “blue s treak” behind,bu t no l ight .

I t was dug from the ground bu t a few minutes after fall ingand was said to be too hot to hold in the hands

,and that

the sand was hot around i t . Nevertheless,shreds of dead

leaves and grass which became closely compacted agains ti ts surface on striking

,were not charred in the least . I t

would seem probable that here,as in many other cases

,i t

was expected the stone would be hot,hence i t was so

reported .

This s tone, which weighed approximately seventy-fivepounds, was badly shattered in fall ing. The main massi s among the collections of the National Museum .

I t will be noted that al l the falls thus far describedyielded stones or s tony irons . Of all the known ironmeteori tes

,bu t seventeen were seen to fall

,and of these

only that of Mazapil,Mexico

,need be given in detai l .

The accoun t i s that of one Eulogio Mij ares,a ranchman

l iving at Mazapil . Thi s fal l i s of speci al in teres t,having

taken place during one of the periodic meteor displays .

I t was about 9 o’

c lo ck in the even ing (No vem ber 27, 1 885 ) when Iwent to the corral to feed certain horses

, when sudden ly I heard a

loud s izzing no ise , exac tly as though som e thing red-ho t was be ing

[ 2 1 ]


plunged in to co ld water, and alm ost instan tly there fo l lowed a loudthud . At o nce the corral was covered w i th a phosphorescent l ight andsuspended in the air were sm al l lum inous sparks as though from a

rocket . I had no t recovered from my surprise when I saw this lum inous air disappear and there rem ained o n the ground on ly such a l ightas is m ade when a m atch is rubbed . A number o f people from the

ne ighboring houses cam e runn ing toward m e and they assisted me to

qu ie t the horses which had becom e very much exc i ted . We all askedeach o ther what cou ld b e the m atter

,and we were afrai d to walk I n

the corral for fear of ge t t ing burned . When I n a few moments we

had recovered from our surprise we saw the pho sphorescen t l ight disappear, l itt le by l it t le , and when we had brought the l ights to look forthe cause , we found a ho le in the ground and in it a bal l o f fire (unahola de lumbre) . We re t ired to a distance , fearing it would explodeand harm us. Lo oking up to the sky we saw from t ime to t im e ex

halat ions or stars, which so on went ou t

,but w i thout no ise . We

returned after a l itt le and found in the ho le a ho t stone , which wecould bare ly handle , and wh ich on the next day looked l i ke a p iece o f

iron ; all n igh t it rained stars,bu t we saw none fal l to the ground as

they seem ed to be ext ingu ished whi le st i l l very high up .

In view of what has j us t been said concern ing the tem

perature of the Allegan meteori te, attention should becalled to the fact that thi s was an i ron . The reason forthi s remark wil l appear l ater .The most remarkable of meteori cfinds wi thin the l imi ts

of the Uni ted States,or indeed in the world

,

6 i s tha t ofCanyon Diab lo

,in Arizona . At and abou t a poin t

between Winslow and Flags taff,i n Yavapai Coun ty

,and

south of the Santa Fé rai lroad,several thousand pieces of

metall i c (meteoric) i ron , i n weight from a gram topounds

,have been found , for the most part scattered over

an oval area some 3% by 4% mi les, though one of thelarges t masses was found eigh t miles to the eastward .

The total weigh t of all the material wil l never be accuratelyknown

,bu t i t mus t l ie somewhere between fi fteen and

twenty tons . Nothing,even by tradi t ion

,i s known

regarding the date of fall . So large a quan ti ty of meteoricmateri al scattered over the plain would in i tsel f exci te5 Un less c ertain recen t newspaper accounts o f an o ccurrence in Siberia shou ld prove

correc t.

[ 22 ]

PLATE 6

Me teo ric Iro n . Fe l l at Maz api l,Mexi co ,

N ov . 27,

1 88 5 . We ight abou t 4 ki logram s o r lbs . No te thebe au t ifu l scu lpturmg or piez oglyphs. Fo r descrIp tio n

o f fall see p . 2 1

F I G . 2 . Area of distri but ion of Canyo n D iablo Me teori te .

(After D . M . Barringe r)

[ 23 ]


interes t and curiosi ty and taken in connection wi th theexis tence

,close at hand

,of an immense crater-l ike de

pression,early gave rise to the theory that the crater

i tself (Plate 7) was due to the impact of an enormous meteori te . This occurrence has often been described 7 bu t is of sufficien t in teres t to meri t addi t ionalnoti ce here . The region i s that of an elevated

,nearly

level,sandy plain the floor of which is composed in the

main of a buff-colored arenaceous l imestone which iscapped here and there by res idual patches of red sandstone and underlain by a highly s i l iceous

,fri able sand

stone . The crater-form depress ion i s some feetacross and 600 feet deep

,the original depth having been

greatly lessened by déhris blown in from the surroundingplain . The crater rim is composed of the upturned

,

crushed,broken , and bent beds of sand and l imes tone

overlain by large blocks,sometimes thousands of tons

in weight,of the same materia l thrown out from the crater

i tself. In addi tion are enormous quanti ties of finelypulverized si l i ceous sand which has plain ly been derivedfrom the sandstone by the shock of an explosion or theimpact of some descending body . There are also

,i n ter

mingled wi th this,occasional blocks of si l i ceous pumice

which apparen tly owe their origin to the fusion of thesame sandstone . So convincing are these fac ts that extensive dri ll ing and tunnel ing have been undertaken inthe hope of finding a buried monster meteori te .Though the i llustrations given can leave no presen tdoub t as to the ul traterres tri al origin of meteori tes

,i t i s

bu t natural that there should at firs t have been muchSkepti cism both in the popular and scientific mind regarding the possible fal l of s tones from empty space . So greatwas this Skepticism that

,as s tated by E . F. F. Chladni

,

of Vienna,i n his F euer-M eteore publ ished in 1 8 19, the ex

amples preserved in the public museums were hidden or7 Me teor Crater in N orthern Cen tral Arizona, by D . M . Barringer, and o thers by the

same au thor. Also T he M e teor Crater o f Cahon D I ab lo , e tc ., by Geo . P . Merril l,

Smithsonian M isc. Coll. 52. I ssue, Vo l. 50, P t. 4, 1908 .

[ 24 ]



discarded,the custodians fearing to make a laughing

stock of themselves through acquiescing in the possi bi l i tyof their extraterres tri al origin . As long since noted byI z arn

,i t was those trained in power of observation and

able to realize the improbab il i ties of such an occurrencethat were slowest to accept the idea of an ultraterres tri alsource . The Swiss geologis t

, J . André de Luc,i s quoted

as saying that though he should see one fall he wouldnot bel ieve it .

8

The fall in 1492 of the meteori c s tone at Ensisheim ,

an account of which i s given on page 7 , would seeminglyhave been sufficien tly convincing

,bu t even as late as

1772, a committee, one of whom was the celebratedchemis t

,Lavois ier

, presen ted to the French Academy areport on the examination of a s tone seen to fal l a t Lucefour years previously . In this they took the ground thatthe supposed sky stone was bu t an ordinary terrestri alrock that had been s truck by lightn ing .

As early as 1794, Chladni , referred to on the previouspage

,had called the atten tion Of the scien tific world to

the fact that severa l masses of iron had in al l probab ility come to our earth from outer space . He referredespeci ally to the now wel l-known Pallas s tony- i ron

,which

was found by a Cossack in 1749, among schistose rock,and in the highes t part of a lofty mountain near Krasnojarsk in Siberi a . I t was regarded by the native Tartarsas a holy thing fal len from heaven

,which fac t would

certain ly seem to indicate that i t was seen to fall . Chladniargued that this i ron could have been formed only underthe influence of fire . The absence in the vicin i ty ofscoriae

,the ducti l i ty of the iron

,the hard and pi tted sur

faces,and the regular distri bu tion of the included olivine

,

to h is mind precluded the idea that i t could have beenformed where found

,or by man

,elec tri ci ty

,or an acci

dental conflagration . Hence,he inferred that i t had been

proj ected from a distance,and

,as there were no volcanoes

3 “I ch habe es gesehen, ich g laube es aber do c h nich t.

[ 25 ]


known to ej ec t iron,and as, moreover, there were no

volcanoes in the vicin i ty,he was compelled to look for an

extraneous source,and to regard i t as actually having

fallen from the sky . Inciden tally, he argued, the fl igh tof such a body through the atmosphere would give riseto all the phenomena of the firebal l or shooting s tar.I t was

,as has been remarked, as i f to direc t atten tion

to Chladni ’s work that there occurred during this sameyear an observed shower of meteori c stones near Siena

,

I taly . In December of the following year,also

,a 56

pound stone fel l ou t of a clear sky a lmost at the feet of alaborer near Wold Cottage in Yorkshire

,England

,and

again in 1798 , under S imilar condi tions, many s tones fel lat Krakhu t, near Benares, i n India .

Notwi thstanding all these and numerous other recordedoccurrences

,the scien tific minds of the day remained nu

convinced,

or on ly parti ally convinced . Fortunatelythere occurred in broad dayligh t abou t this t ime (Apri l 26,1 803) a shower of upward of stones in the neighborhood of Laigle, France, already mentioned . Thecircumstances of this fal l were thoroughly investigatedunder the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences(see page The report

,covering over forty quarto

pages,was of so conclus ive a nature as to forever set

aside all doub ts as to their ul traterrestrial nature andprobable source . 99 N everthe less there remained doubters. An amusing il lustration o f the varying

opinio ns on the subj ec t, as we l l as o f the condition o f chemistry and power o f observation at the time, is given by a writer in T i lloch ’

s M agazine (Vo l. 46, “Why,

”

he writes,“do men o f science persist in saying that m e teoric stones fal l from the heavens,

as if p lanets could contain within their bodies a force o f projec tion superior to theirforce o f gravity, and capab le o f pushing their matter beyond the lim its o f their attraetion, o r as ifmasses so enormous could b e formed in the air; where, besides, there existsno base o f bod1es as in the azo te, without an extrication o f air, fe lt over the who le g lobe ,being the effec t o f it. T he phenomenon always takes p lace in open grounds and wherewithout finding much resistance the stone may sink into the ground ; therefore they dono t fal l, bu t are form ed o f the substance o f the so il, which the ligh tning puts in a state

o f fusio n. I f this substance b e pure silex the stone form s ro ck crysta l rounded like flin t .I f it b e a m ixed so il, the flux is also m ixed and some o f its o xides may, by the force o fthe fire b e reduced, nay it is even compounded in to m e tal .”

[ 26 ]

PLATE 8

Portrai t o f E . F . F . Ch ladn i . From an engraving in Fl ight ’sA Chap ter

in the H istory of M eteorites

PLATE 9

D iagram of earth and sun



hence would enter our atmosphere wi th an in i ti al veloci tyof forty-four miles per second . This i s, however, farabove the speed wi th which the meteor actually reachesthe earth

,atmospheri c pressure so far retarding i t that i t

may fall wi th l i ttle i f any speed h igher than that impartedto i t by gravi ty . In thi s connection the following tableby G . von N iesse l, showing the heigh t above the earth atwhich certain meteori tes have los t thei r in i ti al veloci ty

,

i s of in teres tVON N I E S S E L

’

S TABLE

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

From whatever direc tion the meteori te comes,i t i s

meteoric stone which has come under the wri ter ’s Observation i s that of Knyahinya, Hungary, as described byHaidinger . In this instance a 660-pound s tone (Figureviews once held concern ing the possible iden ti ty of theshooting stars and meteori tes .The astronomer Herschel calculated the veloci ty of the

Yorkshire,England

,meteori te a t the time i t reached the

ground as bu t 41 2 fee t a second . The Guernsey Coun ty,

Ohio,s tone was es timated to have reached the earth while

traveling a t a speed of three or four mi les a second ; thatofWeston , Connecticu t, while a t a heigh t of some eighteenmiles, was estimated by Professor Bowdi tch to have aveloci ty of three miles a second . The evidence of speedafforded by the impact of actual falls i s extremely contradic tory. Obviously a s tone fall ing from a great heightwould, i f gravi ty alone were considered, reach the surfacewi th the greates t force of impact . N ordenskiOld s tates

[ 28 ]

PLATE 10

View of a port ion o f the m oo n’

s surface . Compare w i th view o f

Me teor Crater, Plate 7

PHENOMENA INCIDENTAL TO FALL

that in the case of the Hessle fall,s tones so fri ab le as to

be readily broken i f S imply thrown agains t a hard surface, were not broken or even scarred on striking thefrozen ground . Stones weighing several pounds whichstruck on ice a few inches in thickness rebounded wi thou tbreaking the ice or being themselves broken . The 70pound stone that fel la t Allegan

,Michigan

,in

1 899, penetrated thesandy soi l to a depth o fabou t eighteen inches andwas i tself considerablyshattered . Like that ofHessle, this was an nu

usually friable s tone . I ti s eviden t that i ts speeddid not equal that of aproj ec ti le from an oldtime piece of heavy ordnance . The 260-poundstone that fell at E nSiSheim

sGermany

,in F I G . 3 . D iagram o f fal l o f me teori te

1492, i s reported to have at Knyahinya, Hungaryburied i tsel f to a depthof five feet . The greates t depth of penetration of ameteori c stone which has come under the wri ter ’s o bservation is that of Knyahinya, Hungary, as described byHaidinger. In this ins tance a 660-pound s tone (Figures triking the ground at an angle of some twen ty- sevendegrees from the verti cal

,penetra ted to a depth of eleven

feet . The hole was nearly circular in outline and fragments from the interior were thrown back and scat teredto a dis tance of some 1 80 feet (dreiz ig Klafter) . The stonewas found broken in three pieces and the earth beneathi t compacted to a s tony hardness . The 7 1-pound mass ofthe H raschina iron i s s tated to have buried i tself to adepth of eigh teen feet . On the other hand

,s ti ll heavier

[ 29 ]


masses have been found under such condi t ions as to leadone to infer that they scarcely buried themselves .Peary ’3 gian t Cape York Iron , weighing 37 tons

,was

found only parti ally covered, but as i t l ay on a bed ofgneissi c bowlders

,this 15 not s trange . I t should be re

marked,however

,that an examination of the Iron reveals

no such abrasions of the surface as might be expected hadi t fallen wi th a speed of whole mi les per second, nor,indeed

,any abrasions whatever that can be ascribed to

such a cause . I t i s,Of course

,possible that thi s fal l took

place when the ground was deeply covered wi th ice and

snow,and i ts speed was thus checked before coming in

con tact wi th the s tony matter.The Willamette

,Oregon , i ron , weighing 1 5 6 tons,

seemingly wi thou t question lay as i t originally fell, andin a region of no appreci able erosion—rather one of organicdeposi tion—for i t was found lying m a primeval fores t ;yet the mass was scarcely buried

,a smal l proj ec t ing

portion leading to i ts discovery .

The Bacub iri to,Mexico

,i ron

,weighing

,at a rough

estimate,twen ty tons

,l ay in a soft soi l bu t l i ttle below the

general surface of the field around i t .Although so seemingly ineffect ive

,i t i s nevertheless

permissib le,withou t being sensational

,to consider for a

momen t what might be the resul t of meteori c bombardmen t were not our earth protected by i ts armorplate ofatmosphere . Probably the surface of the moon

,spotted

over by deep pi ts,Offers the bes t i l lus tra tion of the poss i

ble consequences .The hissing sounds so frequently reported in meteori tefalls may seemingly be ascribed to speed alone

,as in the

case of a rifle ball or other high-power proj ecti le ; thethunderl ike sounds to the same cause as those of ordinarythunder —the collapsing of an atmospheri c vacuum

,as

caused by lightn ing . The crackling and crash ing soundsare due largely to the breaking up of the meteori te duringi ts descen t

,a feature i tself due to the pressure of the

[ 30 ]


atmosphere and to the expansion of the exterior shellthrough heat produced by the same cause . The astronomer Herschel has s tated that a t the heigh t of twelve milesa veloci ty of twen ty- seven miles per second would produce a pressure of a li t tle over pounds per squareinch . While an iron meteori te might wi ths tand this

,a

stone would almost certain ly be crushed . This wouldaccoun t for so many s tony meteori tes coming to us in theform of showers of fragmen ts .The as tronomer Young has s tated that the quanti ty of

heat evolved in bringing to res t a body which has a ve lo ci ty of forty- two ki lometers or twen ty-s ix miles a second isvastly more than sufficien t to fuse i t, even were i t composed of the most refractory material . The effec t

,in

deed,i s the same as though the meteor was immersed in

the flame of a blowpipe having a temperature of manythousands of degrees . With a moving body having aveloci ty Of abou t meters per second

,the temper

ature would be raised to about that of redness . With aspeed of twen ty or th irty miles per second

,the meteor

would be acted upon as i f immersed in a temperature ofseveral thousand degrees

,and the l ivelies t incandescence

would resul t,the meteor becoming fused and catching

fire on the immediate surface and being perhaps almosten tirely consumed . H . E . Wimperis, i ndeed, has c alcula ted that

,owing to this cause

,no iron less than ten

pounds ln weight on entering the atmosphere would survive . That the meteors of differen t showers exhib i tthese described features wi th differen t degrees of intensi ty ari ses

,according to the astronomer Chambers

,

from the fac t that their apparen t speed depends in a greatmeasure upon the angle wi th which they meet the earth

,

as already noted .

Thus the me teo rs o f Novem ber 13 (Leon ids) are moving in a direc

t ion opposi te to the earth ; hence the ir veo lcity is very great, be ingabout fo rty-four m i les per second . But the m e teors o f Novem ber 27(Andromedes) are moving in nearly the same direc t ion as the earth ,

[ 3 1 ]


and hence have to overtake us,so that they apparen t ly move very

slowly, the ir speed be ing o n ly e leven m i les per second . T he Leon i dsabove referred to

,toge ther w i th the Perse i ds o f August 10 and the

Orionids o f Oc tober 1 8—20,are good examp les o f the sw ift-m oving

me teors, and they are almost invariably accompan ied by phosphorescen t streaks. T he slow m e teors, o f which the Andromedes are a type

,

throw off trains of ye llow ish sparks .

1

F I G . 4. T he afterglow o f m e teo ri tes

The pressure of the air in any case i s such that thefused and burning materials are immediately s tripped o ffthe ou ter exposed portions

,forming the trai l o f l ight

,so

conspicuous a feature of the early part of the phenomenon .

This of course,does not apply to the so-called “after

glow (Figure 4) which sometimes remains in the air forseveral minutes after the meteori te has passed and which 18commonly believed to be due to phosphorescen t n i trogenand perhaps other gases formed by the heat of the passingbody .

2 Only on the rear,i f a t all

,does the fused materi al

accumulate to an appreci able thickness . AS the meteori te1 Handboo k o f Descriptive and Prac tical Astronom y : Sun, P lane ts, Come ts, 4th ed.

Vo l. 1,p. 635 .

2 “T he mo tio n o f the me teor through the atmosphere produces an exceedingly hightemperature and m ay bring abou t chem ical o r physica l changes in the compos i tion o f

the atmosphere in the track o f the me teor, which on reverting to its original state givesout a phosphorescent g low,

o r the surrounding air may b e h ighl y ionized by the vapo rizmg m e teor so that e lec trical discharges take p lace great enough to produce an after

g low like that fo l lowing the e lec trode less discharge .

” C . C . Trowbridge, Proe. N ation .

Acad. Sci. , Vo l. 10, 1924, p . 38 .

[ 3 2 ]



approaches the earth the speed i s gradual ly checked, andby the time i t i s reduced to two miles a second

,the heat

generated i s no longer sufl'icien t for fusion,the remain ing

thin coating of mol ten material qu ickly congeals as a

black crust, and the s tone drops to the earth no longerluminous and doub tfully even hot . The word douhtfullyi s used here in ten tionally

,for reports on thi s phase of the

subj ec t are very con tradictory . Before giving the evidence pro and con

,the reader i s, however, asked to con

sider the probab i l i ties .As i s well known

,the temperatures at comparatively

short dis tances above the earth are very low ; even a t theslight al t i tudes reached by flying machines i t i s “freezingcold

,and astronomers and physicis ts tell us that the cold

of space i s that of “absolute zero .

”N ow the meteor

has been wandering through th is space for untold yearsand but for absorption of heat from the sun on i ts wayto earth must in t ime acqu ire a l ike temperature . Theproblem of determin ing the probable temperature of falling bodies i n space i s extremely complex and canno t betouched upon here . Reference may again be made to thecalculations of Prof. H . E . Wimperis, who, from a s tudy ofthe condi tions of fl ight of a meteori te compared wi tharti l lery shells

,reached the conclusion that an i ron

meteori te of ten to twen ty pounds in weight would haveat the cen ter

,on reach ing the earth

,a temperature not

far from that of l iqu id ai r —140° C . or - 220

°

Prof. A . T. Jones,i n a recen t reconsideration of the prob

lem,arrived a t the conclusion that when a meteori te falls

during the daytime,i ts temperature i s probably not far

from 0° C . when i t en ters the a tmosphere of the earth .

‘

Widely vari an t as these estimates seem,they are sufficien t

to show that whatever apparen t heat the s tone or i ronpossesses a t the t ime of i ts fall mus t have been acquiredwholly through atmospheric pressure during the few las tbrief seconds of i ts fl ight . But

,as has been stated

,the

heated surface of the flying body is s tripped o ff almos t as

[ 33 ]


fast as formed,and never

,so far as shown , penetrates to

any appreci able depth . Hence,i t seemingly follows that

in the case of poor heat- conducting substances l ikemeteori c s tones

,the heat a t the time of thei r reach ing the

ground must be practically negligib le, differing l i t tle i fany from that possessed at the time they en tered theatmosphere

,let this be 0

° C . or —140°

C .,as the case

may be .

Actual tes timony,i n prin t or otherwise

,i s qui te con

tradic tory, and allowance must be made for the fall ib ility of the human mind as so frequen tly exemplified inthe courts

,parti cu larly in the case of unusual or s tartling

phenomena,and for a natural predi lec tion on the part

of an individual to report an obj ec t as in the condi tionin which he has been led to expec t to find i t .Poggendorff, i n h is Annalen for 1 83 8 , records the settingof fires by meteori tes in 176 1 a t Burgoyne, France, BurySt . Edmunds, and other local i ties . According to Haidinger

,some s tones which fell in S tyri a in 1 859 continued

in a s tate of incandescence for from five to eigh t seconds,and for a quarter of an hour were too hot to be handledwi thou t burning. Beinert , i n hi s accoun t of the Braunauiron s tates that for s ix hours i t remained too hotto be handled

,as did also that of Mazapi l, Mexico

referred to on page 2 1 . In an accoun t of the fall of aniron meteori te in Mogul

,India

,i t i s s tated that the earth

for a distance of ten to twelve yards about the spot was“burn t to such a degree that not the leas t trace of verdure or blade of grass remained,

” and that on attemptingto dig i t up the heat was so violen t that one might havesupposed i t to have been from a furnace, but becamecold after some time .” Unfortunately there are indications o f exaggeration in these accounts such as torender i t unsafe to rely upon them implici tly . The ironwhich fell a t Pi t ts

,Georgia

,in 192 1 , i s s tated to have

3 T he wri ter has ac tual ly had bow lders from the g lacial drift sen t him , with similarstatem en ts.

[ 34 ]


been s ti l l warm when dug up a few minu tes later,bu t

not red-hot,as firs t reported . Taken in connection wi th

that of the Mazapi l fal l th is accoun t would seem to lendprobab i l i ty to the sugges tion elsewhere made that i ronmeteori tes reach the earth whi le travel ing a t a higherrate of speed and

,being better conductors

,become more

highly heated than do the s tones . The D hurm sala s toneof 1 860 IS s tated to have been in tensely cold when pickedup immediately after fal l ing

,fros t forming on i ts sur

face . The s tone of Alfiane llo , I taly, IS l ikewise reportedby Bom bicc i to have been extremely cold in ternally

,

4 aswas also that which fell a t Olivenza

,Spain

,i n 1924. A

similar s tatemen t regarding the Colby,Wisconsin

,s tone

of 19 17 has been made while the Ti lden , I l l inois, s toneof 1924 i s reported as noti ceably cold

” when exhumedalmos t immediately after fall ing.

The reports o f the setting of fires by fall ing meteori tesmus t be taken therefore wi th some degree of allowance .

The wri ter considers i t more than probable that,were i t

possib le to reinvestigate the early reports,they would be

found largely erroneous . In the cases of the Allegan,

Holbrook,Winnebago

,and Rose Ci ty falls

,the s tones

s truck on dried grass,which

,though pressed closely

agains t the surfaces, was not charred in the leas t . Indeed,one of the Winnebago stones fel l on a stack of dry strawwi thou t igni ting i t .Naturally the possib i l i ty of inj ury to human beings

and other animals by fall ing meteori tes has often beendiscussed, and several ins tances are recorded, mostly ashaving occurred during the s ixteen th and seven teen thcen turies . I t mus t be confessed

,however

,that owing

to the lack of confirmation by wri ters after the firs tmomentary period of exci tement had subsided

,there i s

here also very grave doub t as to the tru th of the occurrences ; certainly they cannot be accepted as matters of

4 “Auche Laero lite di Alfianello si trovo' freddissimo ne l le superficie di ro t tura, al

momento de l lo scavo .

[ 35 ]


fact . Nevertheless, i t wi ll be well to recal l a few of thereported cases of this nature and to give them whatevercredence they seem to deserve . 5

Bigot de Morogues,i n hi s M emoirs pub l i shed in 1 8 1 2

,

quotes the accoun t Of two sai lors who in 1654 were killedby the fall of a meteori te while s tanding on the bridgeof a vessel sai l ing between Japan and Sici ly . He mentions

,too

,the fall of an iron at Lessay near Cou tenes,

France,i n 1737, by which an imals were killed and many

bu ildings fired .

Some accounts of the fall a t Barbotan , Frances tate that a s tone fifteen inches in diameter broke throughthe roof of a cottage and ki lled a herdsman and a bullock ;subsequen t accounts

,while confirming the fall through

the roof,make no mention of the ki ll ing .

M ondegenitus s tates in his Life of M arcus Aurelius,

that during the reign of the Emperor Vallatian such acopious shower of s tones fell in Constan tinople that i tki lled not only several people bu t mos t of the cattle inthe fields . Through lack of confirmation this i s regardedas al together improbable .In the London P hilosophical M agaz ine o f 1 8 1 1 i s an

extrac t from a wri ter in Fu tty Ghur (Fe t tehghur India,

i n which occurs the following :I open this letter to le t you know o f a very odd c ircum stance which

happened a few days ago , viz .,a large bal l o f fire fe l l from the c louds

which burnt five vi llages, destroyed crops and some men and women .

T he bal l is now st i l l to b e seen ; it is hard as a stone . This happenednear Shahabad

,across the Ganges I have heard no thing further

about this but a vague report .

Vague indeed i t mus t have been S ince there IS norecord of any meteori te having fallen at thi s locali ty .

T. F . Phipson ,i n hi s book on meteors (p . men

tions on the authori ty of a Carthusian monk the fall ofmore than a thousand S tori es a t Crema near Milan

,I taly

,

in 1 5 1 1 . The larges t of these weighed 1 20 pounds .5 Which is very lit tle .

[ 36 ]

PLATE 12

Me teoric Iron,Casas Grandes

,Chihuahua

,Mexico

Th is iron is suppo sed to be the m ass found in 1 867 in an Old

tom b in the ru ins o f the Montezuma Casas Grandes ( largehouses) , in Chihuahua, Mexico . When found it was

“carefully

and curiously wrapped w i th a kind o f co arse l inen , sim i lar tothat w i th wh ich the Egypt ians inc lose o r wrap the ir mumm ies .

”

Twen ty-S ix yo ke o f sturdy oxen were mustered and as m any o rmore strong log-cha ins, and

,w i th this force and tack le the

m onster m e teori te was hauled from there to the m odern town o f

Casas Grandes .

” Some doub t has been cast upo n the iden t i tyo f the iron here shown and that above descri bed by the som ewhatconfl ic t ing S tatem en ts regard ing the we ight and s ize . T he ironwe ighed before cu t t ing pounds . I t was cu t in o rder to

give a flat surface for e tching, to Show its crystal l ine struc ture

which is o ctahedral . No th ing is known concern ing the date o f

its fal l


THE STORY OF METEORITE S

and revered as one of the holies t of holy rel ics . TheAnhadra, Indi a, pallas i te, which fell as recen tly as 1 8 80,i s s tated to have been immediately taken in possession byBrahman pries ts who erec ted a brick temple over thespot. People flocked to i t in large numbers

,bringing

offerings of food and flowers and affording a considerable annual income to the wily promoters .Kidd in his work on Savage Childhood (London , 1906)

s tates : That in the case of a new born Kaflir baby,the

chi ld i s made to inhale the smoke from a burning mixtureof various compounds, the mos t importan t ingredien t ofwhich i s a meteori te which has been wel l burned and thenground to a fine powder. The Kaflirs think that th issubstance has the power of clos ing the an terior fon tanelleof the baby ’s skull, of s trengthening, and of making firmthe bones of the skull

,of imparting vigor to the chi ld’ s

mind,and of making the infan t brave and courageous .

The s trength of the meteori te i s thought to enter in to thechild ’s whole system .

The great Casas Grandes iron (Plate in the Nationalcollections at Washington

,was found in an ancien t

Mexican ruin , swathed in mummy c loths in a manner toindicate that i t was held in more than ordinary veneration by the prehis tori c inhab i tants . The Wichi ta, Texas,i ron

,known to the Indians of that region for many years ,

i s said to have been se t up by them as a kind of fetish, orobj ec t of worship or veneration

,as foreign to the earth

and coming from the Great Spiri t . Meteori c i ron hasalso been found upon a brick al tar in prehis tori c ru ins i nOhio

,and i t i s recorded that a s tone weighing abou t a

pound,that fell in Eas t Africa in 1 853 , was secured by

the natives,anoin ted wi th oi l

,clothed and decorated, and

finally ins talled in a temple especi ally prepared for i t .Concern ing two Japanese meteori tes, i t i s s tated by awri ter in the Transactions of the Asiatic S ociety that :They used form erly to be am ong the o fferings annual ly made in the

temple o fOgi to Shokujo (Tanahata tsu me) o n her fest i val , the seventh

T he Cape York Me teoric Iron .

o f$

the Am erican


day o f the seventh month . There is no men t ion o f these having fal lenon this day in the year, but they were connec ted w i th her worship bythe be l ief that they had fallen from the shores o f the S i lver R iver,Heavenly R i ver, o r M i lky Way, after they had been used by her as

we ights w ith which to steady her loom .

In the 1 830 edi t ion of the E dinhurgh E ncyclop edia , deGuignes rela tes that a s tar fel l to the ground in Chinaand was converted in to a s tone , an even t which createdan extraordinary sensation . The inhab i tan ts of thedistri c t

,will ing to convey a moral lesson to thei r unpop

ular emperor,caused these words to be engraved on the

s tone : “Chi-Hoang-T y draws near to death and hisempire will be divided . As a pun ishmen t the emperorcondemned the inhab i tan ts to death bu t died himsel fthe following year

,and his empire was divided into

several kingdoms .Not only the actual falls bu t also the in tangible shooting

stars exci ted feel ings of unrest in supers ti tious minds .The oft-quoted and immorta l Pepys, under date ofMarch 2 1

,1667, wrote

A l l the town is ful l o f the talk o f a meteor, or some fire , that didon Saturday last fly o ver the c i ty at n ight , which do pu t me in m indthat, be ing then walking in the dark an hour or more myse lf in the

garden after I had done wri t ing, I did see a l ight before m e com ingfrom behind me , which made me turn back my head : and I did see a

sudden fire or l ight runn ing in the sky, as it were , toward Cheapsideward , and it van ished very qu ick, which did make m e bethink myse lfwhat ho lyday it was, and too k it for som e rocket, though it was muchbrighter : and the world do make such discourse of it , the ir appre

hensions be ing m ighty fu l l o f the rest of the c i ty to b e burned, and thePapists to cut our throats.

3

3 I t is no t strange that in the early days the fal l o f one of these bodies should be considered o f suflicient significance to demand some form o f pub lic recognition, even if no tof reverence . Such a fee ling, according to Brezina (Proc . Amer. Ph i los. S oc ., Vo l . 43,N o . 176, 1 904) found expression about 400 or 500 in the striking or casting o fme tal(bro nze, silver, or go ld) betyls or co ins, presen ting “as a common feature the l i keness toconic stones, or obe lisks, o r to archaic, half-co nic simu lacra, so that it cam e about thatsimilar representations o f unknown origin were likewise supposed to represent sacredme teorites.

” Brezina lists and figures forty-one such co ins which he c lasses as ( 1 )betyls representing stone s fal len from heaven, and (2) b e tyls accepted by analogy torepresent meteori tes. Their au then ticity is no t, however, general ly recognized .

[ 39 ]


But i f the fall of these comparatively small bodies,

weighing at most bu t a few hundred pounds, i s aecom

panied by phenomena so extraordinary as to impartveneration or terror to man and beast over wide areasof coun try

,what must have been the effec t produced by

the fall of such gian ts as those of Cape York,Greenland ;

Bacubiri to,Mexico ; Willamette, Oregon ; or that which

formed the Canyon Diablo crater . Fortunate i t may befor the individual that he was not a nearby wi tness oftheir terrific display

,bu t i t i s nevertheless to be regretted

that their fal l was unrecorded, and perhaps unseen aswell . The closes t imaginable approximation to such apossib le display of which we have record

,i s that of the

great meteor of 1 860 which left no tangible record of i tsbrief excursion in to our atmosphere . The following i sabridged from an accoun t of this remarkable vis i tor

,

given in the American 7ournal of S cience,Volume 30,

1 860. The meteor was travel ing from north-northwestto south-southeas t

,or in a direc tion from Lake Michigan

to the Gulf Stream . I t was visi b le over an area at leastmiles in length and 700 or 800 i n width . The

time of i ts passage,according to the most rel i ab le wit

nesses,was estimated a t twen ty to forty-five seconds

,

wi th an actual veloci ty of some twenty-Six miles persecond . I ts heigh t when seen over Lake Michigan wasestimated at 1 20 miles . This was gradually reducedun ti l over Long Island i t was bu t forty-two miles . 9 Theactual dimensions of the luminous mass were from onethird to one-fifth of a mi le . When firs t seen i t was i nthe form of a more or less elongated single body

,gradually

increasing in bri ll i ancy and throwing o ff sparks andflashes of l ight . When abou t over Elmira

,N ew York

,

an explosion” took place and the meteor separated in totwo principal portions wi th many subordinate fragments

,

9 I n the Rep ort of the Smithsonian I nstitution for 1 868 it is stated that the ve locitywhen nearest the earth was m iles per second, and that its nearest approach to theearth was at about the m idd le o fN ew York S tate , where its al titude was miles.

[ 40 ]


The Will am e tte Meteoric

al l of which continued on their course,scat tering sparks

along the track,un ti l a t a poin t sou th ofNan tucket where

a second explosion occurred . Shortly after th is the meteorpassed from V iew

,probably fall ing in to the Atlan ti c

,

al though i t i s doub tfully possible that i t passed againou t of our atmosphere

,and wen t on i ts way once m ore

wi th an orbi t considerably dis turbed and a constitu

t ion considerably shat tered i ts close proximi ty toearth .

CHAPTER I I I

AREAS OF D ISTR IBUTION

I N many cases of meteoric showers l ike those mentioned on previous pages, the individual p ieces are distri bu ted over oval areas of considerable exten t

,the longer

axes of which are in the direc tion of fl ight,the heavier

masses being carri ed the greater distances . The Holbrook

,Arizona

,shower of Ju ly 19, 19 1 2, was estimated

by W . M . Foote to comprise over individualsweighing from one ten th to upward of grams each

,

which were scattered over an ell ipsoidal area abou t onehal f of a mile wide and three miles long . The Knyahinya,Hungary

,fal l comprised over individuals ; that of

Laigle,France

,between and and that of

Pul tusk,Russi a

,has been estimated to have comprised

The Hessle,Sweden, fall, according to Nor

denskiOld’

s map,must have been scat tered over an area

some two miles wide and ten miles in length,i n a north

west and sou theas t direc tion,while the Shower of Mocs

,

Transylvani a,comprising or

,as es timated by

Brezina,

individuals,was spread over an area

three miles in length . The celebrated Coon Butte,or

Meteor Crater,find near Canyon Diablo in Arizona

,

comprised many thousand individuals weighing fromone gram to 500 ki lograms, scat tered over a known areaof some four miles radius abou t the crater (Figure thesmaller of these being plain ly oxidation residues and thetotal weight probably twen ty tons . In the case of theHomestead

,Iowa

,fall (Figure the shower was l imi ted to

an area of some five by seven miles,though what was ap

paren tly the main portion of the Shower continued on i ts

[ 42 ]

AREAS OF DISTRIBUTION

F I G. 5 . M ap showing areal distribut ion of stones of the Homestead,Iowa, fal l

[ 43 ]


way and so far as i s known did not reach the earth a t all .The Guernsey County

,Ohio (N ew Concord) , fall com

prised over thirty s tones weighing al together some 460pounds

,which were scattered over an ell ipti cal area

ten miles long by three mi les broad . On the other hand,

many falls,as in the case of that of Al legan

,Michigan

,or

Bishopvi lle,Sou th Carol ina

,are l imi ted to a single s tone

,

or i ron,as the case may be .

There i s a t presen t no law known which covers thegeographical dis tri bu tion of meteor falls . Indeed

,the

irregu lari ty of dis tri bu tion i s so great as to render almosthopeless any attempt a t a solution . A possi b le causewhich seems applicable to one locali ty i s shown to beutterly inappl i cable to any other. Thus the suggestionbased on the abundant falls i n our sou thern Appalachians

,

to the effec t that such frequency might be due to theincreased attrac tion of gravi ty in mountainous regions

,

i s rendered inadequate by the fac t that no such 1ncre ase

actually exists,and that

,moreover

,bu t two falls have

been reported for the en tire area of the Swiss Alps ;whileon the other hand

,eighteen have been reported from the

flat plains o f Kansas wi th an average elevation of lessthan feet . That the recorded number i s due todensi ty of popu lation and hence an apparen t increasein the number of observers i s negatived by the fact thatbu t one meteori te has as yet been reported throughou t the entire Chinese Empire

,

1 whi le India has over100 to her credi t

,and Russi a sixty-eight . Soi l and

cl imate have undoub tedly much to do wi th the findingof the meteori tes after they have once fallen and wi ththeir preservation

,bu t no S ingle cause that has s tood

the tes t of close analysi s has as yet been sugges ted forthis inequali ty . I n view of the short l i fe of a meteori teafter reaching our soil

,and the brief period of fall ing

and observation avai lable for deductive reasoning,i t i s

1 Yet Bio t, in his Catalogue gine'ral des étoilesfi lantes, 1 841 , records hundreds o f suchoccurrences during the period be tween the seventh century, B.C . and the seventeenthcentury, A.D .

[ 44 ]



F ew natural phenomena are more l ikely to undu lyexci te the imagination than those at tendant upon a fallof meteori tes . The suddenness, the unexpected natureof the occurrence

,the l igh t and noise, and, perhaps above

all,the sensation aroused from the sudden proj ec tion of a

sol id body from seemingly empty space, all have theireffect ; and i t i s not surprising that accounts by variousindividuals are widely vari able, dependent upon theflexib i l i ty of the imagination , perhaps, more than uponpowers of observation . Few persons

,however well

trained,can look calm ly and wi th j udgmen t upon the

phenorrienon . Fewer yet can,i n the brief space of time

,

estimate the heigh t of the body when firs t seen or notesuch data as may be of service in calculating i ts rate ofprogress .An in teres ting feature of the phenomenon i s the lack ofab i l i ty on the part of the observer to exactly locate theplace of fall

,unless

,i ndeed

,he happens actually to see i t

s trike the ground . This i s due to several causes and,i n

part a t leas t,to the varying angles a t which the s tones

sometimes enter our atmosphere,which may permi t a

continuation of fl igh t for long dis tances beyond the poin ta t which they seemingly must s trike the earth

,and in

part to the fact that one i s unable to correc tly estimatethe dis tance of bodies fall ing from a heigh t which maybe much greater than supposed . The late H . A . Wardonce told the wri ter of h is experience in such matters .He was si t ting in fron t of a house occupying a somewhatelevated posi tion wi th reference to the res t of the town .

Suddenly a meteori te appeared descending from the sky,

and fell,he was sure

,within a certain square on the lower

level . He at once proceeded to the spot, only to find thathe was mistaken and that i t had fallen “ a few blocksaway .

” At this second poin t the same experience wasrepeated and the s tone finally located some twenty milesbeyond the poin t where he was “certain” he had seen i tstrike .

[ 46 ]


An even better i l lus tration was offered some years agoby a meteor passing over the c i ty of Washington . I t wasfirs t reported to the wri ter by a man fishing in the Potomacsome eighty miles south of the ci ty . He saw i t s trikewas certain of it—within a hal f a mi le of where he was

Standing ; offered to go and get i t i f properly reimbursed .

As,however

,a meteor had passed over Washington ,

traveling in the same direction , on the same day a t thesame hour

,the offer was not accepted . The meteor was

also “seen” by various individuals to s trike on the roof ofan apartmen t house wi thin the ci ty l imi ts

,and by others

to fall i n Chevy Chase,a few miles to the north . I n both

cases supposed fragments were collected and forwardedfor examination . Not one proved to be meteoric . Bywri ting to postmasters along the l ine of direc tion mwhich the meteor appeared to be travel ing

,i t was actually

traced from where i t was firs t “ seen to fall” for nearly

300 mi les in to northeastern Pennsylvan ia, and i t wass ti l l going $ I f i t fel l a t al l

,no trace of i t has been dis

covered .

Almost wi thou t number are the instances in whichstones have been picked up which “were seen to fall” bu twhich prove to be s tri c tly of terres tri al origin . Therecomes a sudden flash and report

,the Observer goes quickly

to the spot where the meteori te was thought to s trike,

and there finds an obj ec t which had not previously at

tracted his atten tion,al though he may have been over

the ground many times . This i s a t once assumed to bethe meteori te

,and in perfec t good fai th he wri tes to some

museum,announcing his discovery and will ingness to

dispose of the newly discovered meteori te . There i sprobably not a museum of importance in the world thatdoes not annually receive one or many such finds which ,on examination prove to be glaci al bowlders, residualmasses of iron ore

,or any of the less common materi als

that s trew the ground of the particular local i ty . Thewri ter has repeatedly had materi al sent him which was


even warm when picked up and found i t to be bu t abowlder which had lain upon the spot where i t was foundduring all the years that have elapsed since the finalreti ring of the ice sheet of the glaci al period . F ew l inesof investigation are better calculated to unfi t one for juryduty where are involved grave questions in human test imony concern ing sudden phenomena than that relatingto the study of meteori tes .Under particularly favorab le condi tions

,as Where a

fall ing meteor has been noted from differen t s tandpoin tsby several observers

,i t has been possib le through plotting

the recorded observations of azimuth and alti tude tolocate the poin t of probab le con tact wi th sufli cien t ac

curacy to warran t a systemati c search . I t was throughsuch means that portions of the Bath Furnace and Cumberland Falls s tones were found .

2 Doub tless the meteorwhich passed over Washington in January

,192 1 , already

referred to,might in l ike manner have been found had

suffi cien t time been devoted to i t,and in cases where

there has been a shower,as a t Holbrook, Arizona, and

elsewhere,there i s always the chance of finding more .

Of all instruments and instrumen tal i ties for findingmeteori tes

,where not actually seen to fall

,the humble

plow and i ts less humble holder have proved most fru i tful .Found while plowing” has become almos t s tereotypedthrough i ts abundan t repeti t ion . The Admire andAnthony finds in Kansas

,the Burlington

, N ew York,

and Carl ton , Texas, finds may be men tioned among themany that have thus been brought to l ight . The reasonfor thi s i s almos t self-eviden t

,particularly i f the region

be one free from dri ft or one of sedimentary rocks only,

l ike our lower Miss issippi Valley . The plow strikesan obstruction

,which

,on examination

,i s found to be of

metal,or

,i f of s tone

,unlike anything in the neighborhood ;

curios i ty i s exci ted and i t i s taken home to hold down awell or barrel cover

,where i ts nature is u l timately dis

2A. M . Miller, Sci. M onthly, N ov.,1923 .

l 48


covered by a chance traveler ; or the finder may himselfhave been of a suflicien tly i nquisi t ive mind to send i taway (to the Smi thsoni an or elsewhere) to have i ts naturedetermined . The pallasi te of Brenham Coun ty

,Kansas

,

offers a good i llustration of this chance finding . Theregion i s that of a prairie

,wi th deep

,s toneless soi l . Hence

great surprise and curios i ty was manifest when the mowingmachines and plows s truck proj ect ing masses of heavy

,

dark-colored rocks . Over twenty were found in differen tparts of the area

,weighing al together about a ton . The

larger were collected and u ti l ized in holding down haystacks and barrel covers un ti l their nature and value werediscovered .

That SO many examples have been found in the flat andtreeless prairi e lands i s thus readily explained . That somany are found in desert regions i s due to a lack ofvegetable covering to obscure them

,and to their long

preservation in a dry soi l and atmosphere . There i s onrecord the case of a young man in Texas who

,on finding

a rounded,dark- colored s tone unlike others in the neigh

borhood,sen t i t away for iden tification

,and on learn ing

i ts true nature,made a systemati c search and found some

score of addi tional individuals which yielded him a verysatisfactory pecuniary reward when they were distri buted among collec tors . These were, however, allproducts of the same fall .3 The Canyon Diablo find wasof l ike nature and wi ll doubtless yield s til l other smallerindividuals to chance finders .Reference is made on page 47 to mis takes that have

occurred in the iden tification of supposed meteoric material

,and the question naturally arises : By what means

i s i t possib le for one to iden ti fy a meteori te even with areasonable degree of safety ? The bes t and most generalrule i s an empirical one . Experience in handling and3 I n this connec tion it may b e we l l to state that in the few cases in which the owner

ship o f a newly-found me teorite came to the courts for decision, the verdic t has beeninvariably in favor o f the owner of the land on which the obj ec t was found.

[ 49 ]


studying wi ll afford safer cri teri a than any number oftes ts made by one inexperienced . Nevertheless

,there

are characters easi ly recogn ized that will serve to guideone along the road of probab il i ties . I f the obj ec t found i smetal l i c and malleable

,i .e .

, impressib le wi thou t shat teringunder the hammer, and found elsewhere than near i ronsmel ting works

,the chances are sufficien tly in favor of i ts

meteori c nature to warran t i ts being examined wi th care .I f

,when submi t ted to a chem i s t

,i t reac ts not alone for

iron bu t for n ickel as well,th is is nearly conclusive and i t

should be j udged further by an expert,wi th particular

reference to i ts crystall ine s tructure . I f the obj ec t i s astone

,or largely of s tony matter

,i t wi ll invari ably Show

,

i f freshly fallen,a thin

,dark crust

,sometimes black and

smooth,sometimes sl ightly shagreened . This crus t wi ll

extend en tirely over the surface except where broken inthe fall

,and the s tone beneath shows no signs of fusion or

of heat in any degree . Further than this,a freshly

broken surface wil l nearly always reveal l i t tle proj ectingpoin ts of metall i c i ron which can be fel t i f too small foreasy recogni tion otherwise . With the exception of a fewrare cases of basal tic rocks

,instances of thi s kind are

unknown among terrestri al equivalen ts . Beyond thi s theinexperienced can rarely go

,though a chemis t may be of

some assis tance in determin ing the presence or absence ofn ickel . Either s tone or i ron wil l invari ab ly

,i f fresh

,Show

the effects of i ts fl ight through the air—not by the crus talone

,as already mentioned

,but by pi t t ings

,thumb

markings,or piez oglyphs, formed as elsewhere described .

I f the obj ec t picked up wi th s tones to make a wal l” ( toquote a l ine from the poet Frost) fulfi l ls al l these cri teria,the chances are greatly in favor of i ts ac tual meteoricnature .

But,as already stated

,meteori tes, owing to their pecu

l iar mineral composi tion,are of an extremely perishable

nature and only when almost immediately gathered willthey be found fresh and unal tered . The firs t change

[ so ]


mani fes t i s that of oxidation o f the i ron chloride, lawrenci te

,which freckles a broken surface wi th rust-colored

spots,and which

,i f abundan t

,gradually s tains i t through

ou t and perhaps produces dis in tegration . The sameconsti tuen t in an iron causes i t to sweat wi th drops ofrusty moisture and to ultimately exfol i ate and fall topieces . In some cases

,as in that of the Admire, Kansas,

s tony iron,the oxidation proceeded in such a manner as

to actually hermetically seal and protec t the inner portion so that when found i t resembled nothing more thanan irregular lump of brown iron ore . When broken

,the

unoxidized interior showed i ts true nature ; bu t unfor

tunately decomposi tion at once set in again , and in spi teof u tmost care, thi s in teres ting meteori te i s represen tedin collec tions today by crumbling fragmen ts which can beprevented wholly from destruction only by immersionin a petroleum disti l late or some similar fluid . Thetroub le i s

,of course

,not due to the chloride alone

,since

metall i c i ron and the iron sulphide,troi l i te

,are them

selves vulnerab le to the attacks of a mois t atmosphere,and

given time enough,the resul ts wil l be the same .

The so - called shale balls” once so common in theCanyon Diablo region

,are bu t oxidized masses which in

some cases,when broken

,s ti l l show a res idual nucleus of

metal l ike an oyster in i ts shell . But for the dryness ofthe cl imate

,these too would doub tless have long since

become unrecogn izab le as meteori tes .4

On account of the halo which natural ly surrounds anobj ec t o f such mysterious origin

,meteori tes have been

eagerly sought by collectors—so eagerly,indeed

,that

s tones and irons have been divided and subdivided to adegree bordering upon the absurd and far removed fromscien t ific . The desire on the part o f collectors to securerepresen tatives of the fulles t poss ib le number of fallshas not only led them to b id prices fool ishly high but

4 T he wri ter brought several shale bal ls Wi th such nuc lei to Washington on ly to havethem go to pieces no twithstanding all the care that could be exercised.

[ 5 1 ]


has caused a stone—if of on ly moderate size—to bebroken in to b i ts and so widely dis tri bu ted that i t has beenimpossible in later years to secure enough for s tudy .

Catalogues of collec tions have been prin ted in whichcertain rare fal ls were represen ted by fragments weighingbu t or of a gram, or a l i t tle larger than the poin tof an ordinary lead pencil . Prices have soared accordingly and instances may be ci ted in which five to tendollars a gram has been paid . The small meteori te whichfell i n Kilbourn

,Wisconsin (Plate in 19 1 I , and passed

through a board in the roof of a barn,sold as h igh as

seven dollars a gram,largely on this accoun t

,as i t was a

stone of a common chondri ti c type . Obviously a meteori te has no actual value and these prices are not only whollyartificial and unscien tific, bu t s i l ly . I t should be addedthat this condi t ion i s due largely to the mere collectorrather than to the serious s tuden t . Ambi tious heads ofdepartments in our publ ic museums are

,however

,by no

means b lameless . 5

In the now commonly adopted sys tem,valuation of a

meteori te i s based upon the following eigh t factors,of

which the firs t three are considered of primary im

portance :6

5 The meteorite o f Juvinas, France, o f which there was original ly upwards of fiftykilograms, has been broken up and distributed among S ix ty-two co l lections, o f whichthree report one gram each and nine teen o thers less than ten grams each ; that o f S tannern, Austria, o f which t here was upwards o f thirty-e ight ki logram s, has likewise beendistribu ted among ninety-six co l lec tio ns o f which the Vienna museum has about onesixth, four o thers upwards o f a ki logram ,

and the remainder, scat tered amounts o f from

one to 8 50 grams. Of the Bialystok howardite, o f wh ich there was o riginal l y upwardso f two kilograms, but 627 grams are now known, distributed among e igh teen co l lections

,

o fwhich the largest samp le is bu t 1 20 grams ; no analysis has been m ade through wan to fmaterial . Of the Frankfort, A labama, s tone , weighing o riginal ly bu t 6 1 5 grams, the

lo cation o f 535 grams is accoun ted for, d istribu ted among e igh teen co l lec tions, thelargest samp le b eing but 25 5 grams and four catalogued as mere sp lin ters.

”T he

c limax is reac hed, however, in the case o f the s ton e o f N o b lebo ro , Maine, o f whichthere was orig inal ly from four to six pounds ; but seventy-e igh t grams are now accoun tedfor, distributed among e leven co l lec t io ns, seven o f which record o n ly “

spl inters.

”

6 See H . A. Ward, Values o f Me teorites, The M ineral Collector, Sept .,1 904; and

W . M . Foo te , Factors in the Exchange Values o f Me teorites, Proc. Amer. Ph i los. Soc .,

Vo l. 5 2, 1 913.

[ 52 ]


CHAPTER IV

THE NUMBER ,SIZE

,AND FORM OF

M ETEORITES

IT i s es t imated by as tronomers,as elsewhere S tated ,

that meteors penetrate our atmosphere daily,

and of these are of suffi cien t size to form shooting stars . I t must be remembered

,however

,that a par

ticle weighing no t more than a gram,and of which

,there

fore,i t would require between 400 and 500 to make a

pound,i s of sufli cien t S ize to be visi b le after sundown .

Of these comparat ively few are found even i fthey survive to reach the earth

,as may readi ly be im

agined, being too small for recogn i tion .

1 Moreover,bu t

one-fourth of the earth ’s surface i s land and bu t a comparative ly small portion of thi s so occupied by intell igen thuman beings as to make finds probable even were thefalls noticed

,while falls during daylight o f any bu t large

s tones would be l ikely to be overlooked or disregardedeverywhere . I t will i n thi s connection be well to calla tten tion to the enormous discrepancy between theapparent and actual sizes of these fall ing bodies . Howgreat th is i s may be j udged from the fac t that very modcrate-sized stones have been reported in S izes up to thatof the full moon when seen a t dis tances of twenty to onehundred miles . The H raschina fall , which yielded buttwo irons weighing sixteen and seventy-one pounds

,was

estimated to have an apparen t diameter of feet .1 T he num ber that fe l l during the five or six hours o f the shower o f N ov. 1 2

,1 833 ,

was estimated by an o bserver in Boston at There was no sound and, so far as

known, no t o ne came to earth .

[ 54 ]

NUMBER,SIZE, AND FORM OF METEORITES

According to G . von N iesse l,2 Herschel concluded, froma comparison of the l igh t power of a Shooting s tar a t agiven dis tance wi th that of a given mass of gas

,that a

meteor of firs t magn i tude weighs on the average very fewgrams

,and that the smaller meteors weigh only a frac tion

of a gram . By simi lar comparisons wi th the Drummondligh t

,V . F . Sands

,wi th reference to the Leonids of 1 867,

found the following es timates :

Apparent brightness Mass or we igh t ofthat o f corresponding m e teor

Jupiter grams

S iriusF irst magn itude starSecond magn itude starThird magn i tude starFourth m agn i tude starFifth magn i tude star 0 004

F. Berwerth estimated that but abou t 900 recogn izablemeteori tes fal l annually upon the earth

,

3 and of thisnumber

,three-fourths would be los t in the oceans

,leaving

bu t 225 for the land . In addi tion i t must be rememberedthat the mineral nature of a meteori te i s such that few ofthem survive for any prolonged period after fal ling, exceptin very dry regions . Even of these bu t a small fraction(not more than three or four annually) find thei r way in tocollec tions . Ward, in 1904, l i s ted 8 1 5 known individualmeteori tes, of which 6 80 were represen ted in the variouscollec tions . Prior

,i n his catalogue of 1923 , l i s ted 849 .

A stil l more recen t ( 1925 ) coun t places the number at

902 .

The smalles t known meteori te comprising an entire fal li s that of Muhlau

,Austria . This i s now i n the Vienna

Museum . I t weighs five grams,and being a s tone

,i s

abou t as large as a fi lbert,or the end of one ’s finger. The

2 Determ inatio n o f Me teo r Orbits in the So lar System , Smithsonian M isc . Coll . , Vo l.

56 , N o . 1 6,19 17.

3 Schreibers made an earl ier e stimate o f 700 .

[ 5 5 ]


larges t known meteori te i s the metal mons ter broughtby Peary from Cape York, Greenland . This weighs

,

according to the authori ti es of the American Museum ofNatural His tory

, 37% tons, or ki lograms .4 Following in the order of decreasing sizes are the Bacub iri toiron of Mexico (Plate es timated to weigh kilograin s ; the Willamette i ron of Oregon , weighingki lograms ; and the Bendego i ron of Brazi l , weighingkilograms . All of these, i t wi ll be noted, are of metal, thelarges t S ingle s tone thus far found being that of Estacado

,

Texas,which was reported to have weighed 290 ki lograms .

Unfortunately this has been cu t up and dis tri bu ted . Thelarges t individual of the Knyahinya fal l weighed 250

kilograms . The next larges t i s that of Selma,Alabama

,

which weighs ki lograms . The comparatively smalls ize of the s tony forms must be ascribed to thei r bri t tlenature which causes them to break up in the lat ter portionof their fl ight . For purposes of comparison considerationshould be given to the total weight of all the individualsof a fall

,so far as ob tainable . That of the Knyahinya

shower was nearly 500 ki lograms ; of the Esthervi lle, 337kilograms ; of the Mocs , perhaps 300 ki lograms ; of theLong Island

,Kansas

,ki lograms ; and, according

to Foote ’s estimate,for the individuals of the

Holbrook Shower,2 1 8 ki lograms .

The total weight of all known falls and finds of meteori cmateri al to be found in the various collections was es timated by Wiilfing i n 1 897 to be bu t kilograms

,

or a l i t tle short o f 40 metri c tons . This, of course, wasnot the total weigh t of the falls

,nor did i t include the

gian t masses s ince reported from Cape York, Bacub iri to,Willamette

,and Quinn Canyon

,nor the es timated total

of the Canyon Diablo and various Mexican falls . Arecen t estimate of weights of all known falls and finds

,

up to 1927, including the large masses men tioned andthose s ince Wulfing

’

s t ime, gives a total of ki lo4A kilogram equals pounds avo irdupo is.

[ 56 ]


NUMBER,SIZE

,AND FORM OF METEORITES

grams,or pounds . The most that can be said

concern ing such an es timate i s that i t i s underweigh t toan indefin i te exten t . 5

I t was long since conceded that the original form of ameteori te was that of a fragmen t

,and that in the maj or

i ty of cases th is fragmentation had been renewed afterthe body en tered the earth ’s a tmosphere . The processesby which this last phase was brought abou t have beensufficien tly dwel t upon elsewhere . The various formspresen ted by the fallen body are due to the original formof the fragmen t and the burning away of the surface to anexten t dependen t upon the speed of the meteori te

,i ts

mineralogical nature,and s tate of aggregation . Friable

s tones may con tinue to break throughou t their course,

giving rise to fragments quickly rounded by burn ing andresu l ting in i rregularly rounded

, pebb lelike forms coatedwi th the black crust . Firmer

,more resi s tan t s tones may

give rise to sharply angular forms,on ly the edges of which

become rounded and the surface smoothed . When ofsuffi cien t size or of a form to hold their posi tion for anylength of time

,such s tones become smoothed on the face

that i s foremost—the nose,or the “

hrustseite” as the

Germans cal l it —and not in frequently show radi al l inesor furrows (Plate 34) extending back toward the rear,caused by the rush Of the air . So cons tan t are thesethat i t i s possib le for one conversan t wi th the subj ec t totel l which face of any meteori te was foremos t in i ts fl igh t.The numerous depressions

,thumb markings

,orp i ez oglyphs

such as are shown by the Owens Valley iron are due in

part to the unequal res is tance of various portions of anunhomogeneous character . (Plate These markings attimes so closely s imulate those made by a human hand as

,

5 I t wil l b e recal led (see page 4) that, on the basis o f an annual deposit o ftons o f me teoric matter, it was estimated that it wou ld reqmre years toform an accumu lation one inch in thickness over the entire earth . An incidenta l effec tof this increase in we igh t wou ld b e a s lowing up o f the earth ’s speed o f ro tation amoun t

ing to .00 1 second in a m il l ion years. An equal l y interesting estimate is that the passageo f these me teors through our atmosphere generates yearly as much heat as that receivedfrom the sun in of a second.

[ 57 ]


in one instance a t leas t,

6 to have given rise to the thoughtthat the s tone was soft and plas ti c when found and receivedthe impress of the fingers and palm when pulled ou t of theearth in which i t had buried i tself1 Nodu les of troi l i te

,

or troi l i te and carbon , such as are so conspicuous a featureof the Canyon Diablo iron , quickly yield to the rush ofair

,burn away and leave pi ts or holes perhaps extending

qui te through the mass . 7

That flattened irons like those of Oakley,Idaho ;

N’

Gourem a,Africa ; Cabin Creek, Arkansas ; and Algoma,

Wisconsin,should come broadside through the atmos

phere ins tead of edgewise may at firs t seem strange bu tthat they do so is proven beyond controversy by theirsurface markings ; moreover, that the posi t ion is normalhas been mathematically demonstrated .

The rapidi ty wi th which the surface of a s tone becomesfused and i ts i rregulari ties smoothed in the short periodof fl igh t i s wonderful . Ins tances are by no means rare inwhich individual s tones belonging to one and the samefall have acqu ired crus ts of the firs t

,second

,and even

third order,due to successive breakings and the fusion

of each success ively exposed surface . Naturally,owing

to lessening speed,each new crust i s thinner than the

older,and may be bu t a mere fi lm scarcely dis tinguish

able,affecting the more prominen t poin ts on the rough

surface .I t i s doubtless due to their refrac tory nature that i ron

meteori tes come to earth in larger S izes than s tones,and

this notwi ths tanding the more rapid combustion they mayundergo owing to the increased rapidi ty of fligh t—if weaccept this as demonstrated . However this may be

,i t

i s well known,as elsewhere s tated

,that individual i rons

vastly outweigh the s tones . The larges t amoun t of s tonymateri al consti tu ting a single fall i s that of Knyahinya

5 T he Hara i ya m e teorite . Rec Geol . Surv. I ndia , Vo l . 35 , 1 907, p . 9 1 .

7 See a lso Berwerth ’s E twas uher die Gestalt und Oherfl ache der M eteoriten, F estschriftdes N aturwissenschaftlzchen Vere zns an der Universi tat Wien, 1907.

[ 5 8 ]



fell Apri l 9, 19 19 . This meteori te, i t wi l l be remembered,i s a si l i ceous brecci a

,

8 composed Of fragments of twoqui te differen t types

,the one a coarse

,nearly whi te

pyroxeni te ; ° and the other a compact, nearly blackchondri t ic10 s tone . (See Plate That the original massfrom which they were derived was broken ei ther by impact

,explosion

,or crush ing in to fragments which were

then in termingled and recompacted, is sel f-eviden t .Judging by comparison wi th terres trial rocks, one wouldconsider the s tone a volcan ic brecci a, i .e . , a recompactedmass of fragmen ts produced through explos ive volcan i caction . Whether both kinds of s tone were from the sameor differen t volcanoes i s immateri al . They were i ntermingled and then subj ec ted to Suffi cien t compressive forceto bring abou t the presen t degree of firmness . That th iscompression could be brought abou t by weight of overlyingmatter i s doub tful . In all probab i l i ty i t was the resul t ofsuch crusta l movemen ts as are operative in producingsharp folding . The degree of compactness

,i t i s to be

observed,i s considerable—enough to permi t the produc

tion of a smooth surface and a poli sh . I t i s well to noteinciden tally that the absence of secondary minerals

,unless

the meta l be so considered,i s indicative of an absence of

mois ture of any kind . Parti cular a tten tion i s called tothe fact that the presen t s tructural fea tures can seemingly be accounted for only on the ,

basis of a paren t massof no inconsiderab le s ize—one in which crustal s tresses

,

as in our own planet,would resul t in compression and

consequent reconsolidation of fragmen tal detri tus as suggested in the original descrip tive paper. 11 There i s seemingly no escape from the conclus ion that the source of thismeteori te was a body of planetary dimensions, though

8 A breccia is a rock m ade up o f recompac ted fragmen ts.

9 A pyroxenite is an igneous crystal line rock composed large ly o f the m ineralpyroxene .

1°Chondritic struc ture, for exp lanation see page 75 .

11 Proc. U. S . N ation. M us., Vo l. 57, 1920, pp. 97—105 .

[ 60 ]

PLATE 17

2

( 1 ) A po l ished sl ice o f the Cum berland Fal ls, Ken tucky , m e teoric stone

abou t natural s ize and (2) a po rt io n o f the sam e m agn ified



that the original sources become problematical . The bestpoin ts for observation and collec tion of materi als

,and those

where there i s leas t danger of contaminat ion,would appear

to be high mountain peaks and other regions covered overmany miles of area wi th perpetual i ce and snow .

But few ins tances need be men tioned . Von Lasau lx,

who examined a large number of samples of dust fromvarious sources

,found them to consis t of well-recognized

terres trial particles,sometimes volcan ic and sometimes

wind- swep t products of gneiss ic and grani t ic rocks . Dustobtained from the mel ting of pure snow yielded l ikewiseonly terres tri al materi al . On the other hand

,dus t col

lec ted from the Chi lean Cordi lleras a t heights of fromto feet and examined by K . Stolp and

A . E . N ordenskiOld, were by both, on accoun t of themineral composi tion

,relegated to a cosmic toe/ten

raum”—source . O . Si lvestri arrived at a l ike conclusion

from an examination of dust which fel l in Catan ia .

In 1 8 80,a commi ttee from the Bri ti sh Associ ation

reported an examination of dusts from the open Atlanti cand the Red Sea . These had been commonly regardedas meteori c . I t was conclus ively shown that they wereterres trial and composed of the fine sands driven fromnorthern Africa . Three samples of dust collec ted fromsnow and ice in the Himalayas and remote from manufac turing es tab lishmen ts or habi ta tions of any kind contained spheri cal partic les of magnetic i ron and minu teshreds of native metal . These were thought to be ofmeteori c origin . A . E . N o rdenskiOld, in h is Greenlandexpedi tion of 1 870,

collec ted from holes in the i ce a fi negray powder which he called cryoconite, which con tainedparticles of metall i c i ron and gave reactions for cobal tand copper but consis ted principally of whi te

,angular

particles of feldspar and augi te . Later, i n 1 873 , hefound minute rounded grains of metall i c i ron in hai ls tones that fell a t S tockholm

,Sweden . In both cases

the metal l i c parti cles were considered meteori c .

[ 62 ]

NUMBER,SIZE

,AND FORM OF METEORITES

The his tori cally dark days of 1090, 1 203 , 1 547 , and1706 , i n Europe, were thought by Chladn i and others tobe caused by clouds of meteori c dus t cu t ting o ff the sun ’srays

,though thi s may now be considered doubtful . Dust

which obscured the sun for two days of 1 840 , i n Russia ,was found by Ehrenberg to be made up of diatoms andother organic and inorganic matter from terres tri alsourcesPerhaps in this connection one might refer to the

meteori c materi al dredged during the Cha llenger ex

pedition from almost abyssal depths of the South PacificOcean

,far removed from possible land contamination .

This consis ted of spheri cal,Chondrule- l ike parti cles o f

metal and pyroxenes,iden tical with the chondri ti c forms

of meteori tes and unlike anything of known terrestri alorigin . While i t i s true that a large part o f th i s mighthave arisen from the breaking up (explosion) of meteori tesas they approach the earth and are in our a tmosphere

,i t

i s a fai r assumption that a portion may have been derivedfrom the remote original source of the meteori te i tsel f.On the whole i t i s fair to assume that

,regardless of all

discrepancies in reports,there i s a t all t imes and every

where an impercepti b le rain upon the earth of meteori cdust

,though so con taminated wi th that of terres tri al

origin as to make i ts detection difficul t .

CHAPTER V

THE COM POSITION AND STRUCTURE OF

M ETEORITES

There are on ly two avenues to our knowledge of the un iverse outsideofus

,one be ing l ight , by the agency o fwhich the m o t ions of the heaven

ly bodies are revealed to us,whi le the o ther consists in the masses o f

m at ter that come to our earth from that outer un iverse .

1

REA LIZING that our earth i s bu t one of a myri ad ofbodies flying through space

,one ’s in teres t i s naturally

aroused by the consideration of how i t agrees both incomposi t ion and structure wi th i ts dis tan t fellows . Sucha determination can be made only ( 1 ) through the agencyof l ight

,and (2) through the aid of chemis try and min

eralogy. With the aid of the spectroscope i t was longago shown that the sun and more distan t S tar bodieswere of the same elemen tal composi tion as the earth . I tfai led

,however

,to show how these elements were com

b ined and their relative abundance . These questionscan be solved on ly by a study of the sol id bodies thatcome to us from space—in o ther words

,from meteori tes .

I t i s for thi s reason that the s tudy of meteori tes i s soin teres ting and importan t . To be able to show that therei s throughou t al l known space a practi cal sameness ofmateri al

,sol id

,l iqu id

,or gaseous

,i s indeed a wonderfu l

accomplishmen t . Equally wonderful i s i t to Show thatthe form of combination of these elemen ts i s to a veryconsiderable exten t the same as on our earth, and whendifferen t

,due not to a vari ation in chemical affi n i ties

but to surrounding condi tions,and particularly dimin

ishing quanti t ies of certain elemen ts common to ourearth and i ts atmosphere .1 Humbo ld t as quo ted by Maske lyne .

[ 64 ]



s tance has a s trong affini ty for iron . When , as in meteori tes

,we find certain elements, as i ron , free uncom

bined) , we feel safe in assuming that that particu larmeteori te was formed in a dis tan t region of space wherethere was a deficiency of oxygen as compared wi th ouratmosphere

,which i s certainly an interes ting i tem in

what may be called the l i fe h istory of a meteori te . That thecondi tions were not wholly diss imi lar i s

,however

,apparen tly

shown by the presence in meteori tes of certain minerals characteristic of terrestri al rocks as well .The following l i s t comprisesthe meteori c mineral s found inboth meteori c and terrestri alrocks : olivine ; the pyroxenes ; the

F I G . 6 . D iamond crystal plagioclase feldspars ; apati te ;out of Canyon D iab lo magnetite ; chrom i te ; quartz ;m e teori te . Ac tual size pyrrhoti te ; free carbon ; andabout I / I OO o f an inch . rarely

,the diamond in micro

(AfterO-W-Hun t ington) scopic quanti t ies . These are allfound in terrestri al igneous rocks

of the nature of basal t and peridoti te . The meteori cminerals found rarely

,i f ever

,i n terres tri al rocks are the

various al loys of iron and n ickel known as kamaci te,

taen i te,and plessite ; the n ickel- i ron phosphide, schreiber

si te ; the iron monosulphide, troil i te ; the iron and chromiumsulphide, daubrée lite ; the i ron protochloride, lawrenci te ;the calcium and ti tan ium or zirconium oxysulphide

,

osbornite ; the calcium sodium phosphate, m errillite ; theiron and n ickel carb ide

,coheni te ; an isotropi c feldspathic

minera l called maskelyni te ; and a form of si l i ca calledasm an ite

,which may after all be the same as the terres tri al

mineral,tridymi te .

Wi th this much in the way of elementa l and mineralcomposi t ion i t wi ll now be well to consider the total aver

[ 66 ]

THE COMPOSITION OF METEORITES

age composi t ion of meteori tes of various kinds and tocompare them wi th the rocks composing the avai lableportion of the earth ’s crust . In doing this however

,we

have firs t to remark that the meteori tes are roughlyclass ified in to three main divisions : ( 1 ) those that arepractical ly all metal

,known as i ron meteori tes

,or meteori c

irons ; (2) those consis t ing of a spongel ike mass of metalthe in ters tices o f which are occupied by si l i cate mineralsmain ly o l ivine—known as s tony irons or pallasites ; and(3) those which are composed almos t wholly of s tonysi l i cate minerals

,known as meteori c s tones

,or aerol i tes .

The known relative proportions of these have been givenas below :

To tal we ight of all known me

teoric irons gramsTo tal we igh t o f all known stonyirons 13 ,8 84, I 1 8 gramsTo tal we ight o f all known me

teorie stones gramsTo tal 2 19, grams

(48 pounds)AVERAGE CHEMICA L COMPOS ITION OF METEORIC IRONSIron (Fe)N icke l (N i)Co balt (Co )Phosphorus (P)Sulphur (S)Copper (Cu) .

Chrom ium (Cr)Carbon (C)

AVERAGE COMPOS ITION OF STONY-I RON METEORITE S (PALLAS I T E S )S i l ica (Sl02) 20 . 20%Ferrous Oxide (F eo )Magnesia (M gO) 23 . 5 5Iron (Fe)N icke l (N i)Cobalt (Co )To tal 100 . 00%


AVERAGE COMPOS ITION OF (I) STONY METEORITE S , (I I) TERRESTRIA LPERID OTITE S

, (I I I ) ROCK S OF TH E EA RTH’ S CRUST

Const i tuen t

S i l ica (SiOz)T i tan ic o xide (T l02) 0 . 5 8 74T in o xide (8 1102)Z ircon ium oxide (ZI‘O z)A lum ina (Al a)Ferric o xide (Fe a03)Chrom ic oxide (CiVanadium oxide (V203)Metall ic iron (Fe)Me tall ic n icke l (N i)Metall ic cobalt (Co )Ferrous oxide (FeO)N icke l oxide (N iO)Cobal t oxide (COO)L ime (CaO)Barium oxide (BaO)Magnesia (M gO)Manganous oxide (M nO)S tron t ium oxide (SrO)Soda (Nago )Po tash (K zO)L i thia (L120)Water (H zO)Phosphoric ac id (P 205 )Sulphur (S)Copper (Cu)Carbon (C)Ch lo rine (Cl)Fluorine (F)Carbon ic ac id (C02)

These figures are of in teres t when we consider that theperidoti tes

,which of all terres trial rocks mos t nearly

compare wi th meteori tes,are of an igneous nature and of

comparative insignificance as componen ts of the earth’s

crust. They occur on ly as intrusives,that i s

,they have

[ 6 8 ]



been forced up in a molten condi tion from unknowndepths and in truded in to and between the beds of overlying rocks . Their minera l nature i s essen ti ally the sameas that of the meteori tes excepting that they frequen tlyhave undergone more or less al teration in which waterand oxygen have taken a leading part

,and con tain no

unoxidized metal . A s triking and almos t sensationalS imi lari ty l ies in the fac t that they are sometimes diamondbearing

,as are also meteori tes though

,so far as now

known,only on an almos t microscopic scale . The world ’s

supply of diamonds both in South Africa and the Un i tedS tates comes from terrestri al peridoti tes . H ow widelyseparate the s tony meteori tes and peridoti tes are fromthe rocks of the earth ’s crus t

,taken as a whole

,i s shown

in column 3 of the las t table . I t wi ll be noted that themeteori te i s some 20% lower in si l i ca

,1 1% lower in

alumina,1 2% higher in metall i c i ron

,and nearly 20%

ri cher in magnesi a . I t i s therefore eviden t that,so far

as shown by the exterior crus t,the earth could never have

originated from an agglomerate o f meteori c matter of anature of that coming today . One can on ly assume thatthe meteori tes now fall ing are of a qui te differen t typefrom those of the geological yesterday ; or else, as seemsprobable

,the exterior portion of the earth has undergone

an extensive al teration and i ts true meteorl ike nature i sto be learned only by borings many thousands of feetin depth . There have thus far been found among meteori tes no rocks resembling grani te and the more acidi cigneous rocks, nor of gneiss, schist, l imestone, sandstone,nor indeed any of the great series o f sedimentary andmetamorphic rocks of which the earth ’s crus t i s composed .

Nor has there yet been found anything truly suggest iveof the one-t ime presence of organi c l i fe . The s tatemen tonce made that our earth i f broken up wou ld yield materials of a meteori c nature is on ly to a certain ex ten ttrue

,for i t would yield also a vas t amount of materi al

of a nature wholly unlike known meteori tes .

[ 69 ]


In the preceding pages we have set forth somethingof the chemical make-up of the several classes o f meteori tes . The phys ical condi tion and arrangemen t in themass of these various consti tuen ts i s in teres ting and attimes radically differen t from that found in terres tri alrocks . Indeed the condi tions are so marked that oneversed in the subj ec t can often pronounce a t once regarding the meteori c character of a submi tted stone

,even

though not seen to fall,and wi thou t the aid of chemical

or m icroscopic tes ts . As i t would be very diffi cul t togive a clear impress ion of the curious s tructures found inmeteori tes by word description alone

,the reader i s in

vited to consul t carefully the i llus trations of this chapter,

which reproduce photographs made wi th the microscope .

I . T H E ALL-META L METEORITES : SID ERITES

Metall i c meteori tes,as has been stated

,are com

posed almost wholly of iron wi th a smal l and vari ablepercen tage of n ickel . In the main

,these metals are com

bined i n meteori tes to form two alloys, named respec

tive ly kamaci te and taen i te . Each of these alloys, in

nine metall ic meteori tes ou t of ten,i s l ikely to occur in

the form of thin plates separated by irregular portions ofa third alloy called plessite which fi l ls the in tersti ces .N ow the characteri s ti c feature of the matter i s tha t thethin plates of kamaci te and taen i te tend to l i e parallelto the faces of a poss ible oc tahedron such

,for example

,

as might be formed by putt ing two pyramids, i n shapel ike the great pyramids of Egypt

,base to base . Figure 7

i s used to show the appearance of these markings as dependen t upon the angle at which the section i s cu t.To reveal this s tructure clearly

,as shown in Plate 1 8

(which i s from the -pound mass of the Casas Grandesiron) i t i s necessary to cu t and polish a flat surface andetch i t wi th dilute acid . Such markings are calledWidmanstiit ten figures

,after their discoverer . In thick

[ 70 ]


4

( I ) Dendri t ic schre ibersi te in Arispe iron . (2) A po l ished and

e tched surface o f the Mesa Verde iron . (3) En larged Widm anstatten

figures show ing arrangem en t o f kam ac i te,taen i te

,and plessite . (4)

A m icro -sec t ion of the Esthervi l le sto ny- iron . (5 ) A nodu le Of carbonWi th halo o f schre i bersi te


ness the plates vary from the frac tion of one to severalmi l l imeters

,which fact forms the basi s of thei r separation

in tofi ne octahedrites (Of) , medium octahedrites (Om) , andcoarse octahedrites (Og) , etc . (See under Classification ,

page At times the kamaci te plates assume broadand irregular forms

,as in the iron of Ainsworth and N ew

Baltimore,which predominate over all other consti tuen ts

F I G . 7 . D iagram show ing Widmanstatten figures as appearing whenan iron is cut at varying angles

and in which the octahedra l s tructure i s wholly unaiscernib le except on large surfaces .3Not all i rons Show the octahedra l s tructure . In somethe alloys occur in the form of granules so fine as toescape easy notice and thus to appear of a noncrystall ines tructure

,or

,as we say

,amorphous . These i rons show

on etching on ly certain fain t parallel l ines traversing thesurface

,which are due

,according to Neumann

,of Vienna

,

after whom they are named,to the un ion of crystals i n

3 Farrington ’

s tabu lation o f analyses seems to show that the texture varies with thenicke l conten t, the finest crystal lization being found in irons richest in n icke l. T he

ratio is, however, by no m eans constant . (F i eld M useum P ub. N o . 1 20,

[ 7 1 ]


defin i te opposed relations techn ically known as twinning,

and in thi s case parallel wi th the faces of a cube (Plate 19,Figure Sti l l o ther irons are dis tinctly granular

,a

s tructure which,as shown later

,may be due to the action

of heat . The systemati c regulari ty of arrangemen t ofthe taen i te and kamaci te plates which form the chief constituen ts of an iron i s often in terrupted by the presencein minor quanti t ies of various accessory minerals

,as co

hen ite,schreibersi te

,and troi l i te

,or carbon nodules

which are as a rule distribu ted wi thou t order or,i t may

be,i n an octahedral iron

,lying parallel wi th the kamaci te

bands . (Plate 20, Figures 1 andThe in teres t of the s tructure i s often enhanced by thediffusion of the mineral schreibersi te -in the so-cal leddendri ti c

,or treelike forms

,or as halos abou t nodular

masses of graphi te or carbon . Or,less s trikingly

,i t may

be disseminated in the form of plates or granules . Thetroil i te occurs in granular irregular forms diffused throughthe iron

,or in nodular masses admixed wi th carbon (see

Plate 1 8 ) and at times in long thin lamellar forms lyingparallel wi th the faces of a possible cube . These las tforms were firs t recogn ized by Reichenbach and werenamed Re ichenbachian l amellae by T scherm ak . All thesecan be bes t unders tood by reference to figures in theplates .

2. STONY IRON METEORITES : SI DEROLITES

Plate 2 1 i s from a stony iron o f the varie ty namedpallasi te after Peter Simon Pallas

,a German naturali s t

whose famous scien tific j ourney through Russi a andSiberi a under the patronage of the Empress CatherineI I , on the occasion of the transi t of Venus in 1769, formedthe subj ec t of a beauti fu l ly i l lus trated series o f volumeswhich were translated into French and English . Thespecimen figured was found some years ago at a local i tyknown as Mount Vernon

,i n Chris t i an County

,Ken

[ 72 ]


2

Figures showmg the struc ture o f the ( I ) E ] Nakh la and (2) Shergo ttym e teoric stones


tucky. The l igh t-colored netlike portion i s composed ofnickel- i ron alloys iden tical in composi tion , so far as nowascertained

,with those of the all-metal meteori tes . The

dark areas are si l i cate minerals—ln this case ol ivine(peridoti te) . The structure has been compared

,not

inaptly, to that of a sponge in which the original spongemateri al i s metal

,the si l i cates fi ll ing the meshes . Meteor

i tes of this type are somewhat rare,only abou t twenty

now being known . I t i s to be noted that the metal,

wherever surfaces of suffi cien t S ize are exposed,shows a

triparti te s tructure and i s never granu lar. Further,that

the kamaci te bands Often surround the ol ivines in a formknown as swathing kamaci te, or whi te iron , on accoun t ofi ts color and brill i an t reflec tion . Between the kamaci teand plessite i s often a thin band of taen i te as in the al lmetal forms .In teresting varieta l phases of the pallasites are shown

in Plate 19, Figure 1,where are aggregates of sharply

angular si l i cate minerals imbedded in the metal l ikecrushed stone in a cemen t floor . I t i s diffi cul t in thepresen t s tate of our knowledge to accoun t for these formsexcepting through pressure and Shearing.

3 . STONY METE ORITES : AEROLITES

The formu lation of a satisfac tory descrip tion of thein ternal s tructure of the s tony meteori tes i s a matter ofconsiderab le difficul ty

,this in part owing to thei r con

fused and heterogeneous character . One migh t say thatthey were indescribable in words

,at leas t in a manner that

could be unders tood ; hence recourse i s made to oculardemonstration . For those unversed in modern methodsof research i t may be well to s tate that the methods pursued are essen ti ally the same as wi th terres tri al rocks . Asmall fragmen t of the meteori te i s ground smooth onone side and cemen ted wi th Canada balsam to a slip ofglass

,after which i t i s ground so thin as to be trans

[ 73 ]


paren t,the sl ip of glass serving simply to hold the obj ec t

while grinding and preven t i ts breaking. By means ofan especially designed microscope i t i s then poss ible todetermine the nature of the individual consti tuen ts andtheir arrangemen t one wi th another . The figures shownhere are from photomicrographs made from these thinsections” as they are called .

The one great diffi cul ty in the determination and description of meteori c minerals l ies in their imperfec tcrystall ine developmen t and Shattered and Often discolored condi tion caused by the oxidation o f the lawrenc i te

,troil i te

,and metall i c portions . Many meteori c

s tones are plainly products of a somewhat hasty crystalliz ation from a molten condi tion ; few show the whol lycrys tall ine structure due to gradual cool ing

,as in many

terres tri al igneous rocks . Many,since cooling

,have

been Shattered throughout from causes no t yet whollyapparen t

,bu t probably by coll i sion or rapid transi t ions

from great heat to a corresponding cold . Stil l o thers areseemingly made up of recompacted dust and sand suchas might resul t from the tri turation of rock fragments ina volcan i c throat

,as happens in modern volcanoes

,giving

rise to a class of rocks known as tufl s . The individualparticles may be of microscopic dimensions or in the formof recogn izable fragments

,as in Plate 17 . The matter

i s further complicated by sundry changes,due to heat

,

which have taken place subsequen t to this reconso li

dation . Indeed the confused s tructure shown by manymeteori c s tones has given rise to an equal confusion onthe part of s tuden ts as to thei r causes .F ew meteori c s tones

,probably not over a score of

those now known , Show the crys tall ine s tructure charac teristic of terrestri al igneous rocks, ei ther basal ts orperidoti tes . Such are bes t represen ted by the s tones ofShergo t ty, India ; El Nakhla, Egypt ; and Chassigny,France ; the firs t being much like a basal t, the second apyroxeni te and the third a peridoti te . Sti ll o thers are

[ 74 ]


PLATE 24

Figures 1 and 2 . Cho ndru les and chondro idal fo rm s from the

Bjurbo le stone , and (3) a broken surface o f the sam e stone showing cho ndri t ic struc ture


made up of fragments of rocks,once crystall ine

,bu t

broken up and recompacted . (Plates 22 andFully n inety per cen t of the known meteori c s tones are

made up of volcani c dus t and sand as mentioned aboveand may be described as tuffaceous

,or as tuffs . These

are almos t invariably characterized by the presence ofsmal l spheri cal

,shotlike bodies called chondrules from a

Greek word meaning grain,and the s tones con tain ing

them chondrites for the same reason . This i s a s tructurethe exact coun terpart of which has not been found interrestri al rocks and the formation of which affords noton ly a dis tinctive characteri s ti c

,bu t in connect ion wi th

their origin has been the cause of one of the mos t in teresting and con trovers ial ques tions relating to the subj ectin general . The s tructure of a typica l chondri t i c meteori te

,a spherulitic chondrite as i t would be called

,i s shown

on Plate 24. Stones of this type are often so fri able asto be readi ly crushed

,allowing the Chondrules to become

detached,as shown in Figures 1 and 2 . In other cases they

are held so firmly as to break wi th the matrix,when they

appear in the thin sec tion described above,as shown in

Plates 25 and 26 . Such in teres ting and pecdliar forms arenow known to be due to the cool ing and parti al crystalliz at ion of molten drops of s tony matter ; mineralogically theyare mainly ol ivine and enstati te . Nevertheless

,before

thei r true nature was known,they were thought to be the

remains of smal l organ isms and were described as corals,

crinoids,and problematic organisms . Their origin has

been made the subj ec t of much discuss ion and wordywarfare among studen ts

,bu t the matter need not be

gone in to further here . Those who have seen the Bessemerconverter used in s teel manufacture in operation

,wi th

the molten drops being blown from i ts mouth,will gain

an idea of at leas t a possib le method of their origin .

Occasional meteori tes of this tuffaceous and chondri tictype show signs of changes subsequen t to thei r consol idation which are comparable to a form of metamorphism

[ 75 ]


produced in terrestri al rocks by heat . This i s due toa partial refusion of certain consti tuen ts . A discussion ofthese changes will

,however

,lead us too far astray for a

work of this nature,so we may well s top here

,wi th bu t a

backward turn ing to the subj ec t of meteoric irons . InPlate 27, Figure 1 , i s given a view of an etched surface ofthe iron of Toluca

,Mexico

,and m Figure 2 an etched

surface of the same iron after i t had been heated for somehours at a red heat in an ordinary coal fire . I t wil l be notedthat the characteri s t ic octahedral s tructure has beenparti al ly obli terated by granulation . Berwerth

,an Aus

tri an worker who has carried on experiments in this l ine,

s tates that by prolonged heating the octahedral s tructurecan be made entirely to disappear and the iron to becomegranular throughou t . This naturally brings up the question of the possib i l i ty that all the granular irons wereonce octahedral forms that have been changed by heating.

Here again we get in to too technica l a phase of the subjec t and may s top wi th only a reference to the poss ib ility that all the metal in s tony meteori tes may besecondary and due to the reduction of a ferrous chloridein troduced in a l iquid or gaseous condi tion subsequen t to

,

or contemporaneous wi th the consol idation of the s tone .

4. T H E EARTH A S A METEORITE

As long ago as 1 848 , the Frenchman , M . Boisse,poin ted

out the probable physical structure of a gian t meteori cor cometary mass . He argued that

,were one of these

bodies brough t in to a condi tion of such fusion that theelements could group themselves according to theirchemical affi ni ties

,the mass

,on cooling

,would assume a

spherical form in which the consti tuen ts would be arranged according to their gradually decreasing densi t ies .There would then be a metall i c cen ter

,or core

,of n ickel

i ron,surrounded by a zone of mixed ferruginous s il i cates

and metal,and this in turn by zones of the l ighter si l icates,

[ 76 ]


PLATE 26


each grading in tol

the next and becoming gradually metalfree . The same idea as to earth composi t ion and s trueture has long been prevalen t . Meunier

,of Pari s

,elabo

rated it in 1 867, and later Prior, of the Bri t ish Museum,

has given i t a modern in terpretation . According to thelas t-mentioned

,the cen tral earth core

,while consis ting

essen tially of n ickel- i ron,would carry also smal l quan ti

t ies of unoxidized magnesium,calc ium

,sodium

,aluminum

,

and chromium,with the nonmetals

,s i l i con

,sulphur

,

and carbon . Beyond thi s would be a zone in which thesesame elements occur

,partly metall i c and partly in the

form of oxide compounds of magnesium,s i l i con

,sodium

,

aluminum,and calcium (pyroxene, ol ivine, com

parable to meteori tes of the pallasi te type . Beyond thisagain would be s ti l l o ther zones

,of gradually decreas ing

densi ties,composed of the highly oxidized and less fer

riferous si l i cates, comparable wi th the S tony meteori tesor aerol i tes

,ul timately passing in to rocks of the basal tic

type,from which

,through weathering

,decomposi t ion

,

and complex metamorphism, have been derived thoseforming the presen t surface features .4 The subj ec toffers an interest ing field of speculation

,bu t is qui te

beyond our field of discussion,unless one chooses to go

to the extreme of considering the earth i tsel f a gian tmeteori te .

I l n’

est pas m ala ise d’

inférer de tout cec i q ue la Terre e t les c ieuxsont fai ts d ’une meme m atiére .

” 5

We shou ld l ike,wi th Arrhenius

,to think of a world

new-born and barren,to which the seeds of l i fe might be

borne by a Swift-flying meteor ; a l i fe which, howeverhumble in i ts beginn ing

,might develop through coun tless

years in to forms as h igh and perhaps even higher thanour own . Fascinating as such a thought may be

,how

4V. M . Go ldschm idt, and later Adams andWashington (Zeit. E lehtrochem .,Vo l. 28,

1922, and Z7 . Washington Acad. Sci., Vo l. 14, N o . 14, 1924) have discussed the m at ter

Wi th very l i ke conc lusions.

5 D escartes, q uo ted by D aubrée .

[ 77 ]


ever,i t i s based upon bu t fl imsy foundations . Not only

are our meteori tes of materi als l i t tle l ikely to con tain

poss ib le animate matter, bu t the very condi tions throughwhich they pass

,from the cold of space to the fiery prox

im ity of the sun and the final scorch ing plunge in toatmosphere l ike ours

,are all agains t survival of

organic even i f i t once existed.


CHAPTER VI

NAM ES AND CLASSIFICATION

WHAT ’ S i n a name ? Apparen tly not much in the mind ofhim who rai sed the question . But condi tions al tercases . Sometimes much depends on the name . I tfurn ishes a t leas t a handle by which to take hold—something to fix in mind that which one i s wri t ing or talkingabou t .In the early days

,before their nature was fully under

s tood,various names were given to meteori tes

,based

upon condi tions at tendant upon thei r fal l ing or othernatural causes

,regardless of their mineral nature . Shoot

ing stars,holides

, fi rehalls, thunderstones, uranolites,and

shystones are among the more common , and of which eachlanguage furn ished i ts own equivalen t . The term aerolite

i s s tated to have been appli ed by Blumenbach as earlyas 1 804, and the dist inct ion between s tones and irons wasl ikewise early made apparen t in the nomenclature . I twas not unti l 1 863 that Prof. H . Story Maskelyne madethe presen t accepted division in to ( 1 ) aerol i tes, (2)aero sidero lites, and (3) aerosideri tes, names now general lyshortened in to aerol i tes

,s iderol i tes

,and sideri tes

,desig

nating the s tony meteori tes,s tony- i ron meteori tes

,and

iron meteori tes,respectively. Gustav Rose in 1 862 made

the suggestion,now generally adopted

,that the finer

Subdivisions of meteori c s tones be based upon mineralcomposi tion and s tructure; and divided them in to chondrites and achondri tes accordingly as they did or did no tcarry the peculi ar rounded bodies known to the Germans

[ 79 ]


as Kugeln ,bu t to the English as Chondrules . From these

early beginn ings has been evolved what i s cal led the RoseT scherm ak-Brezina class ification here tabula ted . TheFrench authori ty

,Meunier

,also evolved a scheme which

has,however

,failed of so general an adoption by European

and American workers .Meteori tes are named after the loca l i ty where they fall

or are found,asAllegan, Bustee,Weston

,e tc .

,each ofwhich

represen ts a pos t offi ce or other geographic subdivis ion ofsuffi cien t importance to be found on any detai led geographic map or comprehensive gazet teer.At firs t though t this system may seem inexac t and un

scien tific .'

As a matter of fact i t has been found to workwel l i n practi cal application

,and leads to l i t tl e confusion .

The old saying that “ l igh tn ing never s trikes twice in thesame place” may wi th equal prox imi ty to accuracy besaid of meteori tes

,no two falls being recorded from the

same area . The main obj ec tion to the system thus fardeveloped l ies in the wide exten t of certain falls

,as that

of Estherville,Iowa

,and occasionally the lack of a pre

cise geographic name,as in regions remote from human

sett lement . 1 In such cases the lati tude and longi tude are,

or should,always be given

,together wi th the neares t

named local i ty . The advisab i l i ty of a geographic andalso a t ime record

,i n case of an observed fall

,l ies i n the

necessi ty for data in the s tudy of the probab le u l traterres tri al source from which the meteori te may havecome .In classi fying meteori tes

,recogni t ion

,as s tated

,i s

given mainly to the internal s tructure and mineral composi t ion . Obvious ly mode of occurrence and source cannot be given consideration as among terres tri a l rocks .A good il lustration o f this is o ffered by the so-cal led Four Corners me teorite . T he

gaze t teer and post-o ff ice direc tory recogn ize no such lo cality. Bu t the iron was fo undin N ew Mexico near the intersectio n o f the boundary line o f Arizona, Co lorado , N ew

Mexico , and U tah. There is no similar instance in the country, and the same is fe lt tob e suflicien tly d istinc t ive . A l l at tempts at naming me teorites after individuals—at

creating a progeny for the c hild less,” as is done in mineralogy and bio logy—havefailed. T he wo rkers wil l no t accept them .

[ 80 ]


CHAPTER VII

WHENCE DO THEY COM E ?

WE come now to the question of the ul timate source andorigin of these in teresting and remarkable bodies . Naturally the s triking character of the phenomenon of a falling meteor would serve to exci te the dulles t imagination

,

while the range of seeming poss ib i l i ti es IS so great as totempt fl ights from the known far 1nto the unknown

,even

in to realms where the wildes t imagery can be freely indu lged wi thou t fear of disastrous coll i sion wi th sol id fac t .The problem is largely an astronomical one

,as may be

readily unders tood,as may also the fac t of i ts diffi cu l t

solu tion . Observations of individual meteors are numerous

,bu t are necessari ly of such brief duration as to render

them in mos t cases of doub tfu l value . That portion of ourinformation for which we may claim approximate certain ty i s that relating only to the clos ing chapter in wha tmay be called the l i fe his tory of a meteori te . We maytheorize over the ul timate source

,and even on the origin

of matter i tsel f,from observations of speed and orbi t

,we

may gain an approximate idea of the portion of spacewhence i t was derived ; bu t only in the meteori te i tsel f dowe have a tangible actual i ty which may be studied atleisure .Let us consider in an historical way some of the more

plausib le of the theories thus far advanced . The pathto solu tion may seem at times bl ind and devious

,but

leads nevertheless toward a clear unders tanding of thematter .

[ 82 ]

WHENCE DO THEY COME ?

Firs t,as an example of the numerous theories—fligh ts

of the imagination I cou ld almost cal l them—le t me quotefrom a summary of them by Professor NewtonThey cam e from the moon ; they came from the earth ’s vo lcanoes ;

they cam e from the sun ; they came from Jupi ter and the o ther plane ts;they came from some destroyed p lanet ; they came from come ts ; theycame from the nebu lous mass from which the so lar system has grown ;they cam e from the fixed stars ; they came from the dep ths o f space .

Fortunately not all of these suggestions are of suflicien tprobabi l i ty to meri t at ten t ion today .

I t was Chladn i who, more than a hundred years ago,advanced the idea that meteori tes are bu t the remnan ts ofcosmic matter employed in the formation of worlds . Helooked upon comets

,fall ing s tars

,meteori c fireballs

,and

meteori tes as al l of a similar elementary consti tu tion andorigin . Though more recen t s tuden ts may be incl inedto regard his conclus ions as a seri es o f lucky guesses

,the

fac t remains tha t subsequen t investiga tion has shownhim to have been essen ti al ly correc t in many of them .

I f,however

,worlds l ike ours

,as we know i t

,have been

formed from meteori c aggregates, we must conclude thatthe meteori tes o f the pas t, while, i t may be, composedof the same kind of elemen tary matter

,held i t in qu i te

differen t proportions, s ince the mos t abundan t of knownworld materi als are

,as has been shown , among the leas t

abundan t of meteoric substances .Astronomers tell us that in the far reaches of space

beyond our solar system are dark nebulous clouds whichobscure the more distan t s tars

,as nearer s tars are obscured

by thin c louds of vapor. What may be the nature of theseclouds i s wholly speculative . That they are not water vapor and have noth ing to do wi th our atmosphere is certain .

May we not wi th a fai r degree of assurance assume thatthey are composed of fragmental—discrete—matter l ikethe ejec tam en ta of a modern volcano

,and that in t ime thi s

will be gathered in as meteori c matter by neighboringplanets ? With the aftermath of sunglows caused by dust

[ 83 ]


from Krakatoa in mind,this should subj ec t a facile im

agination to no serious s train , and a world free-floatingand slowly augmenting i ts bulk through the ingatheringof waste from space is a fascinating vis ion . From sucha conception we are somewhat rudely awakened by Chamberl in who now considers the idea that planets have beenformed by infalls of scattered meteori tes as “an old andpractically abandoned theory .

”1

Wilhelm Olbers,another of the early workers

,con

sidered for a t ime ( 1795 ) the possib i l i ty of meteori teshaving been ej ected from lunar volcanoes ? This V iewwas accepted by Lichtenberg

,who remarked inciden

tally that the moon was an uncivi l neighbor for throwingstones a t us .” No less an authori ty than Lap lace gavei t favorable considera tion ? As the attrac tion of gravi tyat the surface of the moon i s much less

,on ly abou t one

S ixth that of the earth,and as i t has no atmosphere

,i t

was conceived possib le that by explos ive volcan ic ac tiona body might be so far proj ected in to space as to passqui te beyond gravimetri c recall and become a satell i teof the earth

,abou t which i t would revolve in a more or

less elongated orb i t un ti l,i ts speed suflicien tly retarded,

i t would fall wi th al l the attendan t phenomena of ameteori te . Th is V i ew

,wi th various modifications

,has

been adopted by several of the more recen t workers,

among whom mention should be made of J . LawrenceSmi th who wrote as late as 1 885 , and wi th pleasing certain ty : “There is not a S ingle evidence of the iden ti tyof shooting s tars (as exemplified in the periodical meteorsof August and November) and those meteors which giverise to meteori c s tones .” He argued that al l meteori cmasses had a common origin and at one time formed partsof some large body ; that all had been subj ec ted to more

T he genesis of planets. Yearhooh Carnegie I nstitution, 1924, p . 273 .

2According to Phipson this idea was first put forward by Pao lo Maria T erz az o in 1 664.

3 “ I t is no t impossible that large masses de tached from some o f the ce lestia l bodies,and particu larly from the moon, may have some times been proj ec ted to the e arth .”(Laplace , q uo ted with approval by O lbers, Tilloch ’

s M agazine, M ay,

84 l



or less prolonged igneous action, corresponding to thatof terrestri al volcanoes

,and that they possessed the aver

age specific gravi ty o f the moon . His conclusions a t thisdate he summed up as follows :

I t may be stated that the moon is the on ly large body in space o f

which we have know ledge possess ing the requ is i te condi t ions demanded by the physical and chem ical propert ies o fm e teori tes. Theyhave been thrown off by vo lcan ic ac t ion or some o ther d isrup t iveforce and e ncoun tering no gaseous medium o f resistanc e have reachedsuch a distance that it no longer exerc ises a preponderat ing attract ion .

T he deported fragmen ts, having in common w ith the moon i tse lf anorb i tal ve loc i ty now more or less modified by the proj ec t i le force and

new condi t ions o f at tract ion in which they have been p laced w i threference to the earth, acqu ire an independen t o rbi t more or lesse l l ipt ical . This o rbi t

, subj ec t to great disturb ing influences, soon er

or later passes through our atmo sphere , and the flying fragm ents are

intercepted by the body o f the globe .

Thus plainly and seemingly conclus ively the problemwas solved .

Plausi ble as these views may have seemed at the time,

i t has been contended by others that i t i s imposs ib le thata body the s ize of the moon could contain volcanoes ofsuffi cien t proj ective power to produce these resul ts ; and,further

,i t was shown in 1 859, by the calcu lations of

B . A . Gould,that even were bodies thus thrown ou t

,there

i s not one chance in two million that one of them wouldever reach the earth as an aerol i te .In 1 8 1 1

,the astronomer Olbers

,whose transien t views

have been mentioned,came forward wi th a new sug

gestion which for some years received favorable consideration . He regarded the asteroids Ceres

,Juno

,Pallas

,and

Vesta,as the principal remains of a large planet revolving

between Mars and Jupi ter,which had burs t in to frag

ments through some in ternal (and unaccountable) explosion . The smaller o f these fragments he thought to havecontinued their revolutions abou t the sun

,i n an eccen

tri c orbi t,unti l

,coming wi thin the at tractive l imi ts of the

[ 85 ]


earth,they were precipi tated as meteori tes . AS the as tron

omer Young has s tated,granted the explosion

,

4 there i snothing improbable in the hypothesis .H . C . Sorby, from a s tudy of the microscopic s tructure

of s tony meteori tes,was led to consider i t extremely im

probable that they were derived from the moon or aplane t which differs from a large meteori te in having beenthe seat of more or less modified volcan ic action . Hisviews

,i t wi ll be observed

,had more to do wi th conditions

than wi th actual source . He bel i eved that the constituen ts o f meteori tes were originally in a s tate of vapor suchas now exis ts in the atmosphere of the sun . This, oncool ing

,condensed in to a sort of cometary cloud formed

of small crystals and minu te drops o f mel ted stony matterwhich afterwards became more or less crystall ine . Thiscloud being in a s tate of great commotion , the particlesmoving wi th great veloci ty were Often broken by coll i s ionsamong themselves . The particles thus formed were subsequently collected in to larger masses and by heat ofimpac t underwen t a more or less complete metamorphismwhereby thei r original nature became qui te obscured .

5

In the mean time, the metall i c consti tuents were in troduced in a s tate of vapor and condensed in the in terstices of the s i l i cates, as we now find them . The occasiona] presence of hydrocarbons was thought to be dueto a condensation of vapors a t a later period .

6 “ I thereforeconclude

,

” he wrote,

“provisional ly,that meteori tes are

records of the exis tence in planetary space of physicalcondi tions more or less s imilar to those now confined tothe immediate neighborhood of the sun

,at a period indefi

n itely more remote than that of the occurrence of anyof the facts revealed to us by the s tudy of geology—at a

4That such an exp losion is possible seems to b e shown by recen t observations o n the

star N ova Poc toris in 1925 .

5 See also under origin of chondritic struc ture, page 75 .

6 I t has since been shown that the presence o f hydrocarbons in meteorites is verydoub tful .

[ 86 ]



are gradually fall ing back once more upon the body fromwhich they were originally derived .

A . D aubrée,at one time a most eminen t authori ty on

the consti tu tion of meteori tes, was disposed, wi th Olbers,to regard them as products

'

Of the disin tegration of as tero ids

,as the resul t of an explos ion , or more common ly of a

violent shock , as a coll i s ion .

“The meteori tes which fallupon our planet

,he wrote, i l lus trate one of the changes

which are going on in space through the dis tri bu tion ofthe ‘

de’

hris of demoli tion ’ of certain s tars or asteriods

among other s tars .”

The Austri an,Gustav T schermak

,than whom there

were few bet ter authori t ies concern ing composi t ion andstructure

,wri ting in 1 875 , called atten tion to the fac t that

the form of meteori tes “ i s l ikely to afl'

o rd some ins ightas regards the anteceden ts of the masses whence they arederived .

” He agreed wi th the German , Haidinger, thateach meteori te as i t en ters our atmosphere i s a fragmen tand owes i ts form to a disrupt ion of a larger mass, although he did not lose S igh t of the fact that many meteori tes are broken further by the resi s tance of the atmos

phere during thei r fall . Briefly s tated, he concluded thati t would then appear that the materi al of which meteori tes consis t has been furn ished by one or more largemasses

,the formation of which must have occupied a

long period of t ime .”

With D aubrée’

s idea of dis in tegration by impac tcoll i sion) T scherm ak did not agree bu t thought i t muchmore probab le that

,to whatever degree such dis in tegra

tion had been carri ed,i t had been brought abou t by a

force acting from wi thin outward—in short,by an explo

sion . In other words, he seemed to regard the evidenceof volcan i c ac tivi ty found in the tuffaceous and chondritic s tructure of a meteori te p roof of explos ive forcesuffi cien t to accoun t for the gradual des truction of theoriginal body

,whatever i ts nature or mass . Berwerth,

[ 8 8 ]

PLATE 29

( I ) S . Meun ier; (2) A . D aubrée ; (3) G . T scherm ak ;

(4) D . Olm sted

PLATE 5 0

( 1 ) H . A . New to n ; (2) Norm an Lo ckyer



Here,i t wi l l be observed

,i s a theory based upon a by no

means common ly accepted hypothesis .Almost as a matter of course there was from very earlytimes a supposed direc t connection between the meteori teswhich come so noisi ly to earth, and the S i len t, seeminglyin tangible meteors or shooting s tars of the periodi c showers . Denison Olmsted of Yale ( i n 1 834) was among thefirs t to raise an apparen tly well-formed doubt as to thisiden ti ty . He based these doub ts on the lack of apparen ttime relation between meteor displays and meteori tefalls

,and in part on the apparen tly easi ly combustib le

nature of the periodic meteors,some of them being

thought of a floccu len t nature and of the texture of cotton,

and even of matter so at tenuated as to be almost impalpab le . Olmsted

,too

,was the firs t to cal l at ten tion to the

fact that the November meteors all emanated from acommon visual cen ter

,having a focus

,since called the

radian t poin t,which i s s i tuated in the cons tellat ion of

Leo . The August meteors, on the other hand, have theirradian t in the constella tion of Perseus

,and those of Apri l

in that of Lyra . In the las t two cases , i t should be mentioned, the radian t poin ts are not s tationary, but in rapidmotion .

10

Olmsted ’s doubts as to the identi ty of meteors and meteo rites were not shared wholly by ei ther hi s con tem

poraries or those who came after . Daniel Kirkwood, i nh is work on M eteoric Astronomy while acknowl

edging that “no depos i ts from ordinary shooting stars havebeen known to reach the earth ’s surface

,

” 11 yet bel ievedthe two classes of bodies to be coexisten t, that meteoric

1°T he Italian astronomer Schiaparel li calculated that the meteoric stone o f Pultusk,whic h fe l l on January 30, I 868 , came from the conste l lation o f the Great Bear, while thato f Knyahinya, which fe l l June 9, 1 866, was from P isces.11 I t is to b e no ted, however, that o f the seven teen irons that have been seen to fal l,

there are two , those o fRowton ( 1 876) and Mazapil ( 1 88 which can b e thus re legated ,the first with the Lyrid me teors and the second with the Andromedes. I n co nsideration o f the known fairly uniform distribution o f meteorite fal ls throughou t the year

,

such can b e considered l i tt le more than co inc idences. (See also page

[ 90 ]


s tones are but the larges t masses in nebu lous rings fromwhich showers of shooting s tars are derived .

”

In a lecture del ivered at the Sheffi eld Scien tific Schoo lof Yale Univers i ty i n 1 879, Prof. H . L . Newton , after areview of the general subj ec t

,s tated :

Thus we are led to say : F irst, that the periodic m eteors ofNovember,of August , or Apri l

,e tc .

, are caused by so l id fragmen ts o f certainknown or unknown com e ts com ing into our air; secondly, that thesporadic me teors such as we can see any c lear n igh t are the l i ke fragments o f o ther com ets; thirdly, that the large firebal ls are on ly largerfragm ents o f the sam e kind ; and final ly, that th is stone [a fragmen t o f

the Hom estead fal l o f 1 879] wh ich was broken o ff one o f those largefragm ents in com ing through our air, must once have been a part o f a

comet . 12

And again,i n h is address before the American Asso

c iation for the Advancemen t of Science in 1 8 86,he sta ted

thatWe may reasonably be l ieve that the bod ies that cause the shoo t ing

stars, the large firebal ls, and the stone-produc ing meteors,all be long

to on e c lass; they differ in kind o f m aterial,in densi ty, in size , but

from the fain test shoo t ing star to the largest stone m e teor we pass bysuch smal l gradat ions that no c lear dividing l ines can separate themin to c lasses.

Essen ti ally the same views are given by Lockyer inhis M eteoritic Hyp othesis ( 1 890) and are very general lyadopted . As confirmatory of this hypothetical source

,

reference is common ly made to the his tory of Biel a ’scomet . This was firs t seen in March

,1772, when i t was

found to be traveling in an eccen tri c orbi t abou t the sun,

including in i ts course a portion of the orb i t of the earth .

Since i ts firs t discovery and during the residual periodof i ts exis tence

,i t has made this j ourney every 6% years .

The last seen of i t in i ts primary condi tion was i n 1 832 .

When i t became due in 1 839 i t was on the opposi te s ide ofthe sun from the earth and hence invisi b le . In 1 845 i t12 “Al l the so lar space, writes Olivier, must b e populated by debris o f com e ts long

since broken up into tiny fragments o f their original great vo lume . (Meteors, 1925 ,p.

[ 9 I


became visib le again,bu t was broken in to two widely

separated portions,each wi th a train of i ts own . In

1 85 2 i t appeared for the last t ime as a comet, and in 1 859,when i ts return was looked for

,there was found bu t an

enormous train of meteors .The career of B iela ’s comet i s now very generallyassumed to be common to every cometary body

,and when

ever there are seen numerous shooting s tars dartingrocketl ike across our Sky, i t i s thought that our earth ,i n i ts j ourney through space

,i s crossing the trai l of one of

these seemingly errati c bodies . The meteori c i ron whichfel l a t Mazapil

,Mexico

,on November 27 , 1 885 , i s con

sidered by some as a fragmen t of the Biela comet.Seemingly this should be conclusive

,bu t i t i s not . I t

appears that the veloci ty wi th which some meteori tespenetrate our atmosphere i s too great to allow of theirbeing considered as belonging to our solar sys tem

,as do

the comets . They are in ters tellar rather than in terplanetary . The I tal i an as tronomer, Schiaparell i , was i ncl inedon this accoun t to regard the large meteori tes as comingfrom sources outside of our sys tem

,and Olivier wri tes :

“We have posi tive proof that many meteori tes come fromin ters tel lar space

,while al l comets seem to belong to our

system . So far as I am aware,but one wri ter—Picker

ing —has ven tured the suggestion and i t i s bu t a ven ture—that there may be a difference in kind in the meteori tes from near and distan t sources . 14

D o meteorites of like nature have a common origin? The

13 Five or more we l l-known com e ts have comp le te ly disappeared, and the m e teors in

e ach group are distributed along the o rbit o f their maternal ancestor.

14T he theory o fProfessor S troemgren o f Denmark, as noted in Science N ews (Science,January 1 9, 1923 ) maintains

“That all come ts original ly trave led in e l liptical or c losed orbits, perio dical ly com ingc lo ser to the sun from the outer regions o f the p lanetary system. I t maintains that thematerial compo sing com e ts is a part o f the original nebu la out o fwhic h the sun and his

fam il y are thought to have form ed. According to this theory, the disturbing influemees o f the p lane ts have changed the orbits o f some come ts from the c losed-path tothe o pen form . That is, the perturbations by the planets have resu lted in throwingsom e o f the o riginal material o f the so lar system o ff of its beaten track and out into

the emptiness o f interste l lar space, never to return.

”

[ 92 ]



most sys temati c inves tigations made of late years wi threference to the possib le iden ti ty of source of meteori tesof like chemical and mineralogical nature are those ofA . G . H Ogbom ,

15 of Upsala,and F. Berwerth , of Vienna .

Through means of a graphic chart upon which he hastabulated all known falls according to the day

,month

,

and year,and diflferen tiated the kinds each by a speci al

symbol,the first-named has shown that the meteori tes

have a somewhat irregular dis tri bu tion,so that a S ingle

day or group of days may Show many falls,while on in

terven ing days there are none . The ques tion arose i fthis i rregulari ty cou ld be explained on the ground that thefalls belonging to the same or closely neighboring days ofsuccessive years may come from the same source—mayoriginate from a swarm of meteors which many times butat regular periods has crossed the earth ’s path . Thesuggestion is part icularly pertinen t when the kind ofmeteori te i s considered . Thus i t i s shown that of the groupof howardites

,of which bu t n ine falls were then known

,

three fell during the firs t weeks of Augus t,and three others

in the firs t half of December . With the Decemberhowardites there occur a ba s ti te, a chladn i te, and ahowarditic chrondrite

,all closely related forms . Around

the firs t of October is shown a chassign i te,two howard

i tic chrondrites, and a howardi te . A l ike associ ationoccurs also a t the end of March . Stil l another type

,that

of the eukrites,was a t time of wri ting represen ted by three

fal ls the dates of which were known,two of which occurred

in June,the 13 th and 1 5 th respectively ; the third on May

22 . A fourth fel l on June 28,19 1 1 .

Recen t fal ls do not,however

,i n all cases support these

apparen t conclusions,as i s shown in the following table

which includes two addi tional falls of howardites s ince theappearance of Professor H Ogbom

’

s paper . AS a matterof addi tional in teres t

,the original weights

,so far as

known , and that of each now preserved, are also given .

‘5 Bull. Geol . I nst. Univ. Upsala, Vo l . 5 , 1900-1901 , p. 132.

[ 93 ]


H OWARD I T E S

Lo cal i ty o f Fal l Date o f Fal l OriginalWt . KnownWt .

Massing, GermanyLouto lax, F in landNob leboro , U. S . A .

B ialysto k,Po land

La Vivionerre , FrancePe tersburg, U. S . AZm enj, Russia .

Frankfort , U . S . AYodz e , Russia .

Pawlovka, RussiaBho lghati, IndiaSimondium ,

S . Africa . .

Disregarding Simondium ,but including Zm enj, of

which the day of the mon th i s unknown,i t appears that

one has fallen in June,one in July

,four in Augus t

, two

in October,and three in December .

The group of chladn ites would, on accoun t of thei rdis t inctive character

,seem favorable to calculations of

this n ature,bu t these

,too

,fai l to yield defin i te resul ts

,as

seen below .

CH LAD N I T E S

Nam e Date o f Fall

Manegaon , India .

B ishopvi lle , U. S . A. .

Shalka,India

I bbenbuhren, GermanyCumberland Falls, U . S . AJohnstown , U . S . A .

Berwerth 16 followed out the same l ine of thought,util izing the same data bu t grouping them in a sl ightly1‘ S itz. der Kais. Ahad. derWiss., Bd. cxvi, Ab t . 11, 1907 .

[ 94 ]



fall bu t seven teen,or less than five per cen t. These are

essen tially metall i c ; u l tra basic .Of the thirty-one known stony irons variously c lassed

as lodran ites, pallasites, and m eso siderites, carrying att imes as h igh as fifty per cen t metal

,there were seen to

fall bu t five,or

,i n round numbers

,s ixteen per cen t .

Of the 370 known stones composed mainly of si l i cateminerals

,wi th chondri t i c s tructure

,carrying from five to

twenty-five per cen t metal (howarditic chondri tes toureilites i nclusive) , there were seen to fal l 3 22, or eightyseven per cen t .Of the twenty-one calc ium-aluminum-rich s tones

,carry

ing less than one per cen t metal,free of Chondru les

,and

variously c lassed as angrites, eukrites, shergott i tes,and howardites, there were seen to fall twen ty, or n inetyfive per cen t .Of the twelve magnesia-rich s tones essen ti al ly free from

metal,wi thou t Chondrules

,and classed as bustites, chas

signites, chladn ites,and ampho terites, the mos t acidic

types known , there were seen to fal l twelve, or one hundred per cen t .The suggestion i s made

,though not emphasized, that

there i s indicated a gradually increasing acidi ty of theincoming materi al as time goes on

,and reference also

made to the poss ibi l i ty that meteors of presen t-dayshowers may be of an easi ly combustible nature

,and

hence consumed before reaching the earth .

I t has been shown that the number of meteors Observedbetween the hours of midnight and 6 a .m . was larger thanfor any corresponding period of the day . That there i s adiscrepancy between this record and that of actual fallswas poin ted ou t in 1 86 1 by Haidinger whose record of1 26 observed falls Shows a slight excess in the numberfall ing in the afternoon

,the hours from noon to 9 p . m .

being particularly prol ific . O. C . Farrington has recen tlymade a new compi lation from data now available andshows that ou t of 273 fal ls, the records of which are

[ 96 ]


fairly satisfactory,1 84 occurred between noon and mid

night and bu t eighty-nine between midnigh t and noon .

Such a discrepancy may be accounted for i n part by theposs ible difference in quanti ty and kind of material

,and

in part by the direc tion of travel and the consequen theat generated in passage .

In the following table i s given the number of annua llyrecorded falls

,the authentici ty of which has been p laced

beyond question through the finding and preservat ionof at leas t a portion of the material . That the numbersgiven are below those of the actual falls i s almos t sel feviden t

,many not having been seen , and many that were

seen not recorded .

ANNUA L FA LLS OF METEORITE S SINC E 1 8 80

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0






o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o






0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0







0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


We cannot do better in closing th is review than toquote the summary given by Professor Olivier in h iswork

,M eteors, elsewhere referred to

1 . There is no difference except mass and geocen tric ve loc i tybetween m eteori tes, fireballs, and m e teors.

2 . Represen tat ives o f all these three c lasses of bodies seem int im ate ly connec ted w ith com e ts in our so lar system . And po ssibleconnec t ions be tween sm al l astero ids, sate l l i tes, and comets

’

nuc le iare appearing, in view o f recent o bservat ions.

3 . Large numbers of m e teori tes, firebal ls, and m eteors also com e

to us from outer space . This infers condi t ions in numerous ste llarsystem s enough sim i lar to our own to generate sim i lar bodies.

The prob lem of source wil l probab ly only be solvedthrough the accumulation of evidence bearing upon theapparen t orb i ts . This

,owing to the very brief period of

observation and the unexpectedness of the phenomenaand hence unpreparedness on the part of the competen tobserver

,must be a matter of extreme slowness . We must

be prepared to wai t .Dr. E . A . Wfi lfing, of Heidelberg, has issued for the

guidance of observers a series of twenty quest ions concern ing

.

which information 18 desired, of which the following is a condensed translation :

A . Appearance o f the meteor in the heavens .

1 . At what t ime (day, hour, andm inute) did the me teor appear?2. H ow bri l l ian t and how large was its appearance in compari

son w i th ce lest ial bodies or o bj ec ts, whe ther l i ke a star o f the

5 th , 4th , 3rd, 2nd, or I st magn i tude , or compared wi thJupi ter, Venus, or the m oon ?

3 . What was the fo rm ,appearance , nature (shape) of the flash

in various parts of the m e teor’

s course—sc in t i l lat ing, flashing, diffused, explosive ? (Sketch .)

4. What was its co lor ?

5 . H ow long did the l ight last in its en t irety and in s ingleport ions o f the course ? Could variat ions in speed o f the

m e teor b e no ted ? D id it trave l first rapidly,then move

slowly , and final ly come to a stop ?


CHAPTER VIII

EARLY USES OF M ETEORIC IRON

I T would seem but natural that a material l ike an ironmeteori te

,consis ting largely of metal

,shou ld early have

been pu t to some industri al use, and parti cu larly beforethe discovery of processes for smel ting metals from thei rores . There 18

,however

,i n the whole course of h is tory

nothing,wi th a few qui te unimportan t exceptions

,to

Show that meteori tes were regarded as other than obj ec tsof veneration or curiosi ty . This

,i n some ins tances

,as

that of Canyon Diab lo,seems really extraordinary

,s ince

thi s i ron occurs locally in small,often sharply edged

flakes scattered over a nearly verdureless plain whereare today abundan t s igns of Indian occupancy . Yetthere has to be recorded a single ins tance indicative thati t was made use of or o therwise noticed by them .

One of the earl ies t authen ti c accoun ts bearing upon thesubj ec t which I find

,i s from the English P hilosophical

M agaz ine for 1 803 , and refers to a meteoric i ron whichfell i n the pargana of Jalindher, Lahore, Indi a, i n 1620.

Omi tting sundry seemingly improbable detai ls relativeto the fall

,the wri ter says

I comm i tted it [the me teoric iron ] to a ski lfu l art isan w i th ordersto m ake of it a sabre , a kn ife

,and a dagger. T he workm an [soon]

reported that the substance was no t m alleable , hut shivered into p iecesunder the hammer.

Upon this I o rdered it to be m ixed w i th o ther iron . Conformablyto my orders three parts o f the iron of l ightn ing were m ixed w i th one

part of common iron ; and from the m ixture were made two sabres,o ne kn ife, and one dagger.

By the addit ion o f the common iron, the [new ] substance acqu ireda fine temper; the blade proving as e last ic as the most genuine blade

[ 100 ]

EARLY USES OF METEORIC IRON

of Ulm anny and of the south,and bending l i ke them w i thout leaving

any m ark o f the bend . I had them tried in my presence , and foundthem cu t exce l len t ly ; as we ll [ indeed] as the best genu ine sabres. One

of these sabres I nam ed katai, or the cutter; and the o ther, hurh-serisht,or the lightning

-natured.

In 1 805 , Mr . James Sowerby received from South Africaa piece of meteoric i ron from which was forged a sword

,

which he presen ted to the Emperor of Russi a wi th thefollowing letter :1

M ay it please your Maj estyT he m e teoric iron o f which this blade has been hamm ered, was

found about 200 m i les w i th in the Cape o f Good Hope by Capta inBarrow . I t has been exam ined by my countryman Sm i thson Tennant ,E sq .

, who establ ished its nature by discovering about 10 per cent of

n icke l in it . I t is the on ly sword ever m ade of that rare and extraor

dinary m e ta] . That your Maj esty m ay be grac iously pleased to honoran hum b le individual by rece i ving it , is the amb i t ious hope o f

Your Maj esty ’s m ost obedientand ever gratefu l servant,

JAS . SOWERBY.

July 3 , 1 8 14.

The blade of this sword,we are informed

,was ham

mered ou t a t a red heat,but of a s ingle piece wi thou t

admixture of foreign materi al .

I ts spring was given it by hamm ering when co ld . T he haft waslengthened by we lding o n a smal l p iece of stee l , it was found to workvery ple asan t ly, the who le operat ion taking about 10 hours. T he

mount ing and engraving o ccupied the two fo l low ing days. Thus no

sword was ever com ple ted from the crude me tal in so short a spaceof t ime . T he length of the sword is two fee t ; it is sl ight ly curved,po in ted and sharpened at bo th edges to e ight inches from the po int ;i ts w idth

.

is 1 inch and 3% th . T he surface is no t qu i te free fromblem ish , in consequence o f the spreading of som e m inute flaws in the

material . . I t possesses an excellent spring, much hardness, con

sidering it is no t stee l , e tc .

Fletcher, in his descript ion of the N ejed, Arabia,meteori te ,2 mentions the sending of one of these irons by

Tilloch's M agazine, Vo l. 5 5, 1 820, pp. 49—52.

M in. M ag., Vo l. 7, 1 886—87, p . 1 80.

[ 10 1 ]


the Haj ee Ahmed Khane Sarteep , of Pers ia, to Londonto be made in to weapons . With what success i t i s notdefin i tely known

,bu t H . A . Ward

,the veteran collector

,

claims3 to have purchased from Gregory of London theiden ti cal meteori te in tac t

,leaving the natural and indeed

only inference tha t the weapons returned to the Haj eewere of artifici al metal . Be this as i t may

,the date ( 1 863)

i s too recen t to make the matter of in teres t from thepresen t s tandpoin t .F. Berwerth , wri ting in T scherm ak

’

s M ittheilungen ,

4

states that five knives,or lerisos were made for the Austri an

emperor from metal cu t from the iron found in 1707 atPrambanan

,Java

,four months being devoted to the task .

The amoun t of materi al necessary for the work was

ob tained by heating the large mass in a forge un ti l i t wassuflicien tly soft to be cu t wi th hammer and chisel . Healso s tates that knives of meteori c i ron which render theirwearers invu lnerable are known in Arab ia .

Dr. J . GrOnem an s tates5 that the Javanese krises aresometimes in terwe lded wi th meteori c i ron , bu t he adds“Unser Empu (smi ths) verwendet j etzt kein meteoreisenmehr” the n ickel i n the modern krises being importedfrom Germany .

The late Admiral Peary s tates in h is book N orthward

over the Great I ce that the mass of meteori c i ron knownas “The Woman brought by him from Greenland hasbeen reduced by successive chipping throughout manyyears fully one-half or one-third i ts bulk

,the ch ips so

obtained being used in making arrowheads,knives

,and

other rough cutting tools . I t seems mos t probable thatthe implemen ts wi th cutting edge made from meteori ci rons found by the Danish Explorer S teenstrup i n theEskimo ki tchen middens were from these same sources .The celebra ted Tucson

,or Ring meteori te was

,when

3 Sc ience, Vo l. 1 5 , 1 902, p . 1 50.

4Vo l. 26, 1907, p. 5o6 .

5 I nternat. Arch .fur E thnographic, Vo l. 19, 1909.

[ 102 ]



D i ab lo,Casas Grandes, Mt . Joy, New Bal timore, and

o ther i rons were all malleable even when cold,and when

heated to redness could be beaten down to a kni fe-edgewi thou t cracking. The Toluca and Willi amstown ironsproved more refrac tory . I t should be noted that

,for these

tes ts,clear

,homogeneous portions were taken

,free as

possible from al l eviden t enclosures of schreibersi te orother minerals . None of the samples tes ted acquired anyappreci able increase in hardness when subj ec ted to theordinary process of tempering steel . This fac t mil i tatess trongly agains t the reported use in the manufacture ofD am ascan blades . There would appear no reason

,how

ever,for the mal leable i rons n o t having been u ti l ized

,so

far as quali ty of material is concerned,though the ordi

nary shape of a meteori c mass i s not such as to tempt oneworking only wi th implemen ts of s tone . But

,as i s else

where noted,that they were thus uti l ized i s by no means

proven,and seems qui te unlikely. Al l assertions favorable

to the idea,when cri t ically examined will be found based

upon assumptions and “probabi l i ties that are not borneout by fact . They are bu t mani fes ta tions on the part o fcertain wri ters to make an actuali ty of a preconceivedpossib i l i ty .

The views here expressed accord wi th those of W .

Gowland in his lec tures on The M etals of AntiquitySt . John and Day in Prehistoric Use of I ron and S teel ; andDr . L . Beck in Geseicht der E isen .

I t may be added that artific ial i ron was produced bythe Hi t ti tes, according to Brested, 7 as early as the thi rteen th cen tury B.C .

,and was in common use among the

Greeks as early as 1000 BC

In the prehis tori c earthworks forming the TurnerGroup of Hamil ton Coun ty

,Ohio

,there were found a

few arti facts of meteori c i ron . These included hollowbeads and fragmen ts of what may have been head plates

,

together wi th several small nuggets of unworked or bu t7 Ancient Science, a H istory o f the Earl y World .

[ 104 ]

PLATE 32

T he ce lebrated Tucson ,Arizona

, me teoric iron . He igh t 97 cen t im e ters,

w idth 1 24 cen t im e ters; we igh t grams or about 1370 lbs.

This iron ,o therw ise known as the S igne t

,or Irw in-A insa m e teo ri te was

brought to the Sm i thson ian Inst i tut ion in 1 863 through the influence o fD r. B . J . D . Irw in

,U. S . A . T he original source o f the iron is be l ieved

to have been the pass ofMuchacho s,in the S ierra de la Madera

,whence

it was brought by Span ish so ld iers to the o ld Presid io where it rem a inedun t i l the w i thdrawal o f the Span ish garrison . I t was then taken to

Tucson and set up as a kind o f pub l ic anvi l for the use o f the inhabi tan ts.

”T he m ass was sen t in 1 860

,from Tucso n to Hermo si llo ,

and

later to Guaymas by the agency o f M r. August in A insa ; in 1 863 it

was taken to San Franc isco by J . M . A insa,and thence by San t iago

A insa to Washington by way o f the Isthmus o f Panama. T he iro n as

a who le consists o f som e per c ent n icke l iferous iron , per

cent of o l i vine , and per cent o f Chrom ic iron and schre i bersi te



FINA LE

So ends the s tory . I f to the reader th e conclus ions drawnor the information given seem disappoin tingly inconc lus ive le t h im turn back for bu t a momen t to a considerat ionof the facts as they firs t presen ted themselves and uponwhich such conclusions are based .

In the early dusk of a win ter ’s eve some years ago thewri ter was Walking up the gen tle incl ine of a N ew England ci ty s treet

,walled in on ei ther hand by houses and

a few trees . Suddenly, far up toward the end of the s treet,but low down in the horizon there appeared

,seemingly

from immediately behind one of the houses,a glaring ball

of l ight which l ike an immense rocket (see fron tispiece)passed across h is field of vision and si len tly disappeared .

I t came and wen t in time scarce recorded by the ticking ofa watch and left bu t a glow on the clouds and the wavyband of the phosphorized n i trogen such as i s figured onpage 3 2 . There was no explosion

,no fall ing to the earth of

solid matter as descri bed in many s imilar instances . N ow

will the reader tel l me what there was in this momen taryphenomenon on which to base conclusions as to what i twas

,i ts source

,or sign ificance as a natural occurrence ?

He will promptly answer,

“ Nothing .

” Yet i t i s uponthe carefu l recording of all such phenomena—neglectingnot the slightes t detail of direction

,speed

,l igh t

,or

’

character of the fallen body

,i f such there should be

,that i s

based all that has been given in the previous pages . Thesummation i s for today ; tomorrow we may know more .

There is o ccasio ns and causes why and wherefore in all things .

King H enry V,Ac t 5 .

I t remains for us to find them .

[ 106 ]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The fol lowing l is t includes only such general treatisesand catalogues as con tain matter of value to the s tuden t .Purely descriptive and miscellaneous papers are mecessarily omi tted .

I GENERA L TREATI S E S

CHLADNI,E . F . F . ,

Ueber F euer M eteore,Wien

,1 8 19 .

COHEN,E .

,M eteoriten leunde

,S tut tgart

,1 894.

D AUBREE,A.

, Etudes synthe’

tigues de ge’

ologie exp eri

mentale,Paris

,1 879 .

FARRINGTON,O . C .

,M eteorites

,Chicago

,19 1 5 .

FLETCHER,E

,An I ntroduction to the S tudy of M e

teorites,London

,1908 .

FLIGHT,W.

,A Chap ter in the H istory of M eteorites

,

London,1 8 87 .

KI RKWOOD,D .

,M eteoric Astronomy, Philadelphi a,

1 867 .

KRATT E R,H .

,Versuch einer E ntwiclelung der Grund

begrifle die M eteorsteine,Wien

,1 8 25 .

I ZARN,JOS EPH

,D es p ierres tombées du ciel

,ou

Lithologie atmosphe’

rigue, Paris, 1 803 .

LOCKYER,NORM AN

,The M eteoritic Hyp othesis, 1 890 .

MEUNI ER,STANI S LA S

,M e

’

te’

orites,Tome 11

,Premy ’s

Encyclopédie chém iq ue , Paris, 1 8 84.

MEUNI ER,STANI S LA S

,S ur les M e

’

te’

orites, Paris, 1 867 .

MOROGU ES,B I GOT D E

,M e

’

moire historique et phys

ique sur les chutes des p ierres tombées sur la surfacede la terre, Orleans, 1 8 1 2 .

OLIVI ER,C . P .

,M eteors

,Bal timore

,1925 .

PH I P SON,T . L .

,M eteors

,Aeroliths, and F alling S tars,

London,1 867 .

[ 107 ]

THE STORY OF METEORITE S

I I . CATALOGU ES CONTAINING M ATTER OF VALU E

B I OT,EDWARD

,Catalogue general des e

’

toiles fi lanteset des autres météores observe

’

s en Chine,Paris .

BUCHNER,OTTO

,M eteoriten in Sammlungen ,

LeipSig, 1 863 .

FARRINGTON,O.

,Catalogue of the M eteorites of

N orth America , Mem . Nat . Acad . Sci .,Vol . 13 , 19 1 5 .

(Contains reprin ts of al l arti cles on Americanmeteori tes up to date of issue .)FLETCHER

,L .

,An I ntroduction to the S tudy of

M eteorites. l o th cd.,London

,1908 . (Contains a

catalogue and much his tori cal matter relative to thecollec tion in the Bri ti sh Museum .)MERRI LL

,GE O . P .

,H andbook and D escrip tive Cata

logue of the M eteorite Collection in the N ational

M useum,Washington

,19 16 . (Contains detai led de

scrip tive matter of nearly the en tire collec tion,with

many i llus trat ions . )PRIOR

,G . T .

,Catalogue of M eteorites in the British

M useum,London

,1923 ; App endix, 1927 . (Gives a

l is t of the collec tion and of al l known meteori teswi th in teresting notes relative to fall and distribut ion .)WULFING

,E . A.

,D ie M eteoriten in Sammlungen und

ihre Literatur,Tubingen

,1 897 . (This i s an in

valuable Work for al l workers,containing a l is t of all

known meteori tes,together W i th a full bibliography

,

up to date of i ssue .)

[ 108 ]



C . Meteori tes rich in magnesi an minerals and consis tingessen t i ally of ol ivine

,bronzi te

,n ickel-i ron

,and iron

sulphide,wi th a fragmental or tufflike base and

chondri t i c s tructure .

H OWARD I T I C CHONDRITE S . A group intermediatebetween the chondri tes and achondri tes .

WHITE CHONDRITE S . Consis t ing of a yel lowishwhi te tufaceous base wi th chondrules mostly ofthe same color. This group i s divided in to threesubgroups : (a) Whi te chondri tes (Cw ) ; (b) veinedwhi te chondri tes (Cwa) ; and (c) brecci a-l ikewhi te chondri tes (Cwb ) .INTERM EDIATE CHONDRITES . A group including formsin termediate between the whi te and the graychondri tes . This group is divided also in to threesubgroups : (a) I ntermediate chondri tes (Ci ) ; (b)veined in termediate chondri tes (Cia) ; and (c)brecci a-l ike in termediate chondri tes (Cib) .

GRAY CHONDRITE S . Consis t ing of a yellowish tobluish gray tuff like base

,wi th variously colored

chondrules which are firmly imbedded in thegroundmass . The group i s divided in to : (a) Graychondri tes (Cg) ; (b) veined gray chondri tes (Cga) ;and (c) brecc i a-l ike gray chondri tes (Cgb ) .

B LACK CHONDRITE S . Consis ting of a dark-gray toblack firm chondri t ic mass

,the color of which i s

due in part to carbon and in part to iron sulphide ;chondrules mostly of a l igh t color.

SPH ERU LITI C (KUGE LCH E N ) CHONDRITES . Consis tingof numerous hard and well-formed chondrules inevery varying proport ion

,i n a tuff like or crystal l ine

ground,sometimes so loosely imbedded as to

break away from the ground and sometimesbreaking wi th i t . This group i s divided into fivesubgroups as follows : (a) Ornansite and ngawite

(Ceo and Ccu) ; (b) spherical or Kugelchen ohond

[ 1 10 ]

APPENDIX I

ri tes (Cc) ; (C) veined Kugelchen chondri tes (Cca) ;(d) brecci a- l ike Kugelchen chondri tes (c ) ; (e)crystal l ine Kuge lchen chondri tes (Cok) .

CRSYTALLI N E CHONDRITES . Consis t ing of a crystalline groundmass wi th firmly imbedded chondrules. The group i s divided in to three subgroups(a) Crystal l ine chondri tes (Ck) ; (b) veined crystalline chondri tes (Cka) ; (c) brecci a-l ike crystall ine chondri tes (Ckb ) .

CARBONACEOU S CHONDRITES (K AND KC) . This includes a group of chondri t ic stones impregnatedwi th carbon and contain ing l i t tle or no iron .

ORV I N I T E . A smal l group consis t ing of chondrulesin a blackish ground

,showing a flu idal s truc ture .

I t has a t presen t bu t one represen tat ive .TAD J E RI T E . Consis t ing of a dark

,for the most part

half glassy ground con tain ing chondrules ; withou trecognizable crus t .

URE LI T E . Consist ing essen ti ally of Ol ivine,some

times chondri t i c and sometimes granular strueture

,of a dark

,nearly black color

,and often

Showing transi t ion stages in to the next class .

I I . STONY IRON M ETEORITE S : SI DERO LITES

Meteori tes consis t ing of s i l i cate minerals in a more orless disconnected mesh or sponge of n ickel- i ron .

LOD RAN I T E . Consist ing of a crystall ine granularmixture of ol ivine and bronzi te in a fine

,more or

less disconnected network or sponge of metal .MESOS I DERITE (GRAHAM ITE) . Consis ting essenti allyof ol ivine

,bronzi te

,plagioclase

,and augi te

,some

times chondri t ic,sometimes crystall ine granular

,

in a more or less in terrupted network or spongeof metal .

S I D E ROPH YR. Consist ing essenti ally of bronzi te andnickel- i ron W i th accessory asm anite in a network


of n ickel- i ron of octahedral crystal l izat ion andshowing W idmans tat ten figures .

PALLASITE . Consis t ing of ol ivine in a continuousnetwork o r sponge of meta] .M ETEORIC—IRON BRECCIA . Meteori tes consis t ing ofcrys tall ine chondru les in a brecci a-l ike mass ofoctahedral i ron .

METEORIC IRON OF N E T SCH AE VO. Meteori tes consis t ing of crystall ine chondrules in a mass of octahedral nickel- i ron .

I I I . NICKEL-I RON M ETEORITES : SIDERITES

Meteori tes consis t ing essen t ially of nickel-iron withiron sulphide and phosphide, and usually graphi te orother form of carbon .

OCTAHEDRAL IRONS . Consist ing essen ti ally of nickeli ron alloys arranged in the form of plates parallelto the faces of an octahedron

,and often in terlam i

nated with th in plates of schreibersi te . On etchingwi th acid they Show Widmanstat ten figures . Ac

cording to the thickness of the plates they aredivided as follows : (a) Octahedral irons wi thlamel lae some mm . in thickness (Off) ; (b) o ctahedral i rons wi th lamel lae to mm . i nthickness (Of) ; (c) octahedral i rons wi th l amellaeto mm . i n thickness (Om) ; (d) octahedral

irons wi th lamel lae to mm . in thickness

(0g) ; (e) octahedral i rons wi th lamellae overmm . i n thickness (Ogg) ; (f) breccialike octahedralirons (Obz ) .

HEXAHEDRAL IRON S . Homogeneous masses of n ickeliron wi th eviden t cleavage parallel to the faces ofa hexahedron and showing lamellae due to thetwinning of a cube on an octahedral face . On

[ 1 1 2 ]



2 . Clinobro nz ite -ol ivine-achondri tes, or Ureil ites ,corresponding to bronzi te-chondri tes .Hypers thene olivine achondrites, or Amphoterites (andRodites) correspondingHypersthene—achondri tes

,or to hypersthene

D iogen ites . chondri tes .Olivine-achondri tes

,or Chas

Calcium-ri ch achondri tes,which are subdivided

into :1 . Augi te-achondri tes, or Angrites .

2 . Diopside-ol ivine-achondri tes,or N ahhlites .

3 . Clinohypersthene anorthi te achondri tes,or

E ulerites ; including Shergottites i n which an

orth i te i s replaced by maskelyni te .

4. Hypers thene Clinohypersthene anorthi teachondri tes

,or H owardites .

[ 1 14 ]

APPEND IX I I

LI ST OF ALL KNOWN METEORITES SEEN T o FA LL,

PORTI ONS OF WHICH HAVE BE EN PRESERVED

1 . STONES

ADHI KOT , Nurpur, Shahpur dist . , Punj ab , India.Fell a t noon on May 1

,19 19.

A single s tone of grams Weight .AGEN

,Lot-e t-Garonne, France .

Fel l at noon,September 5 , 1 8 14.

A shower of s tones the total weight of which was about20 kilograms

,the larges t weighing abou t 9 kilograms .

AKBARPUR,Saharanpur dis tric t

,Uni ted Provinces, India .

Fel l 8 a.m .,Apri l 8

,1 838 .

A s ingle s tone weighing abou t 4 pounds .ALAI S

,Gard

,France .

Fell 5 p .m .,March 1 5 , 1 806 .

Two s tones of abou t 4 and 2 kilograms weight respective ly.

ALBARETO,Modena

,I taly .

Fell 5 p .m .,abou t the middle of July

,1766 .

A single large s tone weighing abou t 1 2 kilograms .ALDSWORTH

,Cirences ter

,Glouces tershire

,England .

Fel l p .m .,August 4, 1 83 5 .

A shower of small s tones,the larges t weighing about

1% pounds .ALE XAN D ROV SKY

, N yez hin dis t . Chernigov govt . , Ukraine .

Fel l July 8,1900.

One stone of ki lograms weight .

[ 1 1 5 ]

TH E STORY OF METEORITES

ALF I AN E LLO, Bresci a, I taly .

Fel l 3 p .m .

,February 1 6

,1 8 83 .

A S ingle stone weighing abou t 228 kilograms .A LLEGAN

,Allegan County

,Michigan .

Fell a t 8 a .m .,on Ju ly 10

,1 899 . (See Plate

A s ingle s tone weighing abou t 70 pounds broken in thefall .

ALLE P PO,Syria .

Thought to have fallen abou t 1 873 .

ALLE S SAN D RI A, Piedmont, I taly .

Fel l a .m .

,February 2

,1 860 .

Several s tones from 300 grams to one ki logram each .

A LTAI,Tomsk

,Siberi a .

Fel l a t p .m . on May 22,1904.

A shower of smal l s tones ofwhich but six were preserved .

AM BAPURN AGLA,Aligarh distric t, Uni ted Provinces , India .

Fel l a t 1 a .m . on May 27 , 1 895 .

A single s tone which broke in two pieces in fall ing .

AN D H ARA,M uz z affarpur dis tric t, Bengal, India .

Fel l at 4 p .m . on Dec . 2,1 8 80.

A single s tone weighing abou t 6 pounds grams) .This s tone was made by the natives an obj ect ofadoration

,and a temple bu il t over i t . (See page

ANDOVER,Oxford Coun ty

,Maine .

Fel l at a .m . on Aug . 5 , 1 898 .

A single s tone weighing abou t 7 pounds grams) .ANGERS

,Maine-e t-Loire

,France .

Fel l a t p .m . on June 3 , 1 822 .

A S ingle s tone of abou t 1 ki logram weight .ANGRA D o s R EI S

,Rio de Janeiro

,Brazi l .

Fel l at 5 a .m . on Jan . 30, 1 869 .

A s ingle s tone weighing abou t grams .APP LEY BRIDGE

,Lancashire

,England .

Fell a t a .m . on Oct . 13 , 19 14.

A single s tone weighing abou t 33 pounds ( 1 5 ki lograms)found the day following the appearance of a luminousmeteor.

[ 1 16 ]


PLATE 34

Me teo ric S to ne,Bath Furnace

,Ken tucky .

Th is beaut iful sto ne , o ne o f three co nst i tu t ing the en t ire fal l , so faras known

,fe l l early in the even ing o f N o v . 1 5 , 1902 , accom pan ied by

a glaring l igh t and heavy de to nat io ns . Two o f the three pieces wererecovered w i thin a few hours ; the third shown in the figure was no t

found un t i l M ay o f 1903 . T he stone , which is now I n the Fie ldMuseum ,

o f Chicago,we ighs 177% pounds or 80 ki lograms and is

rem arkab le for the beau ty and perfec t ion o f its flu tings which ra

diate from the apex in all d irec t io ns

APPENDIX I I

APT,Vaucluse

,France .

Fell a t a .m .,Oct . 8

,1 803 .

A single s tone weighing abou t grams .A S SI S SI

,Perugia

,I taly.

Fell at 7 a .m . on May 24, 1 8 86 .

A single s tone of abou t 2 kilograms weight .ATARRA

,Manikpur

,Banda dis t .

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell a t p .m .

,Dec . 23 , 1920 .

Three s tones of grams weight .ATEM AJAC

,Sierra de T opalpo , Jalisco, Mexico .

Fell on Feb . 2,1 896 .

A small s tone of which l i t tle i s yet known .

AUBRES,Nyons

,D rOm e

,France .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on Sept . 14, 1 836 .

A single s tone of some 800 grams weight .AUM ALE

,Alger

,Algeri a .

Fel l between 1 1 and 1 2 a .m . on Aug. 25 , 1 865 .

TWO s tones Of abou t 25 kilograms each .

AUM I ERE S,Lozere, France .

Fel l at 9 p .m . on June 3 , 1 842.

A single s tone of abou t 2 kilograms weight .AU S SUM

,Haute Garonne

,France .

Fell a t a .m . on Dec . 9, 1 8 5 8 .

Two s tones of abou t 9 and 41 kilograms weight .AvI LE z

,Cuencame

,Durango

,Mexico .

Fell in June,1 85 5 .

A shower of “severa l s tones but only a few small piecessaved .

BACHM UT,Ekaterinoslav

,Ukraine .

Fel l a t noon on Feb . 1 5 , 1 8 14.

A single s tone of 1 8 kilograms weight .BALDWYN

,Lee County

,Mississ ippi .

Fell in the daytime,Feb . 2, 1922 .

One small s tone of 345 grams weight . (See PlateBALI mission station

,Cameroon

,West Africa .

Fell a t 1 1 a .m .,Nov . 22 or 23 , 1907 .

Fall noted,but no description .

[ 1 17 ]


BANDONG,Java .

Fell a t p .m .,Dec . 10

,1 87 1 .

Six s tones fell,of a total weight of abou t grams .

BAN SWAL,Dehra Dun distric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell a t 6 p .m . on Jan . 1 2,19 13 .

A single s tone fell of unknown weight,and of which

but abou t 14 grams were saved .

BARB OTAN,Landes

,France .

Fell a t 9 p .m . on July 24, 1790 .

A shower of s tones,the l arges t weighing grams .

BARNTRU P,Lippe

,Germany .

Fel l on May 28,1 8 86 .

A small s tone of bu t 17 grams .BAROTI

,Bilaspur

,Simla Hill S tates, Punj ab , India .

Fell at 10 a .m . on Sep t . 1 5 , 19 10 .

But one s tone,of abou t grams weight .

BATH,Brown County

,South Dakota .

Fell a t 4 p .m . on Aug . 29, 1 892 .

One stone of abou t grams .BATH FURNACE

,Bath Coun ty

,Kentucky .

Fel l a t p .m . on Nov. 1 5 , 1902 .

Three s tones fell,the larges t

,remarkable for the perfec

t ion of i ts flu tings, weighing grams . (SeePlate

BEAVER CREEK,West Kootenay distri c t

,Bri ti sh

Columbia .

Fell a t p .m .,May 26

,1 893 .

A single s tone weighing grams .BENARES

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell at 8 p .m .,Dec . 19, 1798 .

A shower of s tones,one of about 2 pounds weight

pass ing through the roof of a hu t.B EREBA

,Haute Vol ta

,French Wes t Africa .

Fel l at p .m .,June 27 , 1924.

One stone of abou t 1 8 kilograms belonging to the raregroup of eukrites.

[ 1 1 8 ]



BJ URBOLE,Borga

,Nyland

,Fin land .

Fel l at p .m . on Mar . 1 2,1 899 .

Several s tones of which the largest weighed 80 kilograms ; the total weight of all being 330 kilograms .

B LANKET,Brown Coun ty, Texas .

Fell a t p .m . on May 30, 1909 .

Two stones weighing respectively and grams .B LANSKO

,Brno

,Moravia

,Czechoslovaki a .

Fell a t p .m .

,Nov. 25 , 1 833 .

A shower of s tones eigh t of which,weighing al together

but 350 grams, were found .

BOCA S,San Lu is Potosi

,Mexico .

Fell Nov. 24, 1 804.

But small fragments and l i ttle informat ion regardingthis fall known .

BORGO SAN DONNINO,Parma

,I taly .

Fel l a t noon on Apri l 19, 1 808 .

Several s tones fell,the larges t weighing about 1 ki lo

gram .

BORI,Betu l distric t

,Cen tral Provinces, India .

Fel l at 4 p .m . on May 9, 1 894.

A single s tone of abou t grams .BORKUT

,M arm oro s

,Ruthen ia

,Czechoslovakia .

Fel l at 3 p .m . on Oct . 13 , 1 8 5 2 .

A single s tone weighing about 7 kilograms .BORODINO

,Moscow

,Russia .

Fell a t 1 a .m . on Sept . 5 , 1 8 1 2 .

A single s tone weighing about 500 grams .BOT SCH E T SCH KI

,Kursk

,Russi a .

A s tone of 6 14 grams weight said to have fallen at theend of 1 823 .

BREM ERVORDE,Hanover

,Germany .

Fel l at 5 p .m . on May 13 , 1 85 5 .

Five stones known of thi s fall, weighing al togethergrams

,the larges t grams .

BUR-GH E LUAI,Bur-Hagaba dis tric t

,I tali an Somali land .

Fell a t 8 a.m . on Oct . 1 6,19 19.

[ 1 20 ]

APPENDIX II

A shower of over 100 s tones of a tota l weight of aboutgrams

,the larges t grams .

BUSCHHOF,Zemgale

,Latvi a .

Fell a t 7 :30 a .m . on JuneA single s tone of abou t grams .BUSTEE

,bet . Gorakhpur and Fyz abad, Basti dis tri c t,

Uni ted Provinces,India .

Fell a t 10 a .m .,Dec . 2

,1 8 5 2 .

A type of exceedingly rare meteori te weighing abou tgrams and con taining a nodular mass from

which were firs t described the minerals o sbornite andoldhami te .

BUT SURA, Champaran dis tric t, Bihar, India .

Fel l abou t noon on May 1 2,1 86 1 .

There were five s tones in thi s fal l and al though scat teredat in tervals of 2-3 miles apart, all could be fi tted together showing that they were once portions of thesame mass .

CAB EZA D E MAYO,Murcia

,Spain .

Fel l a t a .m . on Aug. 1 8,1 870 .

A s ingle s tone weighing some 25 kilograms .CANELLA S

,Barcelona

,Spain .

Fel l a t p .m . on May 14, 1 86 1 .

Several s tones which were mostly los t or broken in tosmal l fragments .

CANGA S D E ONI S,As turi as

,Spain .

Fel l at 1 1 a .m . on Dec . 6 , 1 866 .

A shower of s tones of which the larges t weighed abou t1 grams .

CAPE GI RARDEAU,Cape Girardeau County, Missouri .

Fell at 3 p .m . on Aug. 14, 1 846 .

One s tone of abou t 5 pounds grams) weight .CARATASH

,Smyrna

,Asi a Minor .

Fel l at 8 p .m .,Aug . 22

,1902 .

One stone as “b ig as a melon .

CASTA LIA,Nash Coun ty

,North Carol ina.

Fell a t p .m .,May 14, 1 874.

[ 1 2 1 ]


A dozen or more s tones fell over an area 3X 10 mi les, butonly 3 of 800 grams, grams and gramspreserved .

CA STINE,HANCOCK COUNTY, Maine .

Fell a t 4 a.m .,May 20

,1 848 .

A s ingle s tone of bu t abou t 3 ounces weight .CERES ETO

,Casale

,Piedmon t, I taly .

Fell a t a .m . on July 17 , 1 840 .

One s tone of abou t grams weight .CHAI L

,Allahabad

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell a t p .m . on Nov. 5 , 1 8 14.

Nineteen stones,some of them up to grams

,said

to have fallen .

CHAINPUR,Azamgarh dis tric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,Ind ia

Fell a t p .m .,May 9, 1907 .

Several s tones of varying weights up to 1 2 poundsgrams) .

CH AN D AKAPUR,Berar

,Central Provinces

,India .

Fel l a t noon of June 6,1 83 8 .

Three s tones weighing abou t grams .CHANDPUR

,Mainpuri distric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell Apri l 6,1 8 85 .

A single s tone of abou t 2% pounds was heard to fall andwas found next day .

CH AN GAN ORE I N,Cochin S tate

,India .

Fel l a t p .m .,July 3 , 19 1 8 .

Seven small s tones,the larges t

,a fragmen t

,weighing

7 13 grams .CHANTONNAY

,Vendee

,France .

Fel l a t 2 a .m .,Aug . 5 , 1 8 1 2 .

A stone of 3 1% kilograms fell .CHARSONVI LLE

,Meung

,Loiret

,France .

Fell at p .m .,Nov . 23 , 1 8 10.

Three s tones of 9 to 1 8 kilograms .CH ARWALLAS

,Hissar distric t

,Punj ab

,India .

Fell at 8 a .m . on June 1 2,1 834.

[ 1 22 ]



A shower of s tones,the larges t of which weighed abou t

grams .CROS S ROADS

,Boyett

,Wilson Coun ty

,North Carol in a .

Fell a t 5 a .m . on May 24, 1 892 .

One s tone of bu t 1 67 grams weight .CRUM LIN

,County Antrim

,I reland .

Fell a t a .m . on Sept . 13 , 1902.

One s tone of abou t 9 pounds 5% ounces .CUM B ERLAND FA LLS

,Whitley County

,Kentucky .

Fell at noon on Apri l 9, 19 19 .

Several s tones,the larges t es timated to have weighed

some 30 pounds though i t smashed in fall ing . Acoarse brecci ated s tone of exceptional in teres t .

CYNTHIANA,Harrison County

,Kentucky .

Fell a t 4 p .m . on Jan . 23 , 1 877 .

One stone of abou t grams .D AN D APUR

,Gorakhpur distric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell a t 5 p .m .,Sept . 5 , 1 878 .

Two stones of abou t 6% and 5% pounds weight .DANI E LS KUI L, Griqualand West, South Africa .

Fell on March 20,1 868 .

One stone of 2 pounds 5 ounces weight .DANVI LLE

,Morgan Coun ty

,Alabama .

Fell a t 5 p .m .,Nov. 27 , 1 86 8 .

Several s tones fe ll, bu t one preserved,weigh t 4% pounds.DEA L

,Long Branch

,Monmouth Coun ty, N ew Jersey .

Fel l abou t a .m .

,Aug. 1 5 , 1 829 .

Several reported as fal len,bu t one small one preserved .

D E CEWSV I LLE,H aldim and Coun ty, Ontario, Canada .

Fel l a t 2 p .m . on Jan . 2 1,1 8 87 .

One s tone only of 340 grams .DE LHI

,Punj ab

,India .

Fell Oc t. 1 8,1 897 .

Two s tones of 1 pound weigh t each .

DEM I NA,Biysk dis t . , Altai govt . , Siberia .

Fel l Sep t . 6 , p .m .,19 1 1 .

One or more s tones of ki lograms weight .

[ 1 24 ]

PLATE 3 5

Fragmen t from the Ensishe im sto ne that fe l l N o v . 16,1492 . Fo r

descrip t ion see p . 7

PLATE 3 6

T he me teo ric sto ne that fe l l at Fe l ix,A labam a

,o n M ay 1 5 , 1900

Abou t natural size . W’

e igh t gram s . T he fal l was accompan iedby o ne very loud repo rt fo l lowed by two lesser o nes

,the appearance

be I ng compared to that o f a b ig p iece o f red ho t iron be ing struck W itha hamm er causing m any sparks to fly in all direc t io ns. T wo sm al le r

p ieces fe l l which have become lo st



DURUM A,Mombasa

,Wanikaland

,East Africa .

Fel l on Mar. 6 , 1 853 .

A single s tone of abou t 577 grams weight .D YALPUR

,Sul tanpur dis tric t, Uni ted Provinces, India .

Fell on May 8,1 872 .

A stone of bu t 10 ounces weight .EICH STADT

,Middle Franconi a

,Bavari a .

Fell a t p .m . on Feb . 19, 178 5 .

A stone of abou t 3 kilograms weight .E KH KH ERA

,Bisaul i tahsi l

,Budaun distri c t

,Uni ted

Provinces,India .

Fel l a t a .m .,Apri l 5 , 19 16 .

A s tone of abou t 840 grams weight .ELLEM E ET

,Isle of Schouwen

,Zeeland

,Holland .

Fel l a t a .m .,Aug . 28

,1925 .

Two s tones of 970 and 500 grams belonging to the raregroup of rodites.

EN S I SH EIM,Alsace

,France .

Fell a t p .m . on Nov. 16,1492 .

A single s tone of 1 27 kilograms weight, and of speci ali n teres t for being the Oldes t known fall of whichsamples have been preserved . (See Plate

E PINA L,Vosges

,France .

Fel l at 7 a .m . on Sept . 13 , 1 822 .

A single s tone of “abou t the s ize of a 6-pound cannonball .”

E RGH E O,Brava

,I tal i an Somali land

,E . Africa .

Fel l i n July,1 8 89 .

A s tone of abou t 20 kilograms weight .ERX LEB EN

,Magdeburg

,Prussi a .

Fel l a t 4 p .m . on Apri l 1 5 , 1 8 1 2 .

A stone of abou t kilograms weight.ESNANDES

,Charen te-Inférieure, France .

Fel l i n August,1 837 .

One stone of abou t 1 . 5 kilograms weight .E STH ERVI LLE

,Emmet Coun ty

,Iowa .

Fell a t 5 p .m . on May 10,1 879.

1 26 ]

APPENDIX II

A shower of several large and many smaller masses,

having a total weight of over 700 pounds . Thesemeteori tes belong to the class of m eso siderites andare of unusual i n teres t

,being apparen tly a meta

morpho sed agglomerate .FARM INGTON

,Washington County

,Kansas .

Fel l a t 1 p .m . on June 25 , 1 890.

Two s tones seen to fall,one of 1 8 8 pounds and the second

of 9 pounds.FAVARS

,Aveyron

,France .

Fel l at a .m . on Oct . 2 1,1 844.

A single s tone of 1 5 kilograms .FEI D CHAI R

,La Calle

,Constan tine

,Algeria .

Fell at midday,Augus t 16

,1 875 .

A s ingle s tone of 3 80 grams weight .FELIX

,Perry County

,Alabama .

Fel l at a .m .,May 1 5 , 1900.

Stone of abou t 2 ki lograms weight . (See PlateFENG-HS I EN

,northern Kiangsu

,China .

Fel l at p .m .,Oct . 5 , 1924.

Stones fel l of which bu t 8 2 grams are noted .

FERGU SON,Haywood Coun ty

,North Carol ina .

Fel l July 1 8,1 8 89 .

A s ingle s tone of abou t pound weight .FI SH ER

,Polk County

,Minnesota .

Fel l at 4 p .m . on Apr. 9, 1 894.

Several s tones found,the larges t of which was broken

up and lost, the larges t remain ing of abou t 9%pounds Weigh t . (See Plate

FOR EST CITY,Winnebago Coun ty, Iowa .

Fel l a t p .m . on May 2, 1 890 .

A shower of 5 large and over 500 smaller ones of a totalweight of over 1 25 kilograms .

FORKSV I LLE,Mecklenburg Coun ty, Virgini a .

Fell about p .m .,July 16

,1924.

Four s tones of 853 , 14, and grams weight .

[ 1 27 ]


FORS BACH,Hoffnungsthal

,Cologne

,Rhenish Prussia .

Fel l at 2 p .m . on June 1 2, 1900 .

A s ingle s tone of bu t 240 grams weight .FORSYT H

,Monroe Coun ty

,Georgia .


,1 829 .

A S ingle s tone of 36 pounds weight .FRAN K FORT

,Franklin Coun ty

,Alabama .

Fell a t 3 p .m .,Dec . 5 , 1 868 .

A stone of abou t 650 grams .FUKUT OM I

,Kij ima

,Hizen

,Japan .

Fel l a t 1 p .m .,March 19, 1 8 8 2 .

Two s tones weighing abou t kilograms .FUTT E H PUR

,Allahabad dis tri c t

,United Provinces

,Indi a .

Fel l a t 6 p .m . on Nov. 30, 1 8 22 .

Several s tones weighing from 1 to 4 pounds each .

GALAPIAN,Agen

,Lot e t Garonne, France .

Fell i n August 1 826 .

One large s tone said to have fallen as above .GAM BAT

,Khairpur State

,Bombay

,India .

Fell on Sept . 1 5 , 1 897 .

One s tone of abou t 14 pounds weight .GI FU

,Mino

,Japan .

Fell a t a .m . on July 14, 1909 .

A Shower of over 100 pieces .GI RGENTI

,Sici ly

,I taly.

Fel l at 1 p .m .,Feb . 10

,1 853 .

Several s tones,the larges t of about 7 pounds weight .

GLASAT OVO, Kashin, Tver govt . , Russia .

Fel l a t p .m .,Feb . 27, 19 1 8 .

One s tone of over 1 50 kilograms .GNADENFREI

,Siles i a .

Fell at 4 p .m .,on May 17, 1 879.

TWO s tones of abou t and 750 grams weight .GOPALPUR

,Jessore distric t, Bengal, India .

Fell a t 6 p .m . on May 23 , 1 865 .

One s tone of abou t grams . (See Pla te

[ 1 28 ]


PLATE 38

S ide view o f the m e teo ri te o f Gopalpur, India, whichM ay 3 , 1 86 5 . We igh t ki logram s

APPENDIX II

GRAZAC,Tarn

,France .

Fell at 4 a .m . on Aug. 10,1 8 85 .

Shower of abou t 20 s tones,the larges t weighing abou t

600 grams .GROSN AJA, M ekensk, Terek, Caucasus .Fell at 7 p .m . on June 28 , 1 86 1 .

A shower of which bu t about grams were recovered

,the rest having fallen in the River Terek .

GROS S-DIVINA,Sillein

,Trencsen

,Czechoslovakia .

Fell a t a .m . on July 14, 1 837 .

One s tone of abou t 10% kilograms .GROS SL I E BE N T H AL, Odessa, Ukraine .

Fell a t a .m . on Nov. 19, 1 8 8 1 .

One stone of abou t 8 kilograms weight .GRUNEB ERG

,Silesi a .

Fel l a t p .m . on March 22,1 841 .

One s tone of abou t 1 kilogram weight .GUARENA

,Badaj os

,Spain .

Fel l a t a .m . on July 20,1 892 .

Two s tones weighing 25 and 7 kilograms .GUEA,

Serbia .

Fell on Sept . 28 , 1 89 1 .

A single s tone of unknown weight of which a fragmentweighing grams i s preserved .

GUM OSCH N I K , Troj an, Bulgari a.

Fel l a t p .m . on Apr . 28,1904.

Five or six s tones aggregating kilograms weightand the larges t kilograms .

GUTERS LOH,Westphal i a

,Germany.

Fell 8 p .m . on Apr. 17 , 1 85 1 .

A s ingle s tone of 1 kilogram weight .HARAIYA

,Bast i dis tric t

,Uni ted Provinces , India .

Fell i n August or September,1 878 .

One stone of about 1 kilogram weight .HARI PURA

,Jaipur S tate

,Raj putana

,India .

Fell a t 9 p .m .,Jan . 17, 192 1 .

Stone,weight no t given .

[ 1 29 ]


HARRI SON COUNTY,Indiana.

Fel l a t 4 p .m . on March 28,1 8 59 .

A shower of which bu t four of a total weight of abou t750 grams were preserved .

HEDESKOGA,Ystad

,Sweden .

Fel l at p .m .,Apri l 20

,1922 .

One s tone of ki lograms weight .HEDJAZ

,Arabia .

Fel l i n the n igh t during the spring of 1 9 10 .

Four s tones,the larges t weighing 4 kilograms .

HEREDIA,San José

,Costa Rica .

Fel l i n the n igh t on Apr. 1,1 857 .

A shower of which the larges t weighed about 1 kilogram .

HES S L E,Upsala

,Sweden .

Fel l a t p .m . on Jan . 1,1 869.

A shower of s tones which fell over an oval area 3X9miles

,the larges t weighing abou t ki lograms .

The shower was particularly remarkable for thepowdery carbonaceous matter associ ated wi th i t . (SeePlate

HIGASHI-KOEN,Fukuoka

,Chikuz en ,

Japan .

Fel l on August 1 1,1 897 .

One stone of 750 grams weight .HIGH POS S I L

,Glasgow

,Lanarkshire

,Scotland .

Fel l on the morning of April 5 , 1 804.

One stone of abou t grams weight .HOLB ROOK

,Navaj o County

,Arizona .

Fell a t p .m . on July 19, 19 1 2 .

One of the most remarkable Showers on record,num

bering over separate pieces weighing from thefraction of an ounce to grams .

HO LETTA,Addis-Ababa

,Abyssin i a .

Fell a t a .m .,Apri l 14, 1923 .

One s tone of grams .HOM ESTEAD

,Iowa County

,Iowa .

Fel l a t p .m . on Feb . 1 2,1 875 .

A shower of over 100 s tones of an aggregate Weight of

[ 130 ]



JE LLI CA,Serb ia .

Fell a t p .m . on Dec . 1 , 1 889 .

A shower of s tones belonging to the rare group ofampho terites . The individual stones weighed froma few grams to kilograms .

JH UN G , Punj ab , India .

Fell a t 3 p .m . i n June, 1 873 .

Four stones weighing al together some 13 pounds or 6kilograms .

JOD Z I E , Panevezys, Kovno, Li thuani a .

Fel l a t a .m . on June, 1 8 87 .

A S ingle s tone of weight unknown ; all bu t a few fragments being lost .

JOHNSTOWN,Weld County, Colorado .

Fell a t p .m .,July 6

,1924.

Twenty-seven stones,of which about ki lograms

were recovered,the larges t weighing kilograms .

Belongs to the rare group of diogen ites.

JONZAC,Charente Inféri eure

,France .

Fell a t 6 a .m . on June 13 , 1 8 19 .

A shower of s tones belonging to the c lass of eukrites, ofwhich bu t four represen tat ives were then known . Thetwo larges t stones weighed bu t 2 and 3 kilograms .

JUD E S E GE RI , Tumkur distric t, Mysore, India .

Fel l i n the even ing of Feb . 16,1 876 .

A single s tone of which bu t abou t 750 grams werepreserved .

JUVINA S,Libonnes

,An traigues

,Ardeche , France .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on June 1 5 , 1 8 2 1 .

One stone of over 9 1 kilograms weight, belonging withthat of Jonzac above to the class of eukrites .

KABA,Debreczen

,Hungary .

Fel l a t 10 p .m . on Apr . 1 5 , 1 875 .

A S ingle s tone weighing ab’ou t 3 ki lograms .KAD ON AH

,Agra distric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell on the n ight of Aug. 7 , 1 8 22.

A large s tone,bu t weight not recorded .

[ 132 ]

PLATE 39

A com ple te ly e ncrusted individual from the m e teo ric Shower at

Hessle,Sweden , Jan . 1

,1 869 . We igh t 28 2 gram s . A large num ber o f

sto nes fe l l wh ich were distribu ted o ver an area o f som e 3 x 9 m i les,

some o f them fal l ing o n thin ice w i thou t break i ng it o r be ing bro ken .

I n this respec t the fal l stands in m arked co n trast w i th that o f K i lbourn .

(See p . 1 8 )

PLATE 40

Me teo ric sto ne . Natural size . Fe l l at K i lbo urn ,

W isco ns in ,June 16

,19 1 1 , pene trat i ng three th ick

nesses o f sh ingles and two bo ards o f the ro o f and

flo or o f a barn . Whe n first p ic ked up ,it I s stated to

have been to o warm to ho ld com fo rtab ly . As the

sto ne is sm al l it wou ld seem pro bab le that I t was

trave ll ing a t a very high rate o f speed and in a re tro

grade d irec t io n



KH ARKov, Ukraine .Fel l a t 3 p .m . on Oct . 1 2, 1787 .

Several s tones fel l,bu t one preserved .

KH E RAGUR, S . E . of Bhurtpur, Agra distric t, Uni tedProvinces

,India .

Fell March 28 , 1 860.

A S ingle small s tone s tated to have weighed abou t 1

pound .

KHETRI,Shekhawati, Jaipur, Rajpu tana, India .

Fell a t 9 a .m . on Jan . 19, 1 867 .

A shower of abou t 40 s tones which were main ly brokenup by the natives and two small fragments onlypreserved.

KHOHAR,Banda dis tric t

,Uni ted Provinces

,India .

Fell a t 1 p .m .,Sept . 19, 19 10 .

A single s tone,so far as known

,of which some kilo

grams have been preserved .

KI KINO,Vyazma

,Smolensk

,Russia .

Fel l i n 1 809.

A single s tone of unknown weight .KI L BOURN

,Columbia County

,Wisconsin .

Fel l a t 5 p .m . on June 1 6,19 1 1 .

A single small s tone Of 772 grams fel l upon the roof of abarn and passed through two hemlock boards . Theforce of the b low was qu i te unusual for so small astone . (See Plate

KI LLETER,Coun ty Tyrone

,I reland .

Fel l at p .m . on Apr . 29, 1 844.

A shower of s tones,of which but a few fragments were

preserved .

KLEIN-WENDEN,Nordhausen

,Erfurt

,Germany .

Fel l a t p .m . ,Sept . 1 6

,1 843 .

A s ingle s tone of abou t ki lograms weight .KN YAH I N YA

,Nagy-Beresz na, Ungvar, Czechoslovakia .

Fell at 5 p .m . on June 9, 1 866 .

A shower of s tones,es timated at over in number

,of

a total weight of 500 kilograms ; the larges t single

[ 134 ]

APPENDIX II

individual, weighing 293 kilograms, penetrated theearth to the depth of 1 1 fee t .

KRAHENB ERG, Zweibri'

icken, Rhenish Bavari a .

Fell a t p .m .,on May 5 , 1 869 .

A S ingle s tone of abou t kilograms .KRASNAI -UGOL, Ryazan, Russia .

Fell a t 2 p .m .,Sept . 9, 1 829 .

Seven s tones,of which bu t two were preserved .

KULE SCH OVKA, Poltava, Ukraine .Fel l a t 1 1 a .m . on March 1 2

,1 8 1 1 .

One stone of over 6 kilograms .KULP

, Kasachsky dis t . , Elisavetpol , Caucasus .Fell March 29, 1 906 .

Two s tones of 3 .5 and 7-8 ki lograms .KU S IALI , Kumaon , Uni ted Provinces, India .

Fel l 5 a.m . on June 16,1 860 .

One s tone fel l and was so badly shattered that bu t afew grams have been preserved .

KUTTI P PURAM,Ponnani taluk

,Malabar dis tric t

,Madras

,

India .

Fell abou t 7 a.m . on Apr . 6,19 14.

A shower of s tones the total weight of which was abou tkilogra

KYUSHU,Japan .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on Oct . 26,1 886 .

A shower of stones of unknown total weight . Thelarges t 29 kilograms .

LA BECAS S E, Dun-le-Poelier, I ndre, France .Fell at noon on Jan . 3 1 , 1 879 .

A single stone of kilograms weight .LABOREL

,D rém e

,France .

Fell a t 8 p .m .,June 14, 1 87 1 .

Two s tones of grams .LA CHARCA , I rapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico .

Fell a t a .m . on June 1 1,1 878 .

A s ingle s tone of 399 grams .

[ 13 5 ]


LA COLINA, Gen . Lamadrid dept .,Bueno s Aires

,

Argentina.Fell a t p .m .

,March 19, 1924.

One s tone of 2 kilograms weight .L’AI GLE

,Orne

,France .

Fell a t 1 p .m . on Apr. 26,1 803 .

A shower of some or s tones and of an ag

gregate weight of 37 kilograms . This fall i s of h istori c in teres t

,s ince as noted on p . 1 1 i t served to

satisfy al l doubts as to the ul traterres trial sourceof meteori tes .

LAKAN GAON,Nimar

,Indore

,Central India .

Fel l a t 6 p .m . on Nov. 24, 19 10.

A single stone belonging to the rare group of eukrites.

But grams known,of which 1 16 are in Calcu tta .

LALITPUR,Lali tpur distri c t

,Uni ted Provinces

,Indi a .

Fel l at a .m . on Apri l 7 , 1 8 87 .

A single s tone which broke in to pieces in fall ing,

bu t 372 grams recovered .

LANCE,VendOm e

,Loir-e t-Cher

,France .

Fel l a t p .m . on July 23 , 1 872 .

A shower of s tones of which half a dozen were recovered,weighing al together kilograms ; the larges ts ingle individual weighing 47 kilograms is in theVienna Natural His tory Museum .

LAN gON ,Bouches-da-RhOne

,France .

Fel l a t p .m . on June 20,1 897 .

Abou t 7 ki lograms known .

LANZENKI RCH EN,Wiener Neustadt

,Lower Austri a .

Fell a t p .m .,Aug . 28

,1925 .

One s tone weighing 5 kilograms .LAUNTON

,B I CESTER

,Oxfordshire

,England.

Fell at p .m . on Feb . 1 5 , 1 830 .

A single s tone of ki lograms .LEEUWFONTEIN

,Pretori a

,Transvaal, South Africa .

Fell a t 2 p .m .,June 2 1 , 19 1 2.

But 460 grams known .

[ 136 ]



LODRAN,Multan

,Punj ab

,Indi a .

Fell a t 2 p .m . ,Oct . 1 , 1 868 .

One stone of unknown weight, abou t 1 kilogram preserved .

Los MARTIN EZ,Cervera

,Murcia

,Spain .

Fel l May, 1 894.

But 25 grams reported in Madrid Museum .

LUCE,Sarthe

,France .

Fel l a t p .m .,Sept . 13 , 1768 .

One stone of 3 .5 kilograms .LUM PK I N

,Stewart County

,Georgia .

Fell at a.m . on Oct . 6, 1 869.

One s tone of abou t 34 grams weigh t .LUN D SGARD

,Ljungby

,Gottland

,Sweden .

Fell at p .m . on Apri l 3 , 1 8 89 .

One s tone of abou t 1 1 ki lograms .LUOT OLAX

,Viborg

,Fin land .

Fell Dec . 13 , 1 8 13 .

A shower of s tones fall ing on the surface of the ice ona lake . But few recovered .

LU PON NAS , Ain, France .Fell a t 1 p .m . ,

Sept . 7 , 1753 .

Two stones weighing ki lograms . Mostly destroyedand lost .

MACAO,Rio Grande do Norte

,Brazil .

Fell a t 5 a .m . on Nov. 1 1 , 1 836 .

A shower of s tones weighing from 1 to 80 pounds each .

MADRID,Spain .

Fel l a t a .m . on Feb . 10,1 896 .

Several smal l s tones weighing al together abou t 400grams .

M AN BH OOM,Bengal

,I ndia .

Fell a t 9 a .m . on Dec . 22,1 863 .

Several stones of varying weights up to 1 5 kilograms ,belonging to the group of ampho terites of whichbu t 3 representat ives are known .

[ 138 ]

APPENDIX II

MANEGAON,Bhusawal

,East Khandesh dis tri ct, Bombay,

India .

Fell a t p .m . on June 29, 1 843 .

One stone abou t 5X 1 5 i nches in s ize which becamebroken in the fal l and mostly lost, belonging to therare group called diogenites by Prior .

MARIAVILLE,Rock Coun ty

,Nebraska .

Fell a t midnight on Oct . 1 6,1 898 .


MARION,Linn County

,Iowa .

Fell a t p .m . on Feb . 25 , 1 847 .

Three s tones weighing 2 1,20

,and 40 pounds .

M ARJALAH T I , Viborg, Finland .

Fell a t 10 p .m . on June 1 , 1902 .

A single s tone of about 45 kilograms which was shattered i n fall ing .

MARM ANDE,Lot-e t-Garonne , France .

Fell on July 4, 1 848 .

Known only from fragments found in collections .M ASCOM BE S , Correze, France .

Fell at midnight,on Jan . 3 1 , 1 83 5 .

A s ingle stone of abou t 1 kilogram weight .MAS SING

,Eggenfelden

,Lower Bavaria

,Germany .

Fel l at a .m . on Dec . 13 , 1 803 .

A single s tone of abou t ki lograms of which veryl i t tle was preserved .

MAU ERKI RCHEN,Upper Austria .

Fel l a t 4 p .m . on Nov. 20, 17 86 .

A s tone of abou t 1 8 ki lograms weight .MAURITIU S

,Indian Ocean .

Fel l on Dec . 22,1 80 1 .

Three s tones,weight not given

,belonging to the

howarditic chondri te group .

MEERUT, Meeru t distric t, Uni ted Provinces, India .

Fell abou t 1 860-62 .


[ 139 ]


MEE STER-CORNELI S,Batavia

,Java .

Fell between 6 and a .m .,June 2

,19 1 5 .

One stone of kilograms weight .M E N ow

,Al t-Strel i tz

,Mecklenburg, Germany .

Fell a t p .m . on Oct . 7 , 1 862.

One stone of abou t kilograms weight .MERN

,Praesto

,Denmark .

Fell a t p .m .,Aug . 29, 1 878 .

One stone of 4 kilograms weight .MERUA

,Allahabad

,United Provinces

,India .

Fel l a t a .m .,Aug . 30, 1920 .

Six s tones weighing together kilograms .MEUS ELBACH

,Thuringia

,Germany.

Fel l at p .m . on May 19, 1 897 .

One smal l stone of bu t 870 grams weight .M E z o-MADARAS , Transylvan ia .Fell a t p .m . on Sept . 4, 1 85 2 .

A shower giving a total weight of abou t kilograms,

the larges t weighing about 10 kilograms .M H ow

,Azamgarh dist ric t, Uni ted Provinces, India .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on Feb . 16,1 827 .

Four or five stones,one of which i t is s tated hi t a man

in fall ing. The larges t weighed kilograms.MIDDLES B ROUGH

,Yorkshire

,England .

Fell a t p .m . on March 14, 1 8 8 1 .

One stone of about kilograms .M I GH E I , Olviopol, Kherson, Ukraine .Fell a t a .m . on June 1 8

,1 8 89 .

A stone the exact weight not known but represen ted by8 kilograms of fragments .

MI LENA,Varazdin

,Croati a

,Yugoslavia .

Fell a t 3 p .m .,Apri l 26

,1 842 .

Two or three s tones of 5 to 6 kilograms weight .M I N N I CH H OF , Oedenburg, Hungary .

Fel l a t a .111 .,May

.

27, 1905 .

One stone,weight not given .

[ 140 ]


APPENDIX I I

MI RZAPUR, Ghazipur distric t, Uni ted Provinces , India .

Fell a t a .m . on Jan . 7 , 19 10 .

One stone of which two pieces weighing grams andkilograms were recovered .

M I S SH OF,Courland

,Latvia .

Fel l at p .m . on Apri l 10, 1 890 .

One s tone of abou t ki lograms .M J E LLE I M ,

Hyen,Nordfjord

,Norway.

Fel l between 2 and 3 p .m .,Jan . 24, 1 898 ;

Probab ly a shower,bu t only a single stone found weigh

ing abou t 100 grams .M oos

,Cluj ( $ Klausenburg, Kolozsvar) Transylvania .

Fell at 4 p .m . on Feb . 3 , 1 8 8 2 .

A Shower of some (es timated) s tones of a totalweight o f300 ki lograms . The larges t s ingle individualweighed about 56 kilograms . This i s one of the mostwidely dis tribu ted falls

, portions of i t a t one timebeing found in over 100 private and publ ic collections .

MODOC,Scot t County

,Kansas .

Fell a t p .m . on Sept . 2, 1905 .

A fall of 1 5-20 s tones, the larges t of which weighedki lograms

,total ing abou t 1 6 ki lograms . (See Plate

MOKOIA,Taranaki

,North Island

,N ew Zealand .

Fel l at p .m . on N OV . 26,1908 .

Several s tones of bu t a few pounds each and but two ofwhich were recovered .

MOLINA,Murcia

,Spain .

Fel l on Dec . 24, 1 85 8 .

One s tone of 1 14 kilograms weight .MONROE

,Cabarrus County

,North Carol ina .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on Oct . 3 1 , 1 849 .

One stone of abou t ki lograms .MONTE MI LONE

,Macerata

,I taly.

Fell a t a.m . on May 8,1 846 .

Several s tones of which five were recovered .

[ 141 ]


MONTLIVAU LT,Loir-e t-Cher

,France .

Fell in the day on July 22,1 83 8 .

One s tone of bu t abou t 0 . 5 kilogram weight .M OORE S FORT

,County Tipperary

,Ireland .

Fell a t noon in August,1 8 10 .

One s tone of ki lograms weight .MORADABAD, Moradabad dis tric t, United Provinces ,India .

Fell in 1 808 .

But about 70 grams of this fal l known .

MORNANS,Bourdeaux

,D rOm e

,France .

Fel l i n September,1 875 .

One stone of kilograms weight .MOTI-KA-NAGLA

,Goo rdha

,Biana distric t

,Bharatpur

,

I ndia .

Fell at 5 p .m . on Dec . 22, 1 868 .

A shower of s tones bu t only 3 found, of which thelarges t weighed ki lograms .

MOTTA DI CONTI,Casale

,Piedmon t

,I taly .

Fell a t 1 1 a.m . on Feb . 29, 1 868 .

Severa l s tones of abou t kilograms weight .MOUNT BROWNE

,Coun ty Evelyn

,N ew Sou th Wales .

Fell a t a .m . on July 17 , 1902.

One s tone of abou t 1 1 .5 kilograms .M UD D OOR

,Mysore

,India .

Fel l at 7 a .m . on Sept . 2 1 , 1 865 .

Two s tones, one ofwhich weighed abou t 2 kilograms, thesecond being broken in pieces .

M U LLE T I WU,Northern Province

,Ceylon .

Fell on Apri l 13 , 1795 .

A shower of which the 25 gram piece in the Pari sMuseum i s all there i s known .

MURAID,Ghatail sub-division , Mymensingh dist . , Bengal ,

India .

Fell a t p .m .,Aug . 7 , 1924.

Two s tones,one broken in halves, weight grams .

[ 142 ]



N EW CONCORD,Muskingum Coun ty

,Ohio .

Fell a t p .m . on May 1,1 860 .

A shower of some 30 s tones of which the l arges t weighedabou t 47 kilograms and the total weight of whichwas abou t 500 pounds . I t was from stones of thi s fallthat was firs t iden tified and separated the newmineral m errillite .

NGAWI,Madioen

,Java .

Fel l a t p .m . on Oct . 3 , 1 8 83 .

Two s tones of abou t grams weight .N I O

,west of Yam aguch, Yoshiki , Suwo , Japan .

Fell a t p .m . on Aug . 8,1 897 .

TWO s tones weighing together 448 grams .N ’KANDH LA

,Zu luland

,Nata ]

,South Africa .

Fell a t p .m . on Aug. 1 , 19 1 2 .

One stone of abou t ki lograms weight .N OBLE BOROUGH

,Lincoln County

,Maine .

Fell a t p .m . on Aug . 7 , 1 8 23 .

One stone of abou t kilograms . Was badly brokenand bu t 78 grams preserved .

NOGOYA,Entre Rios

,Argen tina .

Fell i n the evening of June 30, 1 879.

One stone of abou t 4 kilograms .NOVY-ERGI

,Novgorod govt .

,Russia .

Fell a t 4 p .m .,Dec . 10

,1 662 .

A Shower of s tones .NOVY—PROJ EKT

,Novo-Alexandrovsky dist .

,Kovno

,

Li thuan ia .

Fell a t 2 a.m .,Apri l 25 , 1908 .

One stone of abou t grams .NOVY-UREI

,Karamzinka

,Nij ni-Novgorod

,Russia .

Fel l a t a .m . on Sept . 4, 1 8 86 .

Three s tones of which some 2 kilograms havebeen preserved . A rare type of which but 3 areknown .

[ 144 ]

APPENDIX II

NULLES,Catalonia

,Spain .

Fell a t p .m . on N OV . 5 , 1 85 1 .

A large number of s tones reported as fal len but few preserved of which the largest weighed abou t 9 kilograms .

OCH AN S K,Perm

,Russi a .

Fell a t 1 p .m . on Aug . 30, 1 8 87 .

A shower of s tones aggregating over 500 kilograms inweight

,the larges t weighing 1 1 5 kilograms .

OES E L I sland,Esthonia

,Balti c S tates .

Fell a t p .m . on May 1 1,1 8 5 5 .

Several s tones fel l bu t only about 6 kilograms of onesaved .

O-FEHERTO,Nyiregyhaza

,Szabolcs

,Hungary.

Fel l on July 25 , 1 900 .

One stone of abou t kilograms weight.001, Hizen, Kyushu , Japan .

Fel l a t 1 1 a .m .,June 8

,1741 .

Four s tones fel l of some kilograms weight . Twoof these were for a long time subj ects of annualofferings in a temple .

OHABA,A lba Iul i a Transylvania .

Fell a t a .m . on Oct . 1 1,1 857 .

One stone of kilograms weight .OKNINY

,Krzemien iec

,Wo lyn , Poland .

Fell a t a .m . on Jan . 8 , 1 834.

One stone of abou t 1 2 kilograms,only a small portion

of which was preserved .

OLIVA-GANDIA,Valenci a

,Spain .

Fel l May 26, 1 520 .

Three s tones reported to have fallen .

OLIVENZA,Badaj oz

,Spain .

Fell at 8 a.m . ,June 19, 1924.

Five stones fel l of a total weight of 1 50 ki lograms .ORANGE RIVER

,South Africa .

Fell Sept . 8 , 1 8 87 .

One stone,original weight unknown and but abou t 8

grams known .

[ 145 ]


ORGUEI L,Montauban

,Tarn-e t-Garonne

,France .

Fel l at 8 p .m . on May 14, 1 864.

Some 20 s tones the total weight of which i s no t known .

Some kilograms preserved in collections . Acarboniferous chondri te of more than ordinaryinterest . I t was in this stone that was found themineral breunneri te

,the only known occurrence

of a carbonate in a meteori te .ORNANS

,Doubs

,France .

Fell a t p .m .

,on July 1 1

,1 868 .

One stone of abou t 6 kilograms weight .ORVINIO

,Rome

,I taly .

Fell a .m .,Aug . 3 1 , 1 872 .

Several s tones from which six fragments were savedweighing kilograms .

OTOM I,Yamagata

,Japan .

Fel l May 24, 1 867 .

One s tone of kilograms weight .

OTTAWA,Frankl in County

,Kansas .

Fel l at p .m . on Apri l 9, 1 896 .

One stone of 840 grams Weight .

OVI EDO,Asturias

,Spain .

Fell at p .m . on August 5 , 1 856 .

Three fragments weighing 205 grams are all that isknown of this fall .

PACULA,Jacala

,Hidalgo

,Mexico .

Fel l the morning of June 1 8 , 1 88 1 .

kilograms known of this s tone .

PALAH AT CH I E,Rankin County

,Mississippi .

Fell Oct . 17 , 1 9 10 .

One small s tone,weight not given .

PAM PANGA,Phil ippine I slands .

Fel l on April 4, 1 8 59One stone

,original weight not known

,but 1 65 grams

accounted for in the collections .

[ 146 ]



P N OM P E H N,Cambodia

,French Indo-China .

Fell at 3 p .m . ,June 20-23 , 1 868 .

Three s tones of one of which bu t 41 grams are preserved .

Po H LI T z,Gera

,Reuss

,Germany .

Fell a t 8 a .m .,Oct . 13 , 1 8 19 .

One s tone of abou t 3 kilograms Weight .POKHRA

,Basti dis tric t

,Gorakhpur

,United Provinces

,

India .

Fell at p .m .,May 27 , 1 866 .

One stone of bu t 3 50 grams weight .PONTA GROS SA

,Parana

,Brazi l .

Fell in Apri l,1 846 .

One stone of 667 grams weight .PORTUGA L .

Fell Feb . 19, 1796.

One stone of abou t 4.5 kilograms .PRICETOWN

,Highland County

,Ohio .

Fell Feb . 13 , 1 893 .

One stone of bu t 900 grams weight .PU LSORA

,Ratlam State

,Cen tral India .

Fell i n the afternoon on March 1 6,1 863 .

One s tone weighing 6 80 grams .PU LTUSK

,Warsaw

,Poland .

Fell a t 7 p .m . on Jan . 30, 1 868 .

A shower of s tones es timated at over pieces ofwhich the larges t weighed 9 kilograms . One of themost remarkable falls on record . Over 200 kilogramsare l is ted as scattered throughout the various co llect ions of the world .

QU EENS MERCY,Matatiele

,Griqualand

,East

,Cape

Province,South Africa .

Fell a t 8 p .m .,Apri l 30, 1925 .

Three s tones,one large

,total weight unknown .

QU E N GGOUK, Bassein distric t, Lower Burma .

Fell at a .m . on Dec . 27 , 1 8 57 .

Three fragments belonging to the same mass fel l weighing respectively and grams .

I 48

APPENDIX I I

QUI N CAY, Vienne, France .Fell i n the summer of 1 85 1 .

Nothing known of the fall and but 3 1 grams recordedin collec tions .

RAKOVKA,Tula

,Russi a .

Fell a t 3 p .m . on Nov. 20, 1 878 .

One stone “abou t as large as a man ’s head . Weightnot given .

RAM PURH AT,Birbhum dis t .

,Bengal

,India .

Fell a t a .m . ,Nov. 2 1

,19 16 .

One stone of 100 grams weight .

RAN CH APAR,Jamtara

,Santhal

,Bihar

,India .

Fell a t on Feb . 20,19 17 .

Four pieces weighing al together grams .

RANCHO D E LA PRESA,Zenapecuaro , Michoacan , Mexico .

Fell in 1 899 .

But 3 grams known .

RE NAz z o,Cento

,Ferrara

,I taly .

Fel l at p .m . on Jan . 1 5 , 1 824.

Several stones fell,three being recovered

,the larges t of

which weighed 5 kilograms .

RICHARDTON,Stark County

,North Dakota .

Fell a t 10 p .m . on June 30, 19 1 8 .

Severa l s tones of a total weight of about kilograms .RICHM OND

,Chesterfield County

,Virgin i a .

Fell at a .m . on June 4, 1 8 28 .

One s tone of abou t kilograms .

RICH MOUN TAIN,Jackson County

,North Carol ina .

Fell a t 2 p .m . on June 30, 1903 .

But one fragment weighing 66 8 grams found .

ROCHE STER,Fulton County

,Indiana .

Fel l at p .m . on Dec . 2 1 , 1 876 .

An unusually spectacular display over an area of overmi les yielded bu t one small s tone of about 340

grams weight .

[ 149 ]


ROS E C ITY,Ogemaw County

,Michigan .

Fell a t 1 1 p .m .,Oct . 17 , 192 1 .

Three s tones ; total weigh t 10. 5 kilograms .ROWTON

,Well ington

,Shropshire

,England .

Fell at p .m . on Apri l 20,1 876 .

One stone weighing kilograms .

RU SCH AN Y, Slon im,Grodno

,Poland .

Fel l on Dec . 7 , 1 894.

Fall reported,none of the material extan t .

RYE CH K I , Sumy distric t, Kharkov, Ukraine .Fell a t p .m . on Apri l 9, 19 14.

Two s tones of and ki lograms .

SABE TM AH E T,near Balrampur

,Gonda distric t

,Uni ted

Provinces,India .

Fell i n the evening of Aug . 1 6,1 8 8 5 .

A stone of abou t 2 kilograms weight fell and was madean obj ec t of worship . But 3 grams were securedand preserved in the Calcu tta Museum .

ST . CAPRAI S-DE-QUIN SAC , Gironde, France .

Fel l a t p .m . on Jan . 28 , 1 8 83 .

One s tone of 282% grams weight .

ST . CHRI STOPH E- LA-CHARTREU S E , Roche—Serviere, Vendée , France .Fell on Nov. 5 , 1 841 .

One stone of abou t 5% kilograms .

ST . D E N I s-WE STREM ,Ghent

,Belgium .

Fel l a t p .m . on June 7 , 1 8 5 5 .

One stone of bu t 700 grams weight .ST . GERM AIN-E N -PUE L, Vitre, I l le-e t-Vilaine, France .Fel l at p .m . on July 4, 1 890 .

One stone of abou t 4 kilograms .ST . MARK ’

S Mission Station , Transkei , Cape Province ,Sou th .Africa.

Fell a t 1 1 p .m . on Jan . 3 , 1903 .

One stone of kilograms weight .

[ 1 50 ]



SEARSM ONT,Waldo Coun ty

,Maine.

Fel l a t a.m . on May 2 1,1 87 1 .

One s tone which broke by impact wi th ground ; originalweight abou t kilograms . Only about 1 kilogram preserved which has been scattered through27 collec tions in fragmen ts of from 1 to 60 grams

,

the National collec tions con tain ing the larger portion in the form of3 pieces weighing grams . Themain mass of all

, 900 grams weight, i s in the museumof Amherst College .

SEGOWLI E, Bettiah, Champaran distric t, Bihar, India .

Fell at noon on March 6,1 8 53 .

A shower of some 30 s tones varying in weights up tokilograms .

SENA,Sarifiena

,Huesca

,Spain .

Fell at midnight on Nov. 17 , 1773 .

One stone of about 4 kilograms .SERES

,Macedonia .

Fell in June,1 8 1 8 .

One s tone of about 8 .5 ki lograms .SERRA DE MAGE

,Pesqueira

,Pernambuco

,Brazil .

Fell at 1 1 a .m . on Oct . 1,1923 .

A shower of s tones of which some 50 were recovered .

Weight not given .

SETE LAGOAS,Minas Geraes

,Brazil .

Fell Dec . 1 5 , 1908 .

Six small s tones,weight not given .

SEVI LLA,Andalusia

,Spain .

Fel l on Nov. 1 , 1 862 .

One stone of 100 grams weight .SE VRUKOVO

,Bye lgorod, Kursk, Russia .

Fell a t p .m . on May 1 1,1 874.

One large stone of 98 kilograms weight .SHALKA

,Bishnupur

,Bankrura dis tric t, Bengal, India .

Fel l a t p .m . on Nov. 30, 1 850 .

A large stone said to have measured 3 feet in diameterfell and was broken in pieces by the impact and only

[ 1 5 2 ]

APPENDIX II

abou t ki lograms preserved. The stone belongs to the rare group of diogenites of Prior, andpieces have been eagerly sought by col lectors

,causing

i t to be broken and scat tered through some 30 collections in b i ts from mere splin ters to a mass ofkilograms which remains in the Calcu t ta Museum .

SHARPS,Richmond County

,Virgin i a .

Fell Apri l 1,192 1 .

One s tone of grams weight .SHELBURNE

,Grey County

,Ontario

,Canada .

Fell a t 8 p .m . on Aug . 13 , 1904.

Two stones weighing and ki lograms .SH E RGH OTT Y, Gya, Bihar, India .

Fel l at 9 a .m . on Aug. 25 , 1 865 .

One s tone of 5 kilograms .SHI KARPUR

,Purnea dis t .

,Bihar and Orissa prov.

,India .

Fel l at 9 a .m .,Aug. 9, 192 1 .

One s tone of abou t grams .SHUPIYAN

,Kashmir

,India .

Fell i n Apri l,19 1 2 .

Two s tones of 0 . 5 and 4.5 ki lograms .SH YTAL

,Madhupur jungle

,Mymensingh dis t .

,Bengal

,

India .

Fel l a t noon on Aug. 1 1,1 863 .

One s tone of abou t ki lograms .SI ENA

,Tuscany

,I taly .

Fell at 7 p .m . on June 16,1794.

A shower of small s tones the larges t weighing but abou t

3 . 5 kilograms .SIM M ERN

,H unsriick, Rhenish Prussi a .

Fell a t a .m . on July 1,1920 .

A large number of s tones scattered over an area of2X 10 miles . But 3 were found weighing 142, 470,and 6 10 grams respect ively.

S I M ON OD,Ain

,France .

Fell a t 9 p .m . on Nov. 13 , 1 83 5 .

One stone,weight unknown .

[ 1 53 ]


SI NAI PENINSU LA,Egypt .

Fell a t p .m . on July 14- 17, 19 16 .

Two stones reported to have fallen of which but one,

weighing grams,was preserved .

SINDHRI,Khipro taluk

,Thar and Parker dis ts .

,Bombay

,

India .

Fell a t 1 1 p .m . on June 10,190 1 .

Two s tones,one of less than 2 kilograms weight and the

other of abou t ki lograms .SI TAT H ALI

,Raipur dis t .

,Centra l Provinces

,India .

Fel l a t 1 1 a .m . on March 4, 1 875 .

Two s tones of total weigh t of ki lograms .SK I

,Akershuus, Christi an i a, Norway .

Fell in the even ing of Dec . 27, 1 848 .

One small s tone weighing 8 50 grams .S LAVETIC

,Zagreb

,Croati a

,Yugoslavia .

Fell a t a .m . on May 22,1 868 .

Several s tones that were said to have fallen,bu t two

preserved weighing grams .S LOBODKA

,Yukhnov

,Smolensk

,Russi a .

Fel l on Aug. 10,1 8 1 8 .

One stone of abou t ki lograms weight .So K o -BANJA

,A leksinac

,Serb ia .

Fell at 2 p .m . on Oct . 13 , 1 877 .

Some 10 s tones found scattered over an area 7X 1 milesand Weighing al together abou t 80 kilograms .

SONE,Shuchi

,Funai

,Tamba

,Japan .

Fell a t noon on June 7, 1 866 .

One s tone of 17 kilograms weight .STA LLDA LEN

,Nya Kopparberg

,Orebro, Sweden .

Fel l at p .m . ,June 28

,1 876 .

Eleven stones of a total weight of about 34 ki lograms,the larges t weighing abou t ki lograms .

STANNERN,Iglau

,Moravia

,Czechoslovakia .

Fell a t 6 a .m . on May 22, 1 808 .

A shower of 200-300 s tones mostly small and of a totalweight of abou t 5 2 grams . I t belongs to the rare

[ 1 54 ]



T I M OCH I N,Yukhnov

,Smolensk

,Russi a.

Fell a t 3 p .m . on March 25 , 1 807One stone of kilograms weight .

T JABE, Padang, Rembang, Java .Fell a t 9 p .m . on Sept . 19, 1 869.

A stone of 20 kilograms.T j E RE BON , Java.

Fell a t p .m .,Ju ly 10

,1922.

Two s tones weighing 1 6 . 5 kilograms .TOM AKOVKA

,Ekaterinoslav

,Ukraine .

Fell a t p .m . on Jan . 17 , 1905 .

Several small s tones . Total weight not given .

TOM ATLAN,Jalisco

,Mexico .

Fell a t p .m . on Sept . 17 , 1 879 .

Two or three s tones,the larges t weighing less than a

kilogram .

TONK,Raj putana

,India .

Fell a t p .m . on Jan . 22,19 1 1 .

A shower of smal l stones of which only grams werecollected .

TOULOU S E,Haute Garonne

,France .

Fell a t 8 p .m . on Apri l 10,1 8 1 2 .

A small shower e ight of which were found,the l arges t

weighing abou t 1 kilogram .

T OUN K I N,Tunka

,I rkutsk

,Siberia .

Fell a t 7 a .m .,Feb . 1 8

,1 824.

One stone of abou t 2 ki lograms .TOURINNE S-LA—GROS S E

,T ire lm on t

,Belgium .

Fell a t a .m .,Dec . 7 , 1 863 .

Two s tones,one of 7 and one of 7 .5 kilograms weight .

T RE N ZAN O,Bresci a

,I taly .

Fel l at 4 p .m .,Nov. 1 2

,1 856 .

Three stones said to have fallen but two found, thelarges t weighing 9 kilograms .

TREYSA,Hesse

,Germany.

Fell a t p .m .,Apri l 3 , 19 16 .

One s tone of 63 ki lograms weight .

[ 1 56 ]

APPENDIX II

TROUP,Smi th County

,Texas .

Fell on the morning of Apri l 26,19 17 .

One stone of about 1 kilogram weight .TUAN T UC, Cochin China .

Fel l at 3 p .m .,June 30, 192 1 .

Four stones fell,total weight not given .

TYSNE S I S LAND,Hardanger Fiord, Norway .

Fel l a t p .m .,May 20

,1 8 84.

Two s tones,the larger weighing ki lograms and

the smaller bu t 9 10 grams .UB ERABA

,Minas Geraes

,Brazil .

Fell a t 1 0 a .m .,June 29, 1903 .

One s tone of 30-

40 kilograms .UDEN

,North Brabant

,Holland .

Fell a t a .m .,June 1 2

,1 840 .

One s tone of bu t 7 10 grams weight .UDI PI

,South Kanara distri c t

,Madras

,I ndia .

Fell a t 10 a .m .

,Apri l

,1 866 .

One stone of about kilograms .UM BALA

,Punj ab

,India .

Fell 1 822-3 .

One stone of about 100 grams .UTRECHT

,Holland .

Fell a t 8 p .m .,June 2

,1 843 .

Two s tones weighing and 7 kilograms.VAGO

,Verona

,I taly.

Fell on June 2 1,1 668 .

A shower of doubtfu l au thentici ty .

VALD I N I ZZA,Pavia

,I taly .

Fell a t 10 a .m .,July 1 2

,1903 .

One stone of 13 1 grams weight .VAVI LOVKA

,Kherson

,Ukraine .

Fell a t 2 p .m .,June 19, 1 876 .

One stone of about 1 6 kilograms weight, belonging tothe rare group of ampho terites.

[ 1 57 ]


VERKHNE T SCH I RS KAI A,Region of Don Cossacks

,Russi a .

Fell at midday, Nov. 1 2, 1 843 .

One stone of abou t 8 kilograms weight .VERNON COUNTY

,Wisconsin .

Fell a t 9 a .m .,March 26

,1 865 .

TWO stones of 700 and 800 grams weight .VI GARANO

,Ferrara, I taly.

Fell a t p .m .,Jan . 22

,19 10 .

Two stones of abou t 4.5 and 1 1 .5 kilograms weight .VI LLARRIBA

,Paraguay .

Fell a t 7 p .m . July 20,

One stone,weight not given .

VI RBA,Vidin

,Bulgari a .

Fel l on June 1,1 873 .

One s tone of ki lograms weight .VI SHNU PUR

,Bankura distri c t

,Bengal

,India .

Fell a t a .m .,Dec . 1 5 , 1906 .

Two s tones of 670 and 1767 grams Weight .VI SUN I

,Umarkot

,Thar and Parkar dis t .

,Sind

,India .

Fel l at noon,Jan . 19, 1 9 1 5 .

One stone of 594 grams weight .VOUI LLE

,Poi tiers

,Vienne

,France .

Fell a t 1 1 p .m .,May 13 , 1 83 1 .

One stone of abou t 20 kilograms weight .WALKRINGEN

,Bern

,Swi tzerland .

Fell between 7 and 8 p .m .,May 1 8

,1698 .

One stone,no further record .

WARRENTON,Warren County

,Missouri .

Fell at a .m .,Jan . 3 , 1 877 .

One stone es timated to have weighed abou t 100 poundsbu t of which only abou t grams are known .

WES S ELY,Hradisch

,Moravia

,Czechoslovakia .

Fell at p .m .,Sept . 9, 1 83 1 .

One stone of abou t kilograms weight .WESTON

,Fairfie ld County, Connecticu t .

Fell at a .m .,Dec . 14, 1 807 .

[ 1 58 ]



ZOM BA,M yasaland, Bri tish Central Africa .

Fell at a .m .,Jan . 25 , 1 899.

Several s tones found scattered over an area of 3 X9miles

,the larges t weighing abou t ki lograms ;

total weigh t abou t 7 .5 ki lograms .ZSADANY

,Temes distric t

,Rumania .

Fel l between 3 and 4 p .m .,March 3 1 , 1 875 .

A shower of which bu t 9 smal l s tones were recoveredof a total weight of 5 52 grams .

I I . STONY IRON S

Out of the score or more of s tony irons variously classedas lodranites, m esosiderites, siderophyrs, and pallasites,bu t five were seen to fall . These are as follows

BAREA,Logrofio , Spain .

Fel l July 4, I S42 .

A mass of abou t 32 ki lograms weight , belonging to thegroup of m eso siderites.

ESTHERVI LLE,Emmet County

,Iowa .

Fel l a t 5 p .m . on May 10,1 879 .

A shower of several l arge and hundreds of small fragments total ing not less than ki lograms

,the

l arger of which weighed some 6 8 and kilograms . One of the most in teres t ing of i ts class .

LODRAN,Multan

,Punj ab

,India .

Fell a t 2 p .m . on Oct . 1,1 868 .

A s tony iron of exceptional i n teres t of which the originalweight i s not known and of which bu t 970 grams arepreserved . I t s tands by i tself in the class of lodranites .

M ARJALAH T I , Viborg, Fin land .

Fell a t 10 p .m . on June 1 , 1902.

One individual,a pallasi te

,weighing abou t 45 kilograms .

VERAM IN,Karand

,Tehran

,Persi a .

Fell 3 hours before sunset in May, 1 8 80 .

An in teres ting mass of abou t 54 kilograms weight preserved in the palace of the Shah of Pers i a and from

[ 160 ]

APPENDIX I I

which H . A . Ward secured the privilege of cuttingaway some 2 kilograms for other collections .

I I I . I RONS

Of the 3 50 known all-metal meteori tes but 22 were seento fa l l . These are as followsAVCE

,Isonzo Valley

,Gorizi a

,I taly.

Fel l at a .m .,March 3 1 , 1908 .

A mass of bu t grams fell .BEZERROS

,Pernambuco

,Brazi l .

Fel l May 9, 19 1 5 .

A mass the original weight of which is given as 20 tonski lograms) .

BOGU S LAVKA,220 km . north of Vladivostok

,Siberia .

Fell a t a .m .,Oct . 1 8

,19 16 .

Two masses of 57 and 1 99 kilograms respectively.

BRAUNAU,Trutnov

,Bohemia .

Fell a t a .m .,July 14, 1 847 .

Two masses of 17 and 22 kilograms .CABIN CREEK

,Johnson County

,Arkansas .

Fel l a t 3 p .m .,March 27 , 1 8 86 .

A mass of 107 pounds kilograms) .CHARLOTTE

,Dickson Coun ty

,Tennessee .

Fel l between 2 and 3 p .m .,Ju ly 3 1 or Aug . 1

,1 83 5 .

A mass of about 4 kilograms .GARHI YASIN

,Shikarpur taluk

,Sukkur dist .

,Bombay

,

India .

Fell a t nigh t t ime in January,1 9 17 .

A smal l mass of bu t 3 80 grams .H RASCH I NA

,Zagreb -Agram) Croatia, Yugoslavi a .

Fell a t 6 p .m .,May 26

,175 1 .

Two masses of 9 and 40 kilograms weight .MARIAVI LLE

,Rock County

,Nebraska .

Fel l at midnight on Oct . 1 6 , 1 898 .

A small mass of but 340 grams weight . Perhapsdoub tful .

[ 16 1 ]


MAZAPI L,Zacatecas

,Mexico .

Fel l at 9 p .m . on Nov. 27 , 1 8 85 .

One of the mos t in teresting falls on record on accoun t ofthe details gathered . Fell during a star showerperiod and i s thought possibly from Biela ’s Comet .

N E D AGOLLA,Vizagapatam distric t

,Madras

,India .

Fel l at 7 p .m .,Jan . 23 , 1 870 .

A single mass of abou t 4% kilograms .N ’GOUREM A

,Jenne

,Massina

,French West Africa .

Fel l June 1 5 , 1 900 .

A mass of abou t kilograms belongs to the raregroup of brecc iated octahedri tes . (See Plate

N’

Kandhla, Zu luland, Nata l Sou th Africa .

Fel l a t p .m .,Aug . 1

,19 1 2 .

A mass of about kilograms weight .NORFOLK

,Montgomery County

,Virgin ia .

Fel l i n September of 1 907 .

A mass of 23 kilograms weight .OKANO

,Sasayama

,Tamba

,Japan .

Fel l a t a.m . ,Apri l 7 , 1904.

A mass of grams weight .PITTS

,W i lcox County

,Georgia .

Fell a t 9 a.m . ,Apri l 20

,192 1 .

Four pieces classed as octahedri tes wi th sil icate inc lusio ns and weighing abou t 4 kilograms .

QUE SA,Enguera

,Valenc ia

,Spain .

Fel l a t 9 p .m .,Aug . 1

,1 898 .

A mass of abou t ki lograms weight .ROWTON

,Well ington

,Shropshire

,England .

Fel l a t p .m .,Apri l 20

,1 876 .

A mass of abou t ki lograms .SAM ELIA

,Shahpura

,Rajpu tana

,India .


,192 1 .

Three masses of total Weigh t grams .TREYSA, Hesse, Germany .

Fell a t p .m .,Apri l 3 , 19 16 .

A mass of 63 kilograms weight .

[ 162 ]


mass of abou t kilograms .

[ 163 ]


P R E FA C E

In the preparation of this work,the wri ter has had the

assis tance and guidance of the Head Curator of thedepartment

,Dr. George P. Merri ll

,to whom is due the

general p lan and scope of the work . Doctor Merrill hasalso assi s ted in the preparation of certain portions of thetext

,the chapter on “Collections and Collectors” being

wholly his . His assi s tance and in teres t I here gratefullyacknowledge . I t i s my pleasure to also acknowledge theeffic ien t help of Miss Margaret M oodey, scien tific aid inthe departmen t

,who has gone over the manuscript and

supplied many of the in teres ting i tems embodied in thetext .A work of this kind must of necessi ty be somewhat ofa compilation

,and I have made free use of the works of

other wri ters in this field . Many detai ls were taken fromthe standard work of Max Bauer

,E delstein leunde

,and

from the works of the eminen t authori ty on gem stones,

Dr. George F . Kunz . His valuable summaries on preciouss tones in M ineral Resources of the United States publishedby the U . S . Geological Survey

,and also in M ineral

I ndustry, have been freely consul ted . Similarly theyearly reports of Douglas B . Sterrett

,also appearing in

M ineral Resources,have been frequently consul ted . The

bibliography given at the end of this work containsreferences to other books drawn upon for i tems of speciali n terest .

W . F. F.



Nothing haphazard enters in to the choice of a mineralfor gem purposes . The s tone must possess certain virtuesto be “coun ted wi th the gian ts .” Of these

,beauty or

splendor outranks all others . Without beauty a mineralmay be usefu l but i t wi l l seldom be of value for ornamen tal purposes . Next

,i t should have durabi l i ty

,s ince i t

must resis t the wear to which i t may be subj ected . Manyminerals of beauty lack this importan t qual i ty and henceare of l i t tle value as gems . Because men l ike to have thatwhich o thers have not

,rari ty also i s a valuable a ttri bu te

andwill,of course

,affec t the pri ce and often the demand but

there are precious s tones so rare as to be almost unknown,

and for them the demand i s l imi ted to the connoisseur .Each mineral has a defini te and more or less s imple

chemical composi t ion . I f i t has grown wi thou t in terference i t wi l l have a form of i ts own by which i t may bedis t inguished

,and i t furthermore possesses characteris ti c

physical properties . Since each minera l i s an en ti ty,i t

i s cal led a mineral sp ecies. Modern mineralogy now knowssome fifteen hundred mineral species . Simples t of al l arethe elements, those un i ts of matter indivisi ble by ordinarychemical means

,of which all substances are made . These

combine among themselves to form comp ounds . Bothelemen ts and compounds are found among the mineralsand we may classi fy the mos t importan t as follows

1 . ELEM ENTS : The elemen tary un i ts of al l substances,

as the diamond, gold, 51nd p latinum .

2 . SU LPHIDES : Combinations of metals wi th sulphur,

as pyrite, the sulphide of iron, and galena, thesulphide and common ore of lead .

3 . OXIDES : Combinations of metals wi th oxygen , asquartz

,the oxide of s i l i con (si l i ca) , the commonest

of minerals .

4. CARBONATES : Combinations of metals wi th carbonicacid

,as calcite

,the common carbonate of calcium

,

and malachite,an importan t carbonate of copper.

[ 170 ]

INTRODUCTION

5 . SU LPHATES : Combinations of metals wi th sulphuricacid

,as gyp sum,

the sulphate of calcium .

6 . PHOSPHATES : Combinations of metals wi th phosphoric acid, as variscite, a phosphate of aluminum ,

and turquoise, a phosphate of copper and aluminum .

7 . SI LICATE S : Combinations of metal wi th si l i ca,as

cyanite, a S i l icate of aluminum,and beryl (emerald) ,

a S i l i cate of aluminum and the rare elemen t beryllium .

8 . HYDROCARBONS : Combinations of carbon wi thoxygen and hydrogen

,as amber and j et.

Of the fi fteen hundred mineral species,only abou t one

hundred possess all of the attri bu tes requ ired in gems .The sil i cates furn ish the greates t number

,including such

as beryl,topaz

,tourmaline

,and feldspar . From the

poin t o f V i ew of value,however

,the elements rank highes t

al though there i s bu t one gem in this class—the diamond .

The oxides,too

,are importan t

,for here belong corundum

(ruby and sapphire) , quartz (amethyst, agate, andopal . Sulphides, carbonates, and sulphates are of smallimportance

,while the phosphates yield only turquoise

and varisc i te . Pearl,to be ranked wi th the diamond

,ruby

,

and emerald in importance as a gem,i s not, s tri c tly

speaking,a mineral

,bu t i s so in timately associ ated wi th

precious s tones as to deserve considera tion here .

[ 17 1 ]

CHAPTER II

CRYSTALS AND THEIR GROWTH

NEAR LY every known mineral,when allowed to grow with

ou t external interference,crystall izes according to certain

defini te and well known laws . I t assumes the form of asol id bounded by flat planes which invari ab ly bear adefini te geometric relationship to each other . So constan tly i s this true that I n a very large maj ori ty of casesa mineral can be recognized by the form assumed in thecrystall izing process . Thus minerals l ike common sal t(hal i te) and galena (the common ore of lead) wil l crystalliz e in the form of cubes ; magneti te (the magneti coxide of iron) i n the form of octahedrons ; quartz andberyls in the form of hexagonal prisms . The garnet hasa form quite characteri s ti c and not l ikely to be mis takenfor that of any other mineral . The same i s true of otherspecies . (See PlateAs a further example of the s triking regu lari ty of crystals, mention may be made of the constancy of theangles between the faces

,or bounding planes . Every

crystal of a species has the same angle between the corresponding faces regardless of i ts S ize

,origin

,or the local i ty

from which i t comes . This fac t offers an astounding illustration of the essential orderl iness of nature .The s ize of crystals varies greatly and depends

,firs t,

upon some inheren t property of the substance, not wellunders tood ; and, secondly, upon the physical and chemicalenvironment i n which the crystal grows . Crystals maybe so minu te as to require the use of a microscope to detec tthe individual

,or they may be many feet in length . Per

[ 172 ]



faces upon i t . Many of the crystal forms fall,however

,

in to s imple and well-known geometrical sol ids,for ex

ample,the cube

,octahedron , and four and six-sided

pyramids . There i s in fac t a s trong tendency amongminerals to assume the simples t forms possi ble, consis ten t wi th their own part icular in ternal atom ic arrangemen t . The larges t faces developed are always those thathave the simples t relation to each other.Usually a s ingle substance may assume several forms

sal t may grow as cubes or as octahedrons ; calci te may befound as flat or s teep rhombs

,as prisms

,or s teep pyram

idal forms . While these variations may at firs t s ightappear to be incompati ble wi th what has been said aboutthe s impl ic i ty of crysta l laws, a somewhat closer studywill demonstrate the very near relationship between theseforms

,and the skilled crystallographer has no difliculty

i n properly grouping them .

I n many,and indeed in the vast maj ori ty of cases

, a

minera l is prevented by interference from assuming a perfec t crystal form ,

for example the quartz and feldspar ina grani te

,or the calci te in a marble . Nevertheless such

faces as may develop are i n s tri c t accord wi th corresponding faces on the most perfect ly formed individuals .In the creation of her minerals, nature calls upon many

of the gian t forces a t her command . For some,water i s

sufficien t ; others demand great heat and pressure . Theturquoise requ ires much water and a l i t tle acid ; theperidot needs the heat of l avas ; while the creation ofthe diamond i s one of nature ’s inost j ealously guardedsecrets .Of all the agents

,water, the most active and usefu l of

known substances,precedes in importance all others

in the formation of minerals . I t serves both as an essential chemical agent and as a means of transportation . I tdissolves the substances found in the earth ’ s crust,arranges them according to i ts fancy, and deposi ts themas minerals elsewhere . The water which carries on these

[ 174 ]



for thought . The most common i llus tration of this i s i ce,

which i s crystall ized water and a true mineral . A betterand more enduring i llustrat ion appears in the mineralquartz

,an oxide of si l i con . In form of clear hexagonal

crystals wi th pyramidal terminations , quartz fi l l s animportan t place in every collection . Because of i ts l im

pidity, i t i s often fash ioned in to crystal balls and otherworks of art .As crystals grow by a process of accretion

,i t can readi ly

be seen that there may develop a sl ight difference betweenthe cen tral or earl ier and the ou ter or later formed portions

,due to impuri ties in the solu tions or to differen t

forms of combination of some of the elemen ts . Zonal lybui l t tourmalines offer the mos t s triking i llus trations ofthis feature (Plate Of somewhat differen t characterare the crystals of clear or smoky quartz capped by a lateraddi tion of amethyst .The transparency of crystals is Often diminished by im

puri ties taken up during their growth . F ew crystalsescape these impuri t ies ; usually they are abundant . Theymay be gaseous, l iqu id, or sol id. Some are vis ib le to theunaided eye

,others can be detected only by the use of the

microscope . I n minerals in tended for gem purposes theseinclusions become of serious importance for they constitu te

,i n large part

,the “flaws” of precious s tones . The

“carbons” of the diamond and the “s i lk” of the ruby andsapphire

,which greatly detrac t from their value

,i l lus

trate such impuri t ies . Liqu id or gaseous inclus ions arecommon but usually so minu te that the unaided eye cannot see them unless aggregated in great numbers . I nsome cases

,however

,the l iquid body may reach a length

of an inch or more and contain movable bubbles of gas .Sol id inclusions are frequently small crystals . When

large and easi ly discern ible wi th the naked eye,they may

consti tu te the reason for the use of the mineral as a gem,

as in the case of the “Thetis hair s tone” (Plate 44) or insome varie ti es of cat ’s-eye

,bu t more often they consti

[ 176 ]

CRYSTALS AND THEIR GROWTH

tute flaws . Ruti le, an oxide of t i tanium,often occurs in

this manner and i s parti cularly abundant in many rubiesand sapphires .I n this day of the synthetic gem stone

,these flaws often

furnish the means of dis t inguishing the natural from themanufactured gem . The smal l crystall i tes of the naturalminera l do not appear in the syntheti c stones

,while the

gas bubbles of the lat ter are larger and more regular inshape than those of the natural material . Inclusions mayalso aid in determining the source of the mineral . There is

,

for instance,a difference in the arrangemen t of the ru ti le

needles in the Siamese and the Ceylonese rubies . Emeraldsfrom Siberi a often con tain small plates o f mica

,while those

of Colombia may carry small masses of carbonaceousmatter .

[ 177 ]

CHAPTER III

THE PROPERTIES OF M INERALS

ALL minerals share certain propert ies in common,

though in unequal proportions,which must be kn own i f

one is to know minerals . In these properties l ies thesecret of the in terest in minerals and of their economicimportance as gems .The beauty and splendor of gems depends in largemeasure upon color of which al l known Shades are found inminerals . The opaque s tones must depend for their appealon this alone, but when a deep rich color combines wi thperfec t transparency, an obj ec t of unsurpassed beau tyresu l ts and the s tone takes i ts place as “of the finestwater.” “As blue as a sapphire suggests the acme offreshness and puri ty in color.The colors of minerals divide in to two categories : thoseinheren t in the mineral i tself and known as essential colors, and those due to the presence of a pigmentary substance, and called nonessenti al . To the firs t class belongsuch colors as the blue and green of copper minerals, thepink of cobal t

,the green

,red

,and brown of iron minerals .

These colors are constant ; they belong to the mineral i tsel f,although theymay vary somewhat in shade and nuance, andare not des troyed upon reducing the mineral to a powder.The nonessen tial colors resul t from an extraneous p igment . They may be due to one of two causes ; ei ther torelatively large amounts of closely related substances thatare themselves deeply colored (these are called isomor

phous substances) , or to minute quanti t ies of a finely dispersed foreign materi al . In the case of the isomorphoussubstances a large amount of the pigmentary matter isusually necessary to impart a decided color to the mineral .

[ 178 ]



directions. The unequal absorption of the l ight rays asthey pass through the crystal i n these various directionscauses this phenomenon . Often i t manifests i tself ina manner of s triking beauty and becomes importan t i n thecutting of the mineral for gem purposes . Thus, even inplates of the same thickness, a crystal of the commongreen tourmaline shows much darker when viewed in thedirection of i ts vert ical axis—which i s generally the axisof greatest elongation—than when viewed across i t . I nthe same manner the p ink form of the mineral spodumene(kunzi te) may be almos t colorless when viewed across theprism and of a beauti fu l p ink in other directions . Sincemost colored gem stones reveal thi s property to a greateror less degree

,i t must be seriously considered in the

cutting of a s tone . I n one direct ion the color may be ofpure tone

,i n another

,i t may be degraded or inferior.

Strongly pleochroic s tones may be cu t to Show a dualcolor pattern .

Many gems,especi ally the colorless ones, gain their

beauty by their unusual and striking effec ts upon light .Most important of these effects i s refraction . When abeam of l ight passes obl iquely from one medium intoanother (as from air in to water) i t i s usually ben t a t thesurface separating the two . This is known as refrac tion .

Because of this characteris tic,a spoon in a glass of water

appears bent,or a tank of water appears shallower than

i t really is . This effect depends upon the fact that theveloci ty of l igh t differs in differen t substances . Lighthas

,for instance

,on ly three-fourths the veloci ty in water

that i t has in air. The ratio of the veloci ty in air to thatin the substance i s called the index of refraction of thatsubstance and can be most conveniently measured by anins trument known as a refractometer. Each mineralpossesses a characteri s ti c index of refraction

,and i ts exact

value i s commonly determined for the purpose of identifying gem stones . I t can be roughly ascertained by visualinspection ; those minerals wi th low index of refract ion

[ 1 80 ]

THE PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

have a l impid,watery transparency

,while those of high

index possess a high luster and appear as though dippedin oi l or grease .I t has j ust been stated that the exten t of refraction

varies wi th the different substances through which thel ight beam passes . I t also depends upon the color of thel ight ; blue rays being refracted more than yellow,

and yellow more than red . Hence a beam of whi te l ight on passing through a stone becomes separated into the variouscolored rays . This separat ion i s cal led disp ersion . Thedegree to which this phenomenon takes place also varieswi th differen t substances . I n fluori te

,for instance

,the

dispers ion is very sl ight and the separat ion not dist inc t,

and can not be detected by the unaided eye . I n thediamond, dispersion i s marked and mani fests i tself in thebright-colored flashes of blue and red so noticeable inthe gem . Titani te (sphene) also reveals marked dispers ive powers and a properly cut s tone is thickly studdedwith small colored flashes of l ight . Much of the bri lliance of gem stones depends upon this property .

Cleavage offers another dis t inguishing characteris ti cof many minerals . I t mani fests i tself in a tendency tobreak or spl i t wi th smooth Shining surfaces along defini teand, for the same species, constant p lanes . This tendencyi s s trong in calci te

,which can be broken in to numerous

small rhombs,and so pronounced in mica as to permi t

i t to be spl i t up in to sheets less than a thousandth of aninch in thickness . On the other hand minerals l ike quartzhave no evident cleavage

,but l ike glass

,break wi th

irregular surfaces . These planes of cleavage are manifestations of the orderly arrangement of the moleculesin the crystal . Perpendicular to the plane of cleavagethe distance between successive layers of molecules mustbe relatively large and hence explains the ease of separation . The cleavage must l ikewise be parallel to a faceof the crystal s ince this too i s determined by i ts moleculararrangement .

[ 1 8 1 ]


Cleavage may play an important role in the mineralindustry

,rendering a stone unfi t for certain uses

,where

i ts developmen t is pronounced,or assis t ing in the work of

cutting, as in the case of the diamond . The cutting ofthe famous Cull inan diamond, the largest ever found,exemplifies this . AS s tated by Wodiska3

,the distinction

of cu tting this s tone—a doubtfu l distinct ion in view ofthe responsib i l i ty involved—was conferred upon thehouse of Asscher and Company at Amsterdam . Using adiamond-cutting saw, the cutter firs t made an incisionfollowing the l ine of cleavage at the poin t where thestone was to be spl i t . Before the operator were crystalmodels cleaved to represen t the effec t upon the diamond sofar as possible . I n the incision a specially made steelknife was inserted . At the first blow struck upon theback of the blade

,the steel knife broke against the ada

mant . At the second blow,the diamond fell in to two

parts and divided along the l ine of cleavage exactly asthe expert had planned .

A gem must have durabil i ty as one of i ts cardinalrequisi tes and the hardness of a mineral becomes thereforean importan t attribu te . The harder a stone the greateri ts value for gem purposes, other things being equal . Inconsideration of thi s property a scale of hardness” hasbeen devised

,as follows

1 . Talc : Can be easi ly scratched by the thumb-nai l .2 . Gypsum : Easi ly cu t wi th a kni fe .

3 . Calci te : Can be cu t wi th a knife bu t less easi ly.

4. Fluori te : Can be cu t wi th difl'iculty.

5 . Apati te : Can be cu t with difliculty.

6 . Feldspar : Can be scratched bu t not cut .7 . Quartz : Can not be cu t ; will scratch glass .8 . Topaz : Will scratch quartz .

9. Sapphire : Will scratch topaz .

1 0 . Diamond : Will scratch sapphire .

3 A Book o f Precious S tones, 1909, pp. 50—5 2.

[ 1 82 ]



The virtues of gems were diverse . Some procured thefavor of the great ; others rendered their possessor amiable,wise

,s trong

,and brave ; some protected him from fire

,

l ightning,and tempests ; others from danger and disease ;

some were preferred as tal ismans and charms ; others wereused as drugs

,e i ther alone or wi th electuaries, and wi th or

wi thou t prayers,incantations, or other prescribed formulas.

Certain gems brought good or evi l through the planetary influence of certain days . All yellow gems wereappropri ate for Sunday wear through the name-giver

,

the sun . On Monday, the moon day, all whi te stonesexcept the diamond were to be worn . Tuesday

,the day

of Mars,claimed garnets, rub ies, and al l red stones.

Wednesday demanded blue s tones . Thor ’s day,or

Thursday,required amethysts and o ther stones of a san

guine t in t . Friday, the day of Venus, had for i ts gem theemerald. Saturn ’s day claimed the diamond.

A particular stone was poten t for good during a particular month

,and

,under the proper astrological control

was supposed to have a mystical i nfluence over the twelveparts of the human anatomy . Such a gem was the morepotent i f the natal day of the wearer corresponded wi thi ts particular S ign , and when worn as a b irth or monthstone was supposed to at trac t a t all t imes propi tious influences and avert mal ign effects . The more importan tstones

,their zodiacal control

,and most poten t periods

of influence are

S tone Zodiacal con tro l

Garnet Aquarius .

Amethyst PiscesBloodstone . . Aries .

Sapphire TaurusAgate . GeminiEmerald . CancerOnyx LeoCarnel ian Virgo

[ 1 84 ]

P eriod

Jan . 2 1 to Feb . 2 1 .

Feb . 2 1 to Mar . 2 1 .

Mar . 2 1 to Apr . 20 .

. . Apr . 20 to May 2 1 .

. .May 2 1 to June 2 1 .

. June 2 1 to July 22 .

. July 22 to Aug. 22 .

Aug. 22 to Sept . 22 .


S tone Zodiacal co ntro l P eriod

Chrysol i te Libra . Sept . 22 to Oct . 23 .

Aquamarine Scorpio Oct . 23 to Nov. 2 1 .

Topaz Sagi t tarius Nov. 2 1 to Dec . 2 1 .

Ruby Capricorn Dec . 2 1 to Jan . 2 1 .

A closely related idea is found in the twelve s toneswhich

,according to the Jewish cabal i sts

,when engraved

each wi th an anagram of the name of God,were supposed

to have a mysti cal power over,and a prophetical relation

to the twelve angels . Thus

Ruby.

TopazCarbuncleEmeraldSapphireDiamondJacinthAgateAmethystBerylOnyxJasper

These s tones also had reference to the Twelve Tribes ofI srael

,the twelve parts of the human body

,twelve hier

arch ies of devils,and so on . By their aid a system of

prognostication was pract i ced,based upon the change of

hue or brillancy of the stone, permit ting the cabal is t tofore tel l future events .The twelve Apostles were represented symbol ically byprecious s tones : Jasper

,St . Peter ; sapphire, St . Andrew ;

chalcedony,St . James ; emerald, St . John ; sardonyx, St .

Phil ip ; carnel ian, St . Matthew ; beryl , St . Thomas ;chrysoprase

,St . Thaddeus ; topaz, St . James the Less ;

hyacinth, St . Simeon ; amethyst, St . Matthi as .The supers ti t ions connected with the twelve s tones have

[ 1 85 ]

M alchedie l

Asmode l

Ambrie l

MurielH erche l

H umatie l

ZurielBarbie]Adnachie l

H um ie l

GabrielBarchiel


pers is ted in one form or another from the times of theMagi to the present, and the bel ief in their virtues cansti l l be traced in the wearing of “ birth s tones

,

” as l is tedbelow

BIRTH STONES

January Garnet (also hyacin th) .February . .Amethyst (hyacinth and pearl occasionally

used) .Bloodstone (also j asper) .Diamond (also sapphire) .Emerald (chalcedony, carnel i an, and agateoccasionally used) .

une Agate (chalcedony, turquoise, pearl , andcat ’ s-eye occasionally used) .

Ruby (carnel ian, onyx, sardonyx, andturquoise occas ionally used) .

Sardonyx (carnel i an, moonstone, alexandri te

,and topaz occasionally used) .

September . . Sapphire (also Chrysol i te and sardonyx) .October . Opal (also beryl and aquamarine) .November . .Topaz (also pearl) .December. . .Turquoise (ruby, bloodstone, and chryso

prase occas ionally used) .

In the Sympathia S ep tem M etallorum ac S ep tem S elec

torum Lap idum ad P lanetas appears a l i s t of s tonesrecorded as being in sympathy wi th the planets

,an d as

such possessed of astrological and medicinal propertieswhich

,under the proper sign

,rendered them of service

to men . Thus

[ 5 ] Saturn . .Turquoise, sapphire .

[fll ] Jupi ter . . . Carneli an,topaz

,amethyst .

Mars Jasper,emerald .

[9 ] Venus . . Emerald,amethyst

,topaz .

[ 6 ] Mercury . . Crystal,agate

,emerald .

[OD] Moon . . .Moonstone,topaz

,and all whi te s tones .

[69] Sun Diamond, ruby .

[ 1 86 ]



in terest . They are touched upon later in thi s work inconnection wi th the parti cular minerals to which theyrelate.4

M I NERA L NAM ESNo fixed ru le for mineral nomenclature exists . In

many instances the name given implies some defini teproperty

,as pyrite from the Greek word H UpLTfl S

mean ing fire,because i t s trikes fire agains t s teel or other

hard substances . Actinoli te comes from a KT LS, a ray,i n allusion to the fibrous form of the mineral . Chlori tehas come to us from a Greek word mean ing green in allus ion to i ts characteris ti c color

,and steati te from ST ea T LTnS,

fat,i n allusion to i ts greasy fee] . From very early times

i t has also been a common custom to name minerals forindividuals—“ to create a progeny for the chi ldless, assomeone has expressed i t ; thus, smithsonite for JamesSmi thson

,the founder of the Smi thson ian Insti tu tion .

The terminal syllable ite,also of Greek origin

,i s now used

almost universally,i ndicating a quali ty

,consti tuen t

,or

other characteri s ti c . Many of the older names,as beryl

,

topaz,galena

,etc .

,do not conform to th is

,or indeed to

any apparen t rule . They have come down to us from theGreeks and no suggested changes have thus far met wi thuniversal approval .In many cases a dist inc tive physical property i s em

phasiz ed i n the name of the mineral, as azuri te, for theazure-blue carbonate of copper ; aquamarine for the seagreen varie ty of beryl ; and rhodon i te (rhodos

“a rose”)for the rose- red s il i cate of manganese . Names sugges

t ive of fancied resemblances may be used,moonstone

and sunstone for instance,while s taurol i te (stauros

“astar refers to i ts characteri s tic cross-shaped crystals .Local i t ies have given rise to such names as turquoise,Turkey having been the channel for in troduction of themineral in to Europe ; amazonstone, because the materi al4Those desiring further information shou ld consu l t the bib liography on pp . 320-322

o f this work and particularl y G. F. Kunz ’s Curious Lore of P recious S tones.

[ 1 88 ]


was firs t noted as carved l ip ornaments of the tribes of theAmazon ; and vesuvian i te, from the volcano Vesuvius .The chemical composi tion of the mineral i s often reflectedin i ts name

,as mangani te, an oxide of manganese ; or

magnesioferri te,an oxide of magnesi a and iron .

While the names of persons are now often used inmineral nomencla ture

,they are only infrequently used for

gems . This i s due largely to the fac t that personal namesdo not express the estheti c quali t ies that make gems desirable . Such personal names as have been in troducedare not universally used wi th a few exceptions

,such as

hiddeni te and kunzi te,the former for Hidden

,the Ameri

can mineralogis t,

latter for Geo . F. Kunz,the gem

expert .

CHAPTER IV

KINDS AND OCCURRENCES OF GEM

M INERALS

These gems have life in them : their colors sp eak,Say what wordsfail of .

—GEORGE ELIOT.

T H E DIAMOND

T H E diamond, generally conceded to take precedence overall o ther gems

,has long been the most coveted of gem

stones . I n ancien t times i t was no t common . Pliny saysi t “was long known to none bu t kings

,and to bu t very few

of them .

” At the presen t time, perhaps no other gemstone i s so greatly in demand notwi ths tanding the fac tthat

,with one or two exceptions

,i t commands the highes t

price of any on the market .Knowledge of the diamond stretches far back in to

antiqui ty, how far no one knows . Ptolemy mentions a“diamond river” i n India

,and many ancien t Sanscri t

manuscripts treat of the diamond in cons iderab le detai l .I t has also been asserted that the s tone now known as theKoh-i-noor belonged to Karna, King of Anga, yearsago .

The remarkab le physical characteri s ti cs of the diamondexplain the es teem in which men hold i t ; no other mineralequals i t in hardness ; i n range of color i t inc ludes nearlyall the prismatic hues ; i ts luster i s pecu l i arly bri l l i an tand i s superior to tha t of any other gem . To i ts refractive and dispers ive powers i s due the flash of colors char

[ 190 ]



Indi a was the leading producer of th is precious s tone,and yielded many of the famous diamonds of the world .

The most celebrated of these,

“ the great diamond ofhis tory and romance

,

” i s the Koh-i-noor. I ts early history i s lost in the realms of fable and tradi t ion

,bu t i t now

res ts,after recu tting in modern fashion

,among the great

treasures of the Bri t ish Crown . A second famous s tonefrom this region is the Great Mogu l

,whose whereabou ts

i s now not known . I t was found sometime between 1 630

and 1 650 at the Kollur mine in the Golconda distric t,the producer of many great diamonds . Like the Kohi-noor

,i t has left a trai l of wars

,rebell ions, massacres, and

murders in i ts wake ; i t has shared in the love affairs ofthe great and the financi al vici ssi tudes of the humble .

The region whence i t came also produced the famousblue Hope di amond whose his tory has been so tragicas to make i ts name a synonym of disaster .In Indi a diamonds are found a t three principal W idely

separated local i ties . The firs t i s in southern Indi a inthe Madras Presidency

,and embraces the distric ts of

Kadapa,Ballari

,Karnu l

,Kistna

,and Godavari . This

region includes the famous “Golconda” distri c t,a name

which belongs not to a mine bu t to the market wherediamonds were cut and polished

,bought and sold . The

second locali ty i s farther north and inc ludes a large trac tbetween the Mahanadi and Godavari rivers ; i t embracesSambalpur and Waigarh , eigh ty miles sou theas t of Nagpur, as well as portions of the Province of Chuti a Nagpur.The third region is in Bundelkhand

,in cen tral India

,the

principal working being near the ci ty of Panna . TheIndian diamonds were obtained in part from alluvialdeposi ts and in part from a quartzose conglomerate ; atPanna this conglomerate appears to be largely made upof fragments of an older sandstone

,which

,i t has been

suggested,may represen t the original matrix . The

yield of the Indian mines, once so large, i s a t presen tvery small .

[ 192 ]

KINDS OF GEM MINERALS

Borneo shares with India the dis tinct ion of havingyielded many of the early diamonds and has produced a tleas t one large s tone

,the Matan , a steel-blue gem,

s t i l luncut and weighing 376 carats . Diamond-bearing deposi tsare known in two dis tricts, one at the eas tern part of theisland in the region of the Kapuas River

,and the other in

the southern part not far from the ci ty of Bandjarm assin .

The stones are found in the river gravels and are mined inprimi tive fashion by the natives . They S ink p i ts, haul ingout the gravel by hand in baskets . The clay is washedou t by trampling and s tirring wi th the feet . Finally thediamonds are concen trated in low

,conical vessels by skill

fu l washing . Borneo diamonds vary greatly in color,and

the fine blue s tones from the island are considered equal toany in the world . Gold, platinum, and fragments of sap

phire are often found in the gravels wi th the di amonds .I n the State of Minas Geraes

,near the presen t town of

Diamantina,Brazil

,the at ten tion of the slave miners

working in the gold diggings was often at trac ted by brigh tpebbles which they used as counters in their games ofcards . They l i t tle guessed that one of these alonemight buy their freedom . Eventually some of thesestones found their way to Lisbon where the Dutch consulfirs t recognized them as diamonds . The discovery led toeager search unti l today several extensive and widelyseparated areas yield the precious gems . Two importan tdistricts are in the S tate of Minas Geraes

,one abou t the

headwaters of the Rio Jequ i tinhonha,of which the town

of Diamantina is the center ; a second i s a t the headwatersof the Rio San Francisco

,abou t the town of Bagagem .

I n the State of Bahia an extensive field is located abou tthe town of Lencoes .The diamonds are found on the top of the plateau ,

where the workings are cal led “prairie diggings,or in

the val leys of the rivers Where they are called ‘ ‘river diggings . The original home of the diamond

,as near as can

now be determined,i s in a pecul iar quartz rock called

[ 193 ]


itacolumite, from which the gems have been separated bythe action of weather and streams . The diamonds arewashed from gravels much as gold i s washed from S imilardeposi ts

,and the S tones carefully picked ou t by hand.

Formerly,when s laves did the work—and these laborers

found many of the famous diamonds of Brazi l—it was thecustom

,as a means of encouraging honesty

,to crown the

lucky finder of a large s tone wi th a wreath of flowers andlead him in process ion to the manager where he was givena new su i t of clothes, and—what was infini tely more

precious to him —his freedom . The most famous diamondof Braz i l

,the S tar of the South

,a stone of 254 carats, was

found by a negress,who

,as a further reward for the ex

ceptional value of her find, ob tained a pension for l i fe .Before the discovery of the diamond in South Africa

,

Brazi l furn ished the bu lk of the modern world ’s production of this gem . Although s ti l l yielding a considerablequanti ty

,the Brazil i an industry has greatly decl ined

,

due to the enormous product ion of the African mines,

to the crude and unsystemati c means of working thedeposi ts

,and to the fact that the most accessible fields

have been largely worked out .The story of how Daniel Jacobs trekked to the l i t tleset tlement ofHopetown on the banks of the Orange River

,

in South Africa ; how the children gathered the brightlycolored pebbles of the kopj es and scat tered them aboutthe yard when their in teres t waned ; how the good farmer

’swi fe noticed a shining pebble wi thou t bothering to p icki t up

,i s now wel l known . Upon hearing of the s tone, a

neighbor expressed a curiosi ty to see i t,bu t the s tone had

been thrown in to the yard and was only recovered after asearch . This neighbor

,having a vague idea that the

stone might be valuab le,put i t in to the hands of a travel

ing trader who offered to find ou t what i t was . Eventually i t reached the hands of Dr . A therstone, at thattime one of the foremost mineralogists of the colony.

Wi thou t hes i tation,he pronounced i t a genu ine diamond.

[ 194 ]



I t weighed 2 1% carats and was a t once purchased by theGovernor of the colony . This discovery st imu lated thesearch for other s tones, bu t ten months passed beforeanother was recognized

,and i t was not un ti l the fol lowing

year that more were found on the banks of the Vaal .Two years later a shepherd boy came upon a superbWhi te s tone of 83% carats . He sold i t for the fabulous

price of five hundred sheep, ten oxen, and a horse . Laterthe Earl of Dudley bought i t for and thenceforthi t bore the name

,Star of South Africa .

Wi th thi s find the diamond fever spread and the greatdiamond rush began . The next year saw new discoverieson many of the farms abou t the presen t c i ty of Kimberley,firs t in the beds of the s treams, later on the rocky kopj esscattered over the region . The later vici ssi tudes of themines

,the fortunes and misfortunes of the miners

,their

argumen ts and controversies,and later the consol idation

of the small and often confl i ct ing ho ldings in to one greatorganizat ion by Ceci l Rhodes and hi s associates are now amatter of h istory and can be bu t briefly men tioned here . 1

The South Afri can diamond workings are of two kinds,

river diggings and dry diggings . The river diggings arein the grave] of the Vaal River from Potchefs troom downto i ts j unction with the Orange River

,and along the lat

ter as far as Hopetown,the principal workings being

along the Vaal between Kl ip Dri ft and i ts j unction wi ththe Hart River . The dry diggings are chiefly in Gri

q ualand-West, south of the Vaal River, on the border ofthe Orange Free S tate

,abou t 640 miles northeas t o f Cape

Town . There are here a number of l imi ted areas approximately spherical or oval i n form,

with an average diameter of some 300 yards, the entire productive area beingwi th in a circle having a radius of abou t two miles (Plate

These mines were original ly worked as individualclaims, bu t they are now all consol idated in one gigantic7 The interested reader is referred to authoritative and comprehensive works like that

o fMr. Gardner F. Williams (T he Diamond M ines o f South Africa) , and M . D eLaunay(Les diamants du Cap, Paris,

[ 195 ]


monopoly,which prac tically con trols the diamond ou tpu t

of the world . Some idea of the enormous outpu t of theregion may be gained from the statemen t that from 1 867to 1 8 87 over carats

,or more than six and one

hal f tons of diamonds were taken ou t .At the Kimberley mines the diamanti ferous area is in

closed in a wal l of nearly horizon tal black carbonaceousshale . The upper portion of the deposi t consi s ts of afri able mass of pale yellow color

,called the “yellow

ground .

” Below the reach of atmospheri c influencesthe rock is more firm and of a blu ish-green color ; i ti s cal led the “blue ground .

” This consis ts essen t iallyof a serpentinous brecci a inclosing fragments of carbonac eous Shale, bronzi te, diall age, garnet, magneti te, etc .The diamonds are dis tri bu ted through the mass

,often to

the amoun t of four to six to the cubic yard . Theseareas are bel ieved to be volcan i c pipes and the occurrenceof the diamonds i s obviously connected wi th the igneousin trusion

,e i ther being formed by the action of heat upon

the carbonaceous shales,or being brough t up from under

lying rocks .The weight of diamonds in the blue ground i s almost

infin itesim ally small . At the presen t time less than onecarat of diamonds i s recovered from each four loads( 1 ,600 pounds) of ground . To recover such a smallquan ti ty of precious matter from so much that is valueless requires ingenious and highly eflicien t methods andmachinery . I n the early days a mine was a bewilderingsight . Miles of cable ran across each individual claimin all direc tions

,and each pi t was worked by i ts owner

according to individua l vagaries . Today the mines areworked by the most modern of min ing methods . Theblue ground

,when brough t to the surface

,i s c arried to

level floors,exposed to the sun and rain

,and harrowed

to hasten the decomposi tion of the rock . The time consumed ranges from three to s ix months . The rock i sthen washed in machines especi ally designed for this

[ 196 ]



large as a bi te of candy, bu t the bes t authori t ies agreethat i t i s almos t exactly the s ize of a chunk of i ce .

” Failing to find a purchaser, this huge gem was cu t in to twentyone stones

,the larges t weighing 6 8 carats .

A third large s tone,called the Jubi lee in honor of the

diamond j ub i lee of Queen Vic tori a,came to l ight in the

famous Jagersfon tein mine in 1 895 . I t weighed then 634carats . The Imperial, a fourth famous s tone was said toweigh 457 carats .In the Belgi an Congo and Portuguese Angola there i s

a wide s tretch of diamanti ferous country,approximately

square mi les in exten t . This i s the area drainedby the north-flowing tribu taries of the Kasai and Sankururivers be tween longi tudes 17

° and The commercialdi amond deposi ts are al l found among the river or creekgravels

,or in bench gravels above the level of the presen t

water courses . The gravels vary considerably in theirdiamond conten t

,some carrying bu t a fraction of a carat

per cub ic meter, others yielding as many as ten carats forthe same amoun t of dirt . A large proportion of the s tonesare transparen t and colorless ; others are Sl ightly tin tedbrown or yellow

,and rarely the highly prized intense

b lues,greens

,and reds occur . As yet no diamonds of

unusual size have been reported from this field .

I n 1908 diamonds were found in Sou th West Africa,then a German colony

,which rapidly became a producer

of s tones of excellen t qual i ty. Some ground was so richas to yield two hundred carats per cub ic yard . Stoneshave even been recovered from the sea bot tom at Luderi tzBay. A further discovery occurred at Abomoso, GoldCoast

,and new finds follow one another at frequent

in tervals throughou t a wide area in cen tra l and sou thernAfrica .

Within the las t few years Bri tish Guiana has becomean importan t producer. The gems occur in alluvialgravels from the M az aruni, Pu tarang, and Po taro rivers .I t is said that the natives, observing that certain pebbles

[ 198 ]

Trenches in decomposed diamond-bearing perido t i te , Arkansasm ine , P i ke County, Arkansas. (After Miser and Ross, U. S .

Geo logical Survey)



The occurrence in Arkansas of a rock strongly re

sembling the mother roCk of the South Afri can diamondshas long been known to geologists (Plate bu t i t wasno t un ti l 1906 that J . W . Huddleston foufid diamonds inan ou tcrop on his property on Prairi e Creek near Murfreesboro . This discovery led to a systemati c search whichresul ted I n the finding of other outcrops of the rocks, some o fwhich carried the precious mineral, and which havesince been mined wi th more or less profi t . The yield ofdiamonds has varied considerab ly

,bu t i t i s‘ s tated 3 that

by 1 922 over individual s tones had been found,the larges t of which weighs over 40 carats . Several findshave weighed abou t 20 carats and one fine golden s toneof 1 8 carats i s in the Roebling collect ion in the NationalMuseum (Plate Most of the diamonds from theArkansas locali ty are whi te

,brown

,or yellow

,and many

of them of high grade .

An unusual occurrence of diamonds i s furn ished bythe glac i al dri ft of the Great Lakes region

,particularly

at various points in Wisconsin4 (Plate The firstreported diamond

,weighing fi fteen carats

,from thi s area

was found in 1 8 83 , during the digging of a well a t Eagle,near Waukesha

,Wisconsin . Since then a number of

s tones,both large and smal l have come to l igh t

,some of

them of very pure water. The occurrence leaves l i t tledoub t that they were brough t south by the glaciers and i tseems reasonable to suppose that somewhere in the regionbetween the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay there l ies adi amond bearing deposi t of some importance that awai tsthe lucky prospector.In the course of S lu icing operations for gold carried on inthe gravels of the Sierra Nevada moun tains of Cali forn iamany small diamonds have been washed ou t . The chieflocal i ties are in Amador

,Butte

,El Dorado, and Nevada

Coun ties . The stones from these areas number over two3 Miser and Ross. E conomic Geology, Vo l. 17, 1 922.

4Wm . H. Hobbs. your. Geology, Vo l . 7 , pp. 375-38 8 , 1 899.

[ 200 ]

Uncut diamonds(En larged abou t 2 diam e ters)



hundred,and many more must have been crushed and

los t in the mill ing operations employed to treat thefirmly cemented gravels . The larges t diamond reportedcame from French Corral in Nevada Coun ty and weighed

7% carats .5

About ten authentic occurrences have been reportedin the counties of Burke, Rutherford , M cD owell

,and

Cleveland,North Carolina . The earl ies t recorded find

dates back to 1 843—an octahedral crystal valued a t the

time a t $100 . Al l the s tones from thi s region have comefrom the beds of s treams in the course of gold washing .

The larges t weighed abou t 4A carats . A small boy pickedup this s tone in a spring near D ysartville in M cD owe ll

Coun tyVirgin ia has produced but one diamond, for many yearsthe larges t found in North America, though now surpassed in s ize by a crystal from the Arkansas fields . Thiss tone

,chris tened the Dewey, was turned up in Man

chester in 1 8 5 5 by a laborer engaged in grading one ofthe s treets . The Dewey weighed originally 24 caratsand produced a 1 2-cara t cu t s tone

,which is

,however

,

o ff-color and imperfec t . Exac t copies of the s tone weremade

,one of which was deposi ted i n the U . S . Mint

at Philadelphia and later sen t to the National Museum .

Prospectors working the creeks for gold in Morganand Brown Counties, Indiana 6 have found a few smalldiamonds . The larges t one reported weighed 3% carats .In all

,eigh t diamonds have been posi tively iden tified and

others are perhaps in the hands of loca l residen ts .Peridoti te rocks S imi lar to those of Arkansas and South

Africa are known in Ell io t t County,Kentucky

,bu t ex

plo itation of the ground for diamonds did no t yield thehoped-for resul ts . Similar rocks are known near St . Louis

,

Missouri,and Syracuse

,New York .

li Geo . F. Kunz . Gems, Jewe lers’ Materials, and Ornamen tal S tones o f California.

Bull. Cal if . S tate M in ing Bureau, N o . 37, pp. 44, 1905 .

6 Geo . F. Kunz . M ineral Resources, U. S . Geol. S urvey, 1 902, p . 8 14.


MYSTICA L P ROPE RTI ESThe diamond

,being of all gems the purest

,hardest

,and

most bri ll i an t,was considered to be the most powerful in

spiri tual influences and was consecrated to all that washoly and heavenly . I t was symbol ical of constancy

,

puri ty,and innocence

,and hence early used in betrothal

rings . I t softened anger,s trengthened love

,and was

considered an infall ib le tes t of conjugal fideli ty . To theancients the diamond represen ted inexorable j ustice andunchangeable fate

,hence the j udges of Hades were de

scribed as having hearts and bosoms of adaman t .According to the Talmud

,a certain gem

,supposed to

have been the diamond,worn in the girdle of the high

pries t, i f brought in con tac t wi th an accused man , becamedark and dim i f the suspect was guil ty ; i f innocen t, thes tone shone wi th increased bri ll i ancy .

Pierre de Boni face,a fourteen thcen tury alchemis t

,

taught that one of the virtues of the diamond was torender i ts wearer invisib le and invincible . In this connec tion i t may be men tioned that the Shah of Persi a i sthe possessor of a diamond set in a scimi tar which i sbel ieved to render h im invincib le as long as he has i t byhim . The Shah also has a five-poin ted star of diamondswhich i s thought to make conspirators ins tan tly confessthei r crimes when in i ts presence .A diamond ring was given to Mary

,Queen of Scots

,by

Ruthven,as a tal isman agains t danger and poison . The

queen also possessed two other di amonds one m edicin

ab le and agains t poison ,” the other “medicinable for the

co llicke .

The Hindus held that the diamond was mascul ine,

femin ine,or neu ter according to i ts marking and ap

pearance . The mascu line kinds were considered the bes tand were useful in medicine ; the femin ine diamond wasauspicious to women ; bu t the neuter diamond was destructive of vigor and brought weakness and disappoin tment .

[ 202 ]



The Burmese call the diamond and arsenic by the samename

,chein

, on the ground that they are both fatal poisons .This bel ief was not unknown in Europe

,for we find the

diamond l i s ted as one of the poisons given to Sir ThomasOverbury when a prisoner in the Tower ; while BenvenutoCellin i

,the famous goldsmi th

,wri ting abou t 1 560, relates

how his l i fe was preserved by the roguery of an apothecary,

who,being employed to pulverize a diamond in tended to be

mixed in a salad for Cell in i wi th the in ten tion of poison inghim

,substi tu ted a beryl as cheaper

,thus saving the l i fe

of Cellin i .

RUBY,SAPPHIRE

,AND SPINEL

I t i s a curious thing that many of our precious minerals often have several gu ises so vastly differen t thatwe must dis tingu ish them by differen t names . Thus

,the

ruby and sapphire are,despi te their dis t inc t appearance

,

bu t one and the same mineral—corundum—and thedifferences other than color are so infinitesim ally smal l asto defy even modern science to detec t . We do not knowdefin i tely as yet why the ruby i s red or the sapphire blue

,

but we do know that their range in color i s bound up insome mysterious way wi th the very minute amoun t ofchromium and ti tan ium contained in the mineral . Besidesthe red and blue

,we have other less des irab le green

,violet

,

and yellow varieties known commerci ally under the namesorien tal emerald

,orien tal amethys t

,and orien tal topaz .

In hardness th is mineral i s exceeded only by the diamond

,and as i t takes a high pol ish i t forms one of the

most durable and desirable of gems . When cu t en cabo

chon,some of the translucen t varieties, owing to micro

scopic inclusions,show a chatoyance in the form of a S ix

rayed s tar or elongated oval,giving rise to the so -called

star or cat ’s-eye ruby or sapphire .

Not all corundum is clear and bri ll i an t—only a verysmall proportion is

,i n fac t

,sufficiently attractive for gem

purposes—bu t the dull mineral,whose great hardness

[ 203 ]


makes i t su i table for abras ive purposes,i s one of the

agencies used in bringing ou t the hidden beauties of otherems .gRubies flawless in character and of the pures t red color

seldom exceed three carats in weight ; those exceeding tencarats are among the rares t of gems . Sapphires, on theother hand

,are often of great size and weight . Some

found in a paddy field at Pe lmadula, Ceylon , weighed oneand two pounds, and stones exceeding one hundred caratsare well known . Sapphires are

,on the whole

,much

more abundan t and more widely dis tri bu ted than rub iesand are consequen tly cheaper.Li ttle i s known of many of the world ’s larges t rubiesfor they are j ealously held by the rulers of the countriesin which they have been found . Tavernier

,an early

traveler to India,reported one of fifty carats owned by

the king of Vashapur, and valued i t a t s ix hundred thousand francs . The German Emperor

,Rudolph I I

,and

others are said to have possessed stones the s ize of a hen ’segg. A reported enormous ruby from Burma weighing

carats i s of doubtfu l authen ti ci ty,and the l arge

gem given by Gustavus I I I of Sweden to Catherine theGreat proved upon recen t examination to be a fine redtourmaline .

Among the large sapphires i s a stone of 95 1 carats belonging to the Kings of Ava . A fine uncu t s tone in theJardin des Plan tes a t Paris weighs 132 carats , and thereare many more in private hands .

“

For cen turies the finest rub ies,the pride of monarch

and mogul,have come from Burma

,whose rub ies more

nearly than those found elsewhere,approach the pigeon

blood color so desirab le in gems of th is class . Three dist inct areas in Burma produce these s tones

,Mandalay,

M ytkynia, and Mogok . Of these the las t i s by far themost importan t and the greates t ruby-producing trac tin the world . The gems are formed originally in thel imestone that underl ies much of the region

,as a resul t

[ 204 ]



in the distric ts o f Ratnapura,Balangoda

,and Rackwana.

The most primi tive methods distinguish the min ing ofthe gems and since the manner i s so typical of manyregions

,i t may well be described in some detai l . The

miner picks ou t What he considers a l ikely-looking place,

frequen tly in the mos t haphazard manner,as surface in

dications are often missing . He sinks a smal l shaft orpi t and l ines i t wi th vertical poles backed wi th branchesof trees

,s t icks

,or palm leaves to prevent the flow of mud

(Plate One man,working in the bot tom of the pi t

,

fi l ls a bamboo basket wi th the gem-bearing materi al anddeftly throws i t upward where i t i s caught by the man atthe surface . I f the pit i s deep a third man m ay be s tationed on a transverse pole midway down . At the surfacethe miners wash the pay dirt in c ircular baskets in a nearby s tream to ge t rid of the mud . The most expert of theminers then examines the clean gravel

,by sweeping i t

toward h im wi th the hand,bi t by b i t .

The Vale of Cashmere has yielded many good sapphires,al though their color i s somewhat l igh ter than that ofthe Si amese s tones . A landsl ide first exposed these gemsbu t later search showed them to be abundantly presen tin the detri tal material i n the valley below . Their b luecolor aroused the in terest of the natives

,who did no t

,

however,real ize thei r value

,with the resul t that they used

as fl in ts for s triking fire many fine gems,worth more than

all their possessions . Many stones were brought to Simlaand Delhi where they were firs t sold as blue quartz oramethyst .Variously colored sapphires are recovered from the

gem-bearing gravels near Anakie,Queensland

,but they

lack the ri ch colors so eagerly sought after,al though

many of them Show a marked change of color whenviewed in differen t directions, and make rather pleasinggems . Other locali t ies in Austral i a yield sapphires ofmore or less excellence .The most importan t sapphire-mining operations in

[ 206 ]

PLATE 49

S inghalese sinking a shaft for sapphires,Palmadulla

,Ceylon . (Pho to

by F . D . Adam s)



Anaconda . The original source of the sapphires here i sunknown . The mineral occurs in rough crystals, as irregular masses

,or as waterworn pebbles . They are much

paler in color than the Yogo sapphires, the usual shadesbeing deep and l igh t aquamarine blue and yellowish green .

Other Shades include clear and smoky blue,l ight and dark

topaz yellow,l igh t and dark p ink, and colorless . Rock

Creek,i n Grani te Coun ty

,abou t 1 5 miles sou thwes t of

Phill ipsburg, affords another local i ty for placer sapphires .The stones found here are used chiefly for industri al purposes such as watch bearings

,s ince but few of good gem

qual i ty are found.

A few smal l sapphires of a good cornflower b lue havebeen found in the p lacer mines near Meadows Pos t Offi ce,Washington County

,Idaho . Most of the s tones lack

clari ty bu t many show a cat ’s-eye effect when properlycut .The Piedmont bel t of North Carol ina and Georgia contains many corundum deposi ts that have been exploi tedin the past as a source of common corundum for abras ivepurposes . At the same time a few localit ies have yieldedgems

,chiefly rubies . At Corundum Hill

,near Frankl in,

Macon County,small crystals or fragmen ts turned up

occasionally of suffi cien tly good color and clari ty to yieldsmal l gems . The nearby E lijay Creek has produced somegood ruby corundum and a peculiar brown or bronzyvarie ty which shows a dist inc t s tar . Cowee Valley, MaconCounty

, produced some small bu t very fine rub ies ;they were not

,however

,i n the mother rock bu t in the

gravels of the s treams,associ ated wi th the beau ti fu l rose

red garnet known as rhodol i te . A few s tones have comefrom many other local i ties throughou t thi s region

,rarely

any of firs t qual i ty,and in no case has min ing yielded

profi tab le resu l ts .Mass production of artificial sapphires and rubieshas caused no appreci able fall ing o ff i n price of or demandfor the genuine s tone .

[ 208 ]


Gem dealers know another mineral,called spinel

,

which , though i t differs from ruby and sapphire in chemicalcomposi tion and other respects

,so closely resembles

the true ruby in color, luster, and hardness as to be confounded with i t and often made to pass in trade for themore valuable species . The usual color is red

,varying

from l ight to dark in al l Shades, and i t i s often called rubysp inel or balas ruby . Stones of sapphire blue and evenyellow and colorless specimens occur, bu t are less common .

Gem stones of spinel are as a rule small,rarely exceeding

ten carats,though large flawless S tones of upward of

100 carats are known . The gem varieties come mostlyfrom Burma and Ceylon

,where they are obtained in the

washing operations for the true ruby and sapphire .Spine] and re lated minerals are not uncommon i n many

places in the Uni ted States,bu t as yet no gem stones

have been found here . From a considerable area insouthern N ew York and northern N ew Jersey have comeabundan t crystals of large S ize, many several pounds inweight

,bu t they are all of dark shades and lack the nec

essary clari ty for gem material,al though very smal l

ones are occasionally transparen t . These spinels havetheir home in l imestone rocks

,where they are associated

wi th corundum . The pegmati te dikes in North Carol ina

,especially at Spruce Pine

,have produced some very

large masses . A bright-blue varie ty, colored by cobal t,has been found in Maryland .

M YSTICA L PROPERTI ESVarious members of the corundum species seem to have

enj oyed in popu lar tradi t ion al l the virtues of which thepeople had knowledge . The ruby was said to be emblemati c of love

,a sovereign remedy and amule t agains t p lague,

poison,evi l thoughts

,and nightmare

,and to divert the

mind from sadness and sensual i ty.

The ruby enters the Chinese pharmacopoei a as an in

gredient in the“five precious fragments

,

” supposed to

[ 209 ]


include ruby,topaz

,emerald

,sapphire

,and hyacin th . The

Hindu wri ters held that those rub ies

which are flawless and o f approved co lor are auspic ious, produce heal th ,weal th

,w isdom ,

and happiness. I f flawed or off-co lored they bringhum i l iat ion , loss of friends, l iab i l i ty to wounds, loss o f weal th , and

l ightn ing stro ke ; are fatal to dom est ic an im als,and are in im ical to

l ife , wealth, and fam e . T he man who treasures a ruby furn ishedw i th every perfec t ion ,

and which when cast in a quan t i ty o f m i lk a

hundred t imes its bu lk , m akes the Whi te m ass one ent ire shee t o f red,or sends out a red flame , is as meri torious as the ce lebrat ion o f the

Aswamedha j ajna . Such a sto ne leads to wealth , success, happiness,and long l ife . (M ani-M dld of Tagore .)

The sapphire was considered emb lematic of wisdom .

I f placed on the heart i t bestows s trength and energy . St .Jerome states that the sapphire procures royal favors,softens anger

,frees people from enchantment

,ob tains

release from captivi ty,and prevents evi l and impure

thoughts . Because of i ts extreme coldness i t was thoughtto preserve the chasti ty of i ts wearer

,hence especial ly

sui ted for ecclesi astical rings .

T H E EM ERA LD AND OTHER BERYLS

Here again we find one mineral,the beryl

,covering a

number of varie ties chiefly dis tinguished by color. I tincludes the emerald (green) , aquamarine (b lue-green) ,morgani te (pink) , golden (yellow) , and other shades notdistingu ished by gem or trade names .In chemical composi t ion beryl i s essen ti al ly a si l icate

of alumina and beryll i a (or glucina) . There are alsopresen t in vari ab le proportions minute quanti ties of otherelements to which the color i s due : chromium in the emerald

,i ron in the aquamarine

,while the pink and color

less forms carry several per cen t of the alkal i metals, po tassium

,caesium

,rubidium . Much of the es theti c beauty

of the mineral l ies in i ts remarkable l impidi ty,fine color,

and the high poli sh i t wil l assume . Finally i ts durabil i tyrecommends i t . Al l varie ties crystall ize habi tually in

[ 2 10 ]



the hexagonal sys tem and the form shown in Plate 5 1 i scharacteris t ic .Of al l precious s tones, none has enj oyed a longer voguethan the grass to sea-green varie ty known as emerald .

Babylon,the earl ies t known market for precious s tones, 8

bough t gems as long ago as 4000 B.C . and the emeraldappears among the s tones offered in that ancien t time . TheEgypti ans also knew the s tone well

,obtain ing thei r supply

from the very ancien t mines of the Zabara Mountains,in

upper Egypt near the shores of the Red Sea,where

evidences of the ancien t workings are s ti l l prominent .A t Muzo and adj acen t areas in Colombia

,South Amer

ica,emeralds of wondrous beau ty have been obtained

for centuries . The his tory of these mines i s lost in an

tiq uity ; they had been worked, some of them even toexhaustion, before the Spaniards firs t se t foot in the N ew

World . The Spaniards ob tained their firs t indicationof the source of the mineral in 1 537 when Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada

,conqueror of the in terior of Colombia

and founder of the cit y Bogota, en tered the valley ofGuacheta and received nine emeralds as a gi ft from theIndians ; bu t a number of years passed, due no doub t to thediffi cul ties of climate and the j ungle and to the warl ikecharacter of the Indians, before the exact source was foundand the mines actually became productive .The deposi ts occur in the western foothi lls of the eas tern branch of the Colombian Andes, a dis tance of aboutsixty miles from the ci ty of Bogota

,an in tensely tropical

region characterized by high humidi ty and excessive heat,with a rank jungle growth that quickly obscures theabandoned workings . I t is sparsely inhabi ted by thedecadent remnants of the once truculen t Muzo Indians,who now l ive I n squalor and poverty . The State controlsthe mines as a governmen t monopoly .

The emeralds occur in pockets of calci te veins thattraverse a black carbonaceous shale and limestone . Most8 Geo . F. Kunz, E ng. M in . your. Press, F eb . 29, 1 925 , p . 363 .

[ 2 1 1 ]


crys tals when taken from the matrix are clear bu t laterdevelop cracks ; some fall to pieces upon removal . Thisunfortunate characteris tic detracts greatly from thevalue of the stones as gems . Bauer s tates that unflawedemeralds are among the rares t of gem stones and as aconsequence command a price h igher than the diamondor ruby . Indeed so rarely i s the emerald found perfec tthat the saying an emerald wi thou t a flaw” has becomeproverbial .North America cannot compete wi th the southern con

tinen t in the number and character of i ts emeralds,though i t has produced some s tones of fair grade . Theon ly local i ty of importance i s S tony Poin t in AlexanderCoun ty

,North Carol ina

,where true emeralds were dis

covered abou t 1 875 . Farmers found the earl ier specimensin the unproductive gravelly soi l resul ting from the decomposi t ion o f the gnei ssoid country rock . Later excavationsrevealed the source of the gems in pockets in the gneissl ined wi th crys tals of quartz and other minerals . Anumber of crystals of an emerald-green spodumene

,a si l i

cate of l i thi a and alumina,sometimes called hiddenite or

lithia emerald,were also found . (See page

The Ural Moun tain s of Russi a not far from the ci ty ofE katerinberg (now called Sverdlovsk) have producedemeralds in some abundance . In 1 830 a peasan t searchingfor balsam made the discovery in this region . In theroots of a tree overturned by the wind he found a numberof fragments of emerald which were later sold in E katerinberg. The gem materi a l occurs in a mica sch is t

,for the

most part as crystals ei ther s ingly or aggregated in druses .Fully transparen t and fine emerald-green stones are rarehere as elsewhere . The usual find is pale

,translucen t

,and

badly checked . In size,however

,they have reached

extraordinary proportions ; the largest found measuredforty centimeters in length and twen ty-five cen timetersin diameter . The former Czar owned a mass of the motherrock contain ing a number of crystals ten to twelve cen ti

[ 2 1 2 ]



where have been mistaken for emeralds . The native kingsprized j ade highly . The two pieces presented to Cortez byMontezuma were considered worth two cart- loads ofgold

,and may well have led the Spaniards to bel ieve

that gems of such almost ines timable value could benothing less than emeralds . Among the so -cal led emeraldsof unusual character was the pyramid tha t s tood beforethe throne of the Lord of Texcoco

,a neighbor of Monte

zuma . This passed into the hands of Cortez, who sen t i tto the King of Spain . Unfortunately these gems of suchhigh value seem to have disappeared and not a trace ofancien t emerald has been found in al l the broad land ofMexico .

A small mineral aggregate in the collec tions of theInsti tu to Geologico de Mexico

,coming from the old gold

min ing local i ty of Placer de San Domingo in the easternpart of the S tate of Chihuahua

,carries true emerald . The

matrix i s calci te and the occurrence bears a s triking re

semb lance to that of Colomb ia . These same calci te veinscarry gold and are remarkable in that the precious metali s directly associ ated wi th pi tchb lende

,the principal ore

of radium .

To pass to another varie ty of beryl : that known asaquamarine owes i ts name

,as may be readi ly imagined

,

to i ts exquis i te l impid sea-green color,which

,however

,

sometimes varies to b lu ish shades . This variety occursmuch more commonly than emerald .

Russi a boasts an abundan t supply of good gems ofaquamarine

,i n three provinces—the Urals

,Al tai

,and

abou t N ertchinsk i n T ransbaikalia. In the Urals thechief local i ties cen ter abou t the vi llage ofM ursinka wherethe mother rock consis ts of a coarse-grained grani te . Thisi s unusual ly rich in cavi t ies fi l led wi th a brown clay

,

and in these are found the beryls,often accompan ied by

topaz and smoky quartz . The crystals vary in color fromwine to green ish yellow

,yellow-green

,blue-green

,and

pale blue,and are often en tirely clear and wel l formed,

[ 2 14 ]


varying in S ize from exceedingly smal l ones to thoseseveral decimeters in length . Local farmers recoveredmos t of the s tones and often reaped a rich harves t ofgems of many kinds . These S imple folks became suchexperts as to as ton ish visi ting mineralogis ts by theirlearned discuss ion of th is branch of Science .The fame of the beryls of Al tai res ts rather on their

great s ize than on their beau ty, al though sky-blue andblue-green s tones of good grade are found . In the Nertchinsk Distri c t, T ransbaikalia, two importan t locali tiescalled Adun-T schelon and Bo rsch tschowo tschno i produce aquamarines . The Adun-T sche lon s tones occur incavi ties in a topaz rock, or in the soi l o f the moun tainslopes . The colors vary between pale sky-blue

,green

blue,W ine-yellow

,or colorless . The aquamarines of the

second local i ty atta in greater beau ty i n color and lim

pidity, and may reach ten cen timeters in length and fivein diameter .So many fine and beauti fu l gems have been found in

Madagascar as to win i t the ti tle,

“The Isle o f Beryls .I t possesses many very ancien t rocks

,I n the dikes of which

occur aquamarine and other beryls,tourmaline

,topaz

,

amethys t,rock crystal and others . A number of local i ti es

in the distric t about the capi tal ci ty of Antananarivoproduce good gems in abundance in the much weatheredmother rock and in the soi l and water courses where theaction Of the s treams has released them .

Besides the emerald and the aquamarine there occurseveral other types of beryl equally in teresting bu t lessfrequently seen . A soft rose-pink variety firs t cameto l ight in the gem mines of San Diego Coun ty

,Cali forn ia,

associated wi th pink and green tourmalines and other gemminerals . For many years no other locali ty producedthis rare form

,bu t later Madagascar yielded pink stones

of an even more attract ive shade .

A golden-yellow beryl,wi th a pecul iar fluorescence due

to a small con ten t of uran ium ,became known in South

[ 2 1 5 ]


West Africa . I t received the name heliodor,i n al lusion to

the resemblance of i ts fire to the rays of the sun . Thequanti ty of this materi al i s l imi ted and all of the fines tgems are reported to have been secured by the formerEmperor of Germany .

Beryls o f the common and aquamarine type occur inthe pegmati te veins of the Appalachian region of theeastern Uni ted States

,particularly in Mi tchell Coun ty

,

North Carol ina ; Haddam Neck in Connecticu t ; OxfordCoun ty

,Maine ; Coosa Coun ty, Alabama . Fine

,almos t

sapphire-blue s tones have been found at Royalston,

Massachuset ts,and on Mt . Antero in Colorado ; and

the beau ti fu l pink examples of the caesium-bearingvariety are found in San Diego County

,Cali forn ia

,as

noted above .

One can not leave the subj ec t of beryl withou t referringto the really magnificen t crys tals from Brazi l . Onefound near the vi llage of M arambaya, near Arassuahyon the Jequi tinhonha River in the State of Minas Geraes

,

of a green to yellow-green color and weighing over 220pounds

,was so clear that i t could be seen through from

end to end . With great diffi cul ty canoes transported i tdown the river to the coast whence i t was sen t to Idar inGermany and there cut up in to gems . I t was es timatedthat this s ingle crystal would yield over carats ofaquamarine . The collec tion of the National Museumcontains several fine crystals from Brazi l ; one, a goldenberyl

,clear and flawless

,weighs over two pounds ; another,

of a l igh t emerald-green,the so-called Brazi l i an emerald

,

also weighs over two pounds . The Field Museum inChicago possesses several large

,l ight-green emeralds

from Bom Jesus dos M eiro s,State of Bahia . These

Brazi l i an beryls come chiefly from the S tate of MinasGeraes where they are associ ated wi th other gem minerals

,

tourmal ine,topaz

,euclase, and amethyst . They are

found in the beds of s treams or in the soi l resul ting fromthe decomposi tion of the gneissoid coun try rock.

[ 2 16 ]


GEMS AND GEM MIN ERALS

and organic substances . Many mol lusks form truepearls

,bu t of these only a few meet the requiremen ts of

man . Those few are made only by mollusks possessing ashell wi th an inner l in ing of mother-o f-pearl

,that i s

,a

lin ing wi th a fine iridescence . This same iridescence i simparted to the pearl, giving i t the beauty desired in gems .When the common edible oyster develops concretionaryforms

,as i t often does

,while they are true pearls

,they

lack beauty and hence have no value .These concret ionary forms bu i l t up in the body of amol lusk seem to represen t a defense mechanism on i tspart . The occasion for the formation may be ei ther thein trusion of a foreign substance or the presence of smallyel low particles from the oyster

’s own tissue . The intruders are small spheri cal larvae which die when theypenetrate the animal ’s body and then suffer embalmingforever in a cel l which may be of exquisi te beau ty . Firs t

,

the mollusk wraps thi s nucleus i n a layer of organic substance corresponding to the outer coating of i ts own shell .Then comes a very thin layer of carbonate Of l ime and athird layer of an organic substance known as conchylin .

These las t two l ayers are repeated a great number of times .The mother-o f-pearl lus ter resu l ts from the in terferenceof l igh t brought abou t by the reflection from these thinconcen tri c layers of the shell

,in the same manner that the

bri l l ian t colors are brought ou t on a soap bubb le . Theoys ter builds i ts pearl in exactly the same manner that i tbu i lds or repairs i ts shell

,and the quali ty and character

of the pearl i s much the same as that of the in terior of theshell .Of the numerous mollusks that yield pearls

,only two

species produce precious forms . These are the sea pearlmollusk

, M eleagrina margaritifera , which inhab i ts thetropica l seas

,and the Unios of the fresh-water brooks

and streams . The sea pearl mollusk surpasses the otherboth in quanti ty and quali ty of i ts product . I t l ives inbanks on the coral sea bot toms at a depth of 6 to 9, or

[ 2 1 8 ]


even 1 8 meters . Divers recover the mollusk . They mayuse modern diving apparatus in the pursui t of their dan

gerous occupation , bu t they usually scorn such aid .

The most ancien t and famous of the pearl fisheri es arefound in the Persian Gulf

,cen tering at the island of

Bahrein . All pearl ing operations are in the hands ofthe Arabs

,who carry on now much as they have for

cen turies . The divers descend to the bottom by meansof diving stones attached to ropes . They can remainbeneath the water from sixty to ninety seconds . Theoysters are opened by means of a curved knife and thepearls carefully sought .The pearls of the Persi an Gulf are not as whi te as thoseof Ceylon . Many of them have a dis t inct yellow color

,

but pink,blu ish

,gray

,and black pearls are sometimes

found . Because of the smal l s ize of the mollusk theshell does not command a high price and the profi tsaccruing from the diving operat ions depend almost whollyupon the value of the pearls recovered . In other distric ts

,as the islands of the Pacific

,the value of the shells

recovered far exceeds that of the pearls,and the search for

the lat ter i s consequen tly inciden tal to the pursu i t ofthe shel l .The Ceylon fisheries follow those of the Pers ian Gulfin importance . The mollusk of this region does not growlarge e i ther

,seldom larger than the palm of the hand,

in contras t to the eight or ten inches of the Pacific mollusk,and hence i s valueless for i ts mo t her-o f-pearl shell . Thepearls

,however

,are of the pures t whi te color and very

highly prized . The chief fisheri es occur in the Gulf ofManaar

,an arm of the Indian Ocean separating Ceylon

from India . Because of the great eagerness wi th whichthe gems are sought, the governmen t imposes s tringen tres trictions to preven t the extinction of the pearl mol lusk .

From time to time,inspectors visi t the differen t banks

and when they find condi tions propi tious for valuablereturns

,the beds are thrown open for diving. The open

[ 2 19 ]


season lasts usually six weeks at the most,and a depleted

bank l ies fallow for s ix or seven years before i t i s fishedagain . Diving operations dupli cate pretty much thepractice in the Pers ian Gu lf. Smal l lots of the shells maybe opened by hand bu t the usual procedure 18 to expose themollusk to the heat of the sun , permi t i t to putrefy andthe fleshy parts to be eaten by blue-bottle fl ies whichgather in hordes

,unt i l only the pearls and shel l remain .

This res idue i s washed and repeatedly p icked over un ti leven the smalles t o f seed pearl s i s recovered .

Among the South Sea I slands the gathering of pearlshel ls forms one of the principa l i ndustries of the nat ives .The mollusks of this area

,as noted above

,grow to large

size and are chiefly sought for their Shel] . Many local i ti esproduce comparat ively few pearls ; others have them infair abundance and these add greatly to the value of thecatch .

The diver of the Sou th Sea I slands surpasses al l othersin skill

,scorning diving apparatus and even the use of

diving stones . Before plunging he si ts for several minutes repeatedly inflating his lungs to the fulles t capaci tyand slowly exhaling the air through his mouth . Hethen drops over the S ide feet first

,descends a few feet

,and

wi thou t apparen t effort turns over and swims to thebottom . He remains below usually less than a minu te,bu t some of the more adept are able to s tay for longerperiods of time

,three and four minutes having been re

ported in exceptional cases . At the end of the day ’swork the catch i s opened and searched for pearls . Sometimes

,though not often

,one may be found

,bu t the shells

pay an adequate wage for the day’ s labor .The pearl fisheries of Austral i a, Malay Archipelago,and other dis tric ts resemble the South Sea I sland fisheriesand l ikewise are worked largely for their shel l .North America has no pearl fisheries o f importance,compared wi th those of the Sou th Sea and Indi an Oceanareas . But the coast of Venezuela produces them fairly

[ 220 ]



color,varying from pure whi te through shades of pink ;

yellow to purple ; copper-red ; also green and brown . Alarge percen tage of them are irregular 1n shape, the SO

called baroque pearls . Their form sometimes im i tates thewings

,teeth

,or heads of differen t animals . As a rule they

rank lower in value than do the sea pearls,being in general

less lustrous .A considerab le trade has sprung up along the Cal i forn i acoas t in the u ti l ization of the shel l of the large mol luskcalled abalone. The Shel l Shows on i ts inner Surface a fineiridescence in a Wide range of colors . The portion usedoccurs chiefly as a protuberance which i s cu t ou t and soldunder the name of abalone pearl . Occasionally a truepearl i s found in the shell

,bu t rarely are these of much

value .In this connection i t may be pointed ou t that the thick

shells of many of the larger mollusks,l ike the well-known

conch shells are composed of variously colored layers,the

innermost usually whi te and the next below colored . Advantage i s taken of this

,as wi th agates

,by cutting through

and partially removing the whi te layer, leaving figures orother ornamental forms standing in relie f

,to form Shel l

cameos .Pearls vary greatly in color and shape . Some of those

from Ceylon have a fain t rosy tin t and a beauti fu l “orien t”

(luster) . The Persi an Gulf product often has a sl ightlyyellow tin t

,whi le Venezuela and Panama pearls are of a

fine golden color,W i th much lus ter . From Austral i a come

pearls of a pure, waxy whi te, wi th a fine si lvery sheen , aswell as occasional golden-yellow ones of excel len t color.Black pearls are rarer

,and green ish-b lack ones are the

most highly prized of the colored varie ties . The termsused in designating thei r shapes usually explain themselves—round

,. pear

-Shaped,drop-shaped

,petal

,and others .

Baroque IS the term applied to the irregular forms ; seedpearls are the small round forms

,while dust pearls are

most minute and have l i t tle value .

[ 222 ]


I ts composi t ion of carbonate of l ime and organic matter renders pearl qui te soft, having a hardness of bu t 4.

In consequence the gem requires care to preven t unduewear a t the surface and insure the retention of i ts pearlyluster . Acids eas i ly affec t pearl and hence the acidexudations from the skin may be inj urious . Undue ex

po sure to sunlight can inj ure i t .When stored in a dry place for a considerable length oft ime they may slowly lose their lus ter

,due to loss of

water from the conchylin l ayers, bu t i f carefully wrappedin clean l inen and kept moist wi th a few thicknesses ofmois t absorben t paper

,th is can be very largely prevented .

With reasonable care,however

,the “ l i fe” of a pearl

may wel l exceed one hundred years .In Olden days men thought that the pearl sprang from

celesti al dew . Early in the morning,so they bel ieved

,a t a

certain season of the year,the shell fish rose from the sea

bottom to draw in the air and drink the dew drops .Once within they crystal l ized in to pearls . The qual i tyof the gems varied according to the lucidi ty or muddiness of the air taken in . I t i s said that this poeti cconception sti l l holds in Arab ia

,and there they ascri be

the scarci ty of pearls during some years to a pauci ty ofdew .

CU LTURE PEARLS

In the formation of the pearl man has conquered oneof nature ’s secrets bu t has not yet found i t poss ible to dispense wi th the services o f the humble mollusk . We haveseen that the pearl begins in the in trusion of some foreignbody in to the mantle of the animal

,which

,as a pro tec tive

measure the animal surrounds and thus forms the pearl .Man takes advan tage of this peculi ari ty of the an ima land artfully in troduces the i rri tating s tranger . Theoperation requires extreme care for i t i s not suffi cien tto insert the nucleus alone ; some of the pearl- formingcells must be in troduced as well

,so tha t the en tire

[ 223 ]

GEMS AN D GEM MINERALS

process partakes somewhat of the nature of a surgicaloperation .

In the cul ture of the mollusk for i ts pearls,divers firs t

gather the young from the sea bottom,to be kept in

containers unti l three years old . A number are sacrificedto yield the cells for the pearl sac . In to others

,chosen

from individuals that produce the bes t mother-o f-pearl,

the nucleus and pearl cells are in troduced . These arethen placed in numbered wire containers and suspendedfrom bamboo poles on floats . For seven years the oys teri s carefully watched over

,both the mollusks and the con

tainers cleaned from time to time,and the groups moved

from place to place whenever necessary to avoid rapidtemperature changes or unheal thy water condi tions .The pearls so produced have the outward appearance

of “wild” ones,and the expert may have difli cul ty i n

detec ting the difference . In general they have a somewhat higher specific gravi ty bu t th is cannot always berel ied on to dis t ingu ish them . I f the pearl i s dri l led fors tringing

,the cen tral nucleus can often be detec ted wi th

the aid of a magni fying glass .Naturally enough

,cul ture pearls

,because of the difli

cul ty and expense of their production,are qui te expensive

,

but they bring considerably less on the market than thewild” pearls .

QUARTZ

F ew substances occur under a greater variety of formsand colors than the oxide of s i l icon commonly known asquartz . I t forms the prevai l ing cons ti tuen t of mos t soi lsand of the beaches along the seacoast

,and abounds in

the rocks of the earth ’s crust . Because of i ts hardness,

lack of cleavage,and insolub il i ty

,i t holds i ts own to the

las t under all normal condi tions of weathering. In i tsprimary form i t occurs massive

,i n veins and cavi ties

,

usually colorless or whi te,and readi ly recognizable . I ts

crystals Show six sides wi th acute pyramidal terminations,

[ 224 ]



varying in s ize from microscopic needles to masses a foot ormore in di ameter . Quartz varies in color and diaphanei ty .

Often beauti fully transparen t and colorless as glass,i t i s

then popu larly known as rocle crystal . Viole t colors giverise to the varie ty amethyst, one of the mos t beauti fu l ofgem stones ; citrine quartz or cairngorm i s of a pecul iarsmoky yellow tin t very much l ike topaz ; milky and smoleyforms are readi ly recogn izab le by their designat ions . Adelicately rose- tin ted

,massive variety i s popular under

the name rose quartz . The mineral reveals one peculi artrai t ; while the colorless, milky, ci trine, smoky, andamethystine varie ties may all occur in good crystalform

,the pink and rose- t in ted varieties are rarely i f

ever found except massive . Sagenite i s a clear, colorless

,transparen t varie ty pierced by numerous minute

crystals of ru ti le,Chlori te

,byssol i te

,goethi te

,or tourma

line . I t i s sometimes known under the fanci ful nameo ffleches d

’

amour (arrows of love) . (PlateQuartz of the

”clear, colorless type occurs in associ ationwith the pegmati te ve ins of the eas tern Uni ted States andthe Rocky Mountains . Beauti fully clear examples ofcrystall ization have for many years been known from theHot Springs region of Arkansas

,where the mineral occurs

as a secondary product in clefts and crevices in sandstone .

This,indeed

,forms one of the noted regions of the world

for crystal groups . I ts occurrence in small, very perfect,and highly lustrous crystals

,rarely over a centimeter in

diameter,i n cavi ties of the l imestones of Herkimer

Coun ty, N ew York,furn ishes a peculi arly in teresting

phase of the mineral . The natural crystals are sometimesperforated and strung as beads wi thou t further preparation

,and as such prove very effective as well as unique .

So great i s their bri l l i ance that they are commonly calledHerkimer diamonds .”

Quartz is the most common gangue mineral of ores ofthe precious metals . Mines in Placervi lle, EldoradoCounty

,Cal i forn ia

,have at times yielded large and

[ 225 ]


beauti fully clear crystals, and in an ancien t gold-bearingriver channel in Calaveras County a quanti ty of enormouscrystals were found embedded in the old gravel . TheAmerican Museum of Natural History has a crysta lweighing 346 pounds ; the National Museum has anotherof 309 pounds . These lack clari ty and transparency

,

however .Brazil, especi al ly the s tates of Minas Geraes, Sao Pau lo,

and Goyaz, produces very importan t quanti ties o f clear

crystal quartz as well as of other varie ties . Much of thequartz used for spectacle lenses and other technica l purposes comes from that country.

Of other foreign local i t ies mention shou ld be made of theSwiss Alps where both clear and smoky crystals occur inopen cavi ties . One such druse yielded abou tpounds of good crystals . Lately Madagascar has producedmuch good rock crystal

,a large part of the yield going in to

the manufacture of beads .The viole t quartz common ly known as amethyst variesin color from the palest shades to a deep purple . Oftenthe color i s not homogeneously dis tri bu ted bu t is cloudedand flecked through the s tone . The c lear and transparen tvarieties prove sui table for gem purposes, deeply coloredstones coming firs t I n popular estimation , al though someof the paler t ints are used . Mineralogists bel ieve the colorof amethysts to be due to

$

finely dispersed iron compounds .Carefu l heating will cause a s tone to assume a yellowcolor and ultimately become colorless ; heated to theyellow stage i t resembles the natural ci trine quartz andmany of the stones sold as the latter gem are obtained inthis manner .Amethystine quartz occurs common ly in the clefts andcracks of grani t ic and gneissi c rocks ; also in the s teamcavi ties of old lava flows of the type called melaphyr. I nthis lat ter occurrence the crystals are often associ atedwith agate

,fi ll ing the open central space of the nodu le .

Yellowstone National Park has in years past yielded fine

[ 226 ]



specimens of this type, bu t Rio Grande do Sul, Brazi l,and the adj acen t area in Uruguay are the world ’s mostnoted local i ties . In the ancien t volcan ic rocks of thisregion agate and amethys t l ine or completely fi ll thes team cavi ties . The quartz of this region comes unusuallydeep I n color and of the fines t gem quali ty.

This dis tric t produced a single geode surpassing i n s izeand elegance anything of the kind previously known . I tmeasured about 33 feet I n length, 1 6 . 5 feet I n width, and10 fee t in height

,and had an estimated weight of

pounds . I t was completely l ined wi th ri chly coloredamethys t crystals, many of them as l arge as a man

’sfis t

,with faces bri l l i an t and lustrous as though polished

by a lapidary. This geode was removed I n sections andmany of the crystals cu t in to gems

,but a number of

sections are now preserved I n museums,i ncluding a 400

pound mass i n the National Museum .

Very famous for i ts amethysts i s the region abou tM ursinka, i n the Urals, a dis tri c t which, as we have al

ready seen , abounds in aquamarine and topaz . Thoughmany of the s tones produced are l ight In color, abundantdark specimens wi th the p leasing property of changing toa deep cherry red in artific i al l igh t are found .

Amethystine quartz has a wide distribu tion i n theeastern Uni ted S tates bu t nowhere does i t occur in quanti ty suffi cien t to afford a s tab le industry. The soi l resul ting from the disin tegration of the gran i t ic rocks has yieldeda large part of the materi al

,and min ing

,i f such i t can be

cal led, i s confined to shallow surface workings . Thecrystals as found are almost invari ably scarred andbroken , though sometimes of a beauti fu l color . Providencetownship

,Delaware County

,and Chester County

,Penn

sylvania ; Haywood Coun ty, North Carol ina ; and RabunCounty

,Georgia

,have produced stones . Amethyst

Harbor on the shores of Lake Superior has yielded verylarge crystals, though not of good gem quali ty.

Amethyst occurs in a manner of in terest to the mineral

[ 227 ]


ogist in the great s i lver mines of Guanajuato, Mexico .

The mines abou t La Luz yield frequently large slabs ofsmal l bu t bri ll i antly colored crystals .Quartz in i ts several varie ties finds use both as a gem

stone and for cut ting in to small ornaments,a work done

by Orien tals,and also by the Germans . The crystal ball

of the as trologer supplies a favori te form . The larges t ballknown i s a t presen t in the National Museum , and measures 1 2% i nches in diameter and 107 pounds in weight .Absolu tely clear and flawless

,i ts value runs in to many

thousands of dollars . The massive rose varie ty furn ishes afavori te medium for the quartz cu t ter

,who often deter

mines h is design by the size and shape of the block . Beads,

earrings,and pendan ts from quartz of various shades form

one of the most satis factory of the less expensive kindsof j ewelry. (PlateChalcedony includes a very dense microcrystal l ine

type of quartz known under a great variety of names .Most famil i ar

,perhaps

,i s agate

,a banded variety formed

in the cavi ti es of old lavas, the hearts of silicified logs,and other places

,and owing i ts beau ty to the coneen

tri c bands of deposi t ion of infin i te divers i ty . Howbanded agate forms st il l puzzles the scien tis t . Superficially i t might appear that the duct in the upper rightof Figure 1 on Plate 53 consti tu ted an open channelthrough which the si l i ca-bearing solu tion fi l tered in .

But the duct cou ld not have remained open throughou tthe fi l l ing process . Another possib le explanation wouldhave the cavi ty fi lled at one time wi th colloidal si l i ca

,

gradually deposi ted in concen tri c coats as concen trationof the solu tion through evaporation took place . Thenatural colors

,i t Should be said

,are gray or whi te

,rarely

red . The deep smoky brown, cus tomary in commerci alagate

,and the green

,b lue

,and other colors are for the

most part artifici ally produced . The true onyx repre

sen ts a varie ty of agate wi th nearly s traight bands .The name comes from the Latin oniscus

,i n allusion to

[ 228 ]




trinkets . Color generally determines varietal names .Bloodstone i s nearly black wi th blood-red spots andstreaks ; carnelian uni formly red ; prase dull, leek green ;and j asp er, the mos t comprehensive term of all, includesthe opaque red

,yellow

,and brown of all shades . Va

riously colored j aspers from the silic ified logs of theso-called Fossi l Fores t of Arizona have been formedinto obj ects of great beau ty, some of which appear inPlates 5 5 , 6 8 , and 7 1 .

Chrysoprase,a chalcedony colored l ight green by the

oxide of nickel,has proved a favori te s tone for gems since

ancien t t imes,though found I n only a few places . Much

of the material sold under this name has received i tscolor artifically. Venice Hill

,in the vicin i ty of Visal i a

,

Tulare Coun ty,Cali forn i a

,has yielded chrysoprase of un

surpassed qual i ty. I t forms small veins two- thirds of aninch thick in a j asper rock

,and wi th i t often occurs a

similarly green opal called chrysopal . The deposi ts,

extensively worked in the past,appear to be very nearly

exhausted .

Although quartz i s so widespread as a mineral,North

America possesses no regular commerci al source of supplyfor any of the varie ties mentioned

,though in years pas t

very many agates were found on the lake shores of theUpper Peninsula of Michigan

,where they weathered ou t

of the trap rocks . The importan t gem- cutting industryof Oberstein-Idar in Germany owed i ts in i ti ation to asupply of agates furn ished by local trap sheets

,now

,

however,exhausted . The materi al now sold on the

market comes largely from Brazi l and is cu t in Germanyor Japan . A varie ty found in Cali forn i a i s cu t and soldunder the name California moonstone

,a term as misleading

as most of the trade names .

M YSTICA L PROPERTI E SThe numerous varieties of si l ica described above have

,

i n one form or another,been credi ted wi th an amost end

[ 230 ]


less number of qual i t ies and virtues . Mystics,astrologers

,

and diviners sti l l use quartz balls to foretel l the future,

review the past, and conjure up distan t scenes .Amethyst is an emblem of sinceri ty. As an amulet i t

dispel led sleep,sharpened the in tellec t, prevented in

toxication,gave victory to soldiers, protected i ts wearer

from sorcery,lost i ts color in contact wi th and was an

antidote for al l poisons . I f the name of the moon or sunbe engraved on i t and i t be hung about the neck from thehair of a baboon or the feathers of a swallow, i t i s a charmagains t wi tchcraft .Agate symbol izes heal th and weal th . An enemy to al l

venomous things,i t assuages thirs t when held in the

mouth,gives victory to i ts wearer, repels s torms, sharpens

the s ight,preserves and increases s trength

,and renders

i ts wearer gracious and eloquent .Bloodstone s tands for wisdom, firmness

,and courage

,

while carnel ian,according to ancien t authori ties

,cured

al l wounds made by iron, preserved the s trength , prevented hoarseness

,and cleared the voice . I t also cheered

the soul,banished fear and enchantments, and preserved

harmony.

As the Greek legend has i t,onyx originated when Cupid

cu t the nai ls of the S leeping Venus wi th his arrows ; fall inginto the Indus

,they were transformed into onyx . The

bel ief that this s tone caused n ightmare and stri fe held widesway

,based on the assumption

,as given by Beononi, that

“ in the onyx i s a demon imprisoned in the stone whowakes only of a night

,causing terror and disturbance to

sleepers who wear i t .”

Sardonyx typified conjugal bl iss . I t rendered i ts possessor virtuous, cheerful, and agreeable .

T H E OPA LThe opal

,while c lassed as quartz

,differs from i t and

the variety chalcedony in that i t i s never crystallized andcarries a small amount of water in i ts consti tution . I t I s

[ 23 1 ]


perhaps diffi cul t to imagine anything so insoluble as asi l ica exist ing in the form of a j elly ; yet this i s the earlys tage of the opal . Deposi ted thus in the cavi ties ofvolcanic rocks

,i n the in ters tices of s i l i c i fying wood

,or in

other favorable places,i t undergoes a sl ight dehydrat ion

and shrinkage,whereby l ines of s train or minute fractures

develop that throw back the l igh t rays and give the “fire”

which consti tutes the chief source of an opal ’s charm .

One of the most beauti ful o f gems, i t i s yet one of themos t treacherous

,being endowed wi th what i s truly the

“ fatal gi ft of beauty,

” for the l ines of s train or frac turewhich throw back the l ight to give such radian t effec ts

,

may give way and the s tone fall to pieces .Opal as a minera l i s widely distri bu ted and aboundsin regions of early volcan ic activi ty . Much of this material i s whi te or of various pale tin ts and termedmil/e or common opal . Another variety, found in the airholes of certain lavas , i s as l impid and transparen t asglass and hence called hyalite. Only rarely does hyal i teshow the fire that makes i t desirable as a gem .

With a hardness of 6,opal belongs i n the category of

comparatively soft s tones which discourages i ts use wherei t i s l ikely to encounter much wear . While well su i tedfor pendants

,brooches, and S imi lar forms, i f moun ted in

rings i t must be carefully protec ted by the setting. Inspi te of this handicap the opa l ranks among the aris tocratsof gem stones—the Six so -called precious s tones . One needlook for no other explanation than the unique quali tyof i ts beauty . The opal has proved

,so far at leas t

,

in imi table . In a superb s tone the play of radian t colorshas no equal

,even surpassing a sunset, SO that many

consider i t above all others the most beau ti ful of gemstones .The oldes t and most noted of all opal locali ti es

,from

which possib ly the Romans ob tained thei r gems,l i es in

northern Hungary at Cz erwenitz a . The Hungari anstones are well known in the trade and qui te characteris ti c

[ 232 ]



in appearance . Upon a milk-whi te background smallpoints of red, b lue, and green form a mosaic of changinghues . The Hofmuseum at Vienna possesses the finest ofthe opals from thi s region including one S ingle mass asbig as one ’s fis t

,showing the most exquisi te play of

colors . This s tone ranks among the finest and larges topals in the world . The Cz erwe

g

n itz a mines have beenworked so long and so actively as to now yield few s toneslarger than a haze] nu t . In early times farmers of theneighborhood exploitated the deposi ts, finding manyof the fines t s tones while plowing or in ri l ls left by therains . Later the governmen t took over the mines andin troduced systematic underground-min ing methods .The rock contain ing the gems i s an old volcan ic l ava ofthe type known as trachyte

,very much decomposed .

The inhospi table desert regions of Queensland, N ew

South Wales,and Sou th Austral i a produce many fine

opals . Those from Lightn ing Ridge surpass anythingproduced elsewhere . Gems from this local i ty have aunique splendor, reflect ing the fire of their sun-bakedhi lls . Their colors are endless

,the golden green and the

reds being the most highly prized,the blue and the

greens on ly sl ightly less so . The best gems occur innodular form roughly resembl ing an olive in size andshape and bear no l ikeness to precious materi al unti lchipped or broken . Scattered in a sandstone

,these

nodules are often encountered unexpectedly,and many

fine gems have been broken before thei r presence wassuspected .

The mines s i tuated in the Virgin Valley, HumboldtCoun ty

,in northwestern Nevada near the Oregon state

l ine,yield beauti fu l opals . They have a strong tendency to

crack after extrac tion from their mother rock, and inthis respect have proved a disappoin tment in the trade .N ow

,however

,a sys tem of “curing” has decreased this

tendency to flaw . In variety the Nevada opals have nopeers

,ranging from clear

,transparen t forms wi th broad

[ 233 ]


flashes of color to coal-black s tones wi th vivid flashes ofred

,b lue

,and green .

Their occurrence here presen ts pecul i ari ties uniqueamong gem deposi ts . They are con tained I n a fine grainedvolcan ic ash which spread over the landscape duringsome early and violen t volcani c eruption . (PlateThe fall engulfed a fores t o f s tately con i fer trees and theanimals that roamed i t

,much as the ashes of Vesuvius

engulfed Pompei i . The trunks, l imbs , bark, and eventhe cones of the trees have been converted to opa lby waters carrying the soluble consti tuen ts of the ash .

In many ins tances the wood has changed to common opal,

bu t wi th s treaks of the precious materi al ; or an entirel imb may be converted to the precious variety, Oftenwi th the outer surface more bri l l i an t than the cen ter . Therich b lack masses wi th their fire of peacock colors occurabou t the outs ide of the large logs

,and may

, perhaps,represen t the bark . The Nationa l Museum has a numberof fine opals from this local i ty

,chief of which i s a deep

black mass weighing over 16 ounces,rich in flashes of red

,

green,and blue

,and said to be the larges t mass of precious

opal known .

Idaho,Nevada

,and a few other local i t ies produce fine

opals in the steam cavi ties of old lavas . While of exce llen t grade the quanti ty and S ize do not permi t ofprofi table mining .

A number of s tates of Mexico,notably Queretaro

,

Hidalgo,Guerrero

,Michoacan

,Jalisco

,and San Luis

Potosi,contain opal mines . The most importan t local i ty

cen ters about La Esperanza near the ci ty of Queretaro,

where the s tones are cu t . The smaller and poorer Mexicanstones sel l by the handful

,bu t the finer ones command

high prices,and while usually considered inferior to opals

from Austral i a and other local i ties,they have thei r own

peculi ar type of beau ty. The Mexican opals are pellucid,

with innumerable smal l bu t bri ll i an t flashes of color.In many—the so -called fi re opals

—the base is honey

[ 234 ]



yellow wi th yellow,green , and red flashes . Many are

whi te wi th numerous small points of l igh t .The opals of Mexico occur in the cavi ties of old volcanic

l avas rich i n s i l i ca . This rock i s usually red,l igh t pink

,or

gray . At La Esperanza the character of the opal varieswi th the character of the rock . Where the rock i s red

,

opals wi th a fiery red color abound ; where the porphyry isl ighter or mottled

,l ighter colored s tones are the rule .

I The cloud of supers ti tion that condemned the s tone asunlucky has long hampered the market for opals . Evenin th is en l ightened age the supers ti t ion persis ts . H ow

i t arose i s uncertain . The ancien ts thought opals bes towed noth ing but good

,and

,j udging from Pliny ’s

accoun t of the famous “Opal of Nonius,

” the Romansset great value upon i t . Kunz

,however

,doubts whether

the s tone in question was really that to which we now

give the name .Sir Wal ter Scot t i s accused of being in a great measure

responsible for the presen t-day supersti tion because of hisuse of the opal i n Anne of Geierstein ,

al though his readershave nothing to indicate that he intended to representthe s tone as an unlucky emb lem . I t i s said that theEmpress Eugen ie of France would not wear an opalbecause of th is superst i t ion

,bu t the s tone was a favori te

[with Queen Victori a, who presen ted each of her daughterson their marriage wi th jewlery se t wi th opals .

T H E TOPAZAl though various stories have arisen relative to thediscovery of topaz

,authori t ies seem to agree that the

name came from Topaz os, an island in the Red Sea .

I t i s supposed also that the topaz of antiqui ty was theChrysol i te

,or peri dot

,of modern t imes, to which con

fusion may possibly be due the confl i cting tales of i tsdiscovery .

Topaz,a fluosilicate of aluminum , belongs among the

$hardest of minerals,ranking next to the sapphire and

[ 23 5 ]


ruby . I t has a high index of refraction and good lusterand i s usually associ ated in the popular mind wi th a distinc tive yellow color, often referred to as topaz yellow.

Actually,however

,colorless s tones as well as those of a

l ight blue occur qui te as common ly, and other shadesknown include l ight green

,usually wi th a t inge of blue

,

more rarely l igh t rose,and very rarely deep red . (Plate

6 1,Figure Many large

,clear

,nearly colorless pieces

,

termed by the Brazi l i an miners “

p ingos-do -oguo”

(dropsof water) , are found in Brazi l . The yel low s tones comein many shades : golden

,honey

,wine

,and brownish yel

low,or deep reddish brown . The blue and green s tones

are always l igh t in shade,often the color of l ight aq uam a

rines,which they closely resemble . Natural rose-colored

stones are rare . The yellow topaz i s nearly matched incolor by the golden varie ty of quartz called citrine

,

especi ally that from certain local i ties of Brazi l . Fraudulen t or ignoran t subst i tu tion of this materi al has nowreached such proportions that one must defini tely speci fypreciour topaz i n order to ensure a genuine s tone .Topaz occurs as a product of secondary replacemen t inthe pegmati te veins of grani ti c rocks

,associated wi th

cassi teri te ( tin ore) , tourmaline, fluori te,and other min

erals of l ike habi t . Similarly i t abounds in drusy cavi ties ingrani te wi th m icro line and albi te and often wi th aq uam a

rine,amethyst

,and other semi-precious s tones . In the

l z'

tfzop /zyso e (rock-bubbles) of certain lavas,especi ally

the kind called rhyoli tes,topaz often occurs

,usually wi th

t in ore or bright red manganese garnets . Much of thebes t materi al for gem purposes i s recovered from thebeds of s treams .Brazil

,favored by nature wi th abundant beryl and

amethyst,l ikewise leads the world in topaz deposi ts .

The Rio Jeq ue tinhonha near the vi llage of Arrasuahyhas yielded several very large crystals . The NationalMuseum has two sec tions of differen t crystals ; one inthe Roebl ing collection weighs 45 pounds ; another in the

[ 236 ]



crystal yet found ln North Ameri ca, a l ight b lue s tonemeasuring some 17 by 19 centimeters and weighing I

,295

grams,now in the collect ion of the National Museum .

Several places in the Uni ted S tates and Mexico produce yellow topaz i n the l i thophysae of rhyol i t i c rocks .The fines t specimens come from the desert region of central Utah

,especi al ly Topaz Mountain in the Thomas

Range,forty miles northwest of the town of Deseret .

The crystals,ei ther colorless or a fine wine-yellow

,occur

loose upon the surface of the ground, where they haveweathered out of the mother rock

,or in cavi t ies i n the

rock i tself. The lat ter make handsome mineral spec imens bu t unfortunately the crystal s come too small forcutt ing stones exceeding a carat in weight . Similar o ccurrences exis t near Nathrop, Chafl

'

e County,Colorado

,

associated wi th red manganese garnets . I n Mexi cotopaz i s abundant near San Luis Potosi

,with cassi teri te

(oxide of tin) ; at La Paz i n the S tate of Guanajuato ; andin the State of Durango i t i s recovered from the placeroperations for t in .

A few minor local i t ies in the eastern Uni ted States,

notably Stoneham,Maine

,have supplied some fine

colorless stones .

M YSTICA L PROPERTI E S

Topaz symbol ized friendship . Blessed with extraor

dinary power i t might prove a friend indeed. I t cooledboil ing water ; became opaque on contact wi th poisons ;restrained anger and desire ; cured insan i ty ; checked theflow of blood ; cleansed hemorrhoids ; averted suddendeath ; and imparted strength and good diges tion . Pow

dered and taken in wine i t cured asthma and insomnia .

T H E TOURM ALINEAl though the tourmaline may have had a place amongthe gem minerals known to the ancien ts

,history does not

so record i t . Not un ti l the early eighteen th cen tury was

[ 238 ]

PLAT E 5 7

Tourmal ine . Crystals from Mesa Grande,Cal iforn ia ; Cross-sec t ion

from T srlaiz ina,Madagascar



dark green,prove mos t popular. A variety from Siberi a

so nearly approximates the color of the ruby as to make i talmost indist inguishable when cu t . As noted elsewhere

,

recen t examination of the famous large ruby of Catherinethe Great i s reported to have iden tified i t as one of theseruby-red tourmalines . The green s tones range throughyellow

,blue

,and rarely

,emerald-green . Blue stones are

usually too dark for use as gems,al though smal l ones of a

fine sapphire shade have come from Brazi l and from Mt .Mica in Maine . The yellows are rather rare and usuallynot suflicien tly s triking to win popu lari ty, although agolden-yellow varie ty from Madagascar ranks wi th ourfines t yellow gems .Other striking color combinations particu larly charac

teristic of the Maine tourmal ines include the so-cal led“watermelons

,which have a thick cen ter of a deep-pink

shade wi th a thin outer band of green . Still others have al ight-blue cen ter wi th a thin band of pink followed by anou ter zone of green . The concentri cal ly banded tourmalines o f Madagascar reveal much more compl i cated colorcomb inations

,the zones frequen tly repeating many times

,

usually in shades of pink and green,often wi th fine l ine

l ike bands of b lue . (PlateThe Cal i forn i a tourmalines rarely show concen tri cbands

,al though a few are green in the cen ter and pink

outside , The more striking forms are longi tudinallybanded

,as for ins tance the wonderfully beauti ful crystals

from Pala,one half deep pink and the remainder c lear

green (Plate The larger ones from Mesa Grandeusually show a un i form p ink, capped wi th green , or wi thvarying sec tions of green

,pink

,and salmon . Similar

crystals but of differen t shades of green and pink arefound in Brazi l . From Elba come colorless crystalscapped wi th dark brown to black

,popularly dubbed

“n igger heads .The local i ty at Mt . Mica

,near the town of Paris

,i n Ox

ford County,Maine

,was discovered in 1 820 by two

[ 240 ]



The tourmal ine-bearing bel t l i es i n San Diego andRiverside Coun ties and includes

,as the principal local i t ies

,

Mesa Grande,Pala, and Coahui la Moun tain . Of these

Mesa Grande i s by far the most in teresting local i ty,

having yielded the large and magnificen t crystals andgroups seen in some of the museums . One of the finestof these belongs to the Roebling collection of the NationalMuseum (Plate The region abounds in veins ofpegmati te rock bu t only a very few of them have yieldedtourmalines su i table for gem stones . The minerals occurloose in cavi t ies or in pockets associ ated wi th otherminerals con tain ing l i th ia

,as lepidol i te

,the l i th i a mica

,

and spodumene,a si l i cate of alumina and l i th i a . Gener

ally these “pockets” are too smal l and in frequen t toj ust i fy min ing operations

,bu t the pegmati te a t Mesa

Grande consti tu ted for a time a success ion of l argepockets

,the l ike of which may perhaps never be seen

again in this area . (PlateA few other local i t ies in the Un i ted S tates have pro

duced some fine tourmalines, notab ly Haddam Neck,Connecti cu t . Here the occurrence resembles those ofMaine and Cali forn ia

,bu t the tourmal ine

,al though of

very fine quali ty,i s never abundan t . Bright-green s tones

are the rule . Many of the fines t have gone to the col lec tionof Yale Universi ty . Chesterfield and Goshen

, M assachu

setts,also have produced a few colored tourmal ines .

For the commoner varieties,local i ties abound . E s

pecially i s thi s true of the b lack tourmaline, which existswherever the colored stones occur . Unusually finecrystal groups come from Pierrepon t in Sain t LawrenceCounty

, N ew York . Brown and green magnesi antourmalines

,less abundan t than the black

,have been

found at Gouverneur,D eKalb

,and Macomb in N ew York

and a t Frankl in,Newton

,and Hamburg in N ew Jersey .

The bes t known of the foreign locali t ies for tourmaline i sthe Ural Mountains in the region about Ekaterinburg

,

especi ally near the V i l l age of M ursinka . The mineral

[ 242 ]

PLATE 5 9

Group o f tourm al ine crystals,Mesa Grande , Cal iforn ia . Roeb l ing

Co llec t ion,Nat io na l Museum



The lime-aluminum garnet has a hardness o f 7 , a spec ific gravi ty of to and a considerable colorrange . The several varie ties include esson i te (cinnamonstone or hyacin th) of which the specimens of a clear yellow-brown to deep gold tinged wi th brown are morecommonly used as gems ; grossulari te, which comprisesthe pale-green

,yellow to nearly whi te

,pale-pink

,red

orange,and brown kinds ; rom anz ovite , a brown variety ;

wiluite,yellow—green to greenish whi te ; topazol i te, deep

to pale yellow ; and succini te, amber-colored .

The principal magnesi an garnet i s the pyrope,a term

meaning “fire- l ike,

” a deep-red to nearly black stone,

prized as a gem .

The almandi te,or carbuncle

,and rhodol i te are iron

aluminum garnets . Almandi te varies in color from brigh tred to deep red of several t in ts

,occasionally assuming

an orange hue by artifici al l ight . The color of the rhodol i te l ies between a violet-purple and a brown-red .

Both find high favor as gems .Spessarti te i s a manganese- aluminum garnet . The

color varies from a red-brown,sometimes wi th a t inge of

viole t,to orange-red . I t often affords fine gems .

The calcium- i ron garne t varies in specific gravi ty bebetween and 4, and in hardness from 5 to 7 . The groupincludes a divers i ty of forms

,varying widely in color and

other respec ts,the more importan t of which are : andra

di te,a yellow or orange-brown variety ; demantoid, or

Ural ian emerald,a grass-green

,emerald-green

,or brown

green stone having a bri ll i ant lus ter,and when cu t ex

h ibiting considerable fire,especi ally by artificial l ight ;

colophoni te,a brown-black garnet

,characterized by a

resinous luster ; and melani te, a black to yellow-brownkind .

The calcium-chromium garnet,ouvarovi te

,i s almos t

invariably a fine emerald-green color,and i s harder than

any of the other varieties,ranking nearly 8 i n the scale .

Garnet occurs commonly in mica,hornb lende

,and

[ 244 ]

PLATE 60

Tourm al ine m ine , Mesa Grande , San D iego Coun ty , Cal iforn ia .

(Pho tograph by W . T . Schal ler, U . S . Geo logical Survey)



A whi te massive form occurs associated wi th the varie tyof vesuvian i te called calzform

'

te found in northern Californ ia . Usually th is s tone goes abroad for cutting ; i nAmerican shops i t i s often sold as whi te j ade .

San Diego County, Cali forn ia, has produced excel len tgem garnet . Fine examp les of the esson i te varie ty havebeen found in the foothill s of the desert near Dos CabezasSprings

,bu t the finest come from mines i n the vicin i ty of

Ramona,where they occur in pockets in pegmati te veins,

implanted on feldspar and associ ated wi th green tourmal ine

,white and blue topaz

,and beryl . These s tones

run from a rich honey-yellow to orange- red in color,and

when wi thou t flaws make handsome and brill ian t gems .A similar garnet

,l igh t orange-brown in color and qui te

brill i an t,though rarely free from flaws

,has been found

in the pegmati tes of Amel i a,Virgin ia

,where i t occurs in

alb i te .A very beautifu l s tone

,called rhodoli te from i ts deep

rose color,occurs in the Cowee Creek region of North

Carol ina—the same distric t which has yielded somerubies . Their fine red color and remarkable bri l l i ancymake them high ly desirab le as gem stones . A few havebeen cu t in to gems of over ten carats

,bu t large s tones are

rare . Although considered the chief gem mineral of NorthCarol ina

,l i t tle i s now being done toward i ts pro

duct ion .

Gravel washing for gold in streams near Custer,South

Dakota,has brought to l ight inciden tal ly some beauti fu l

red garnets . Small s tones appear frequen tly,bu t no

large,flawless gems su i table for cu tting.

The common almandi te varie ty sometimes occurs insuch quanti ty that i t i s recovered by crushing the motherrock

,ground

,bol ted

,and u til ized as an abrasive .

Rich in color and durable,garne t possesses many of

the qual i t ies des irable i n a gem stone . The Romansmade frequen t use of i t for engraving and some notableexamples of their art exis t . The celebrated Marlborough

[ 246 ]

I . Zirco n . 2 . Tourmal ine . 3 . Tourm al ine . 4. Chryso l i te (Perido t) .5 . Topaz . Ro eb l ing and Isaac Lea Co llec t ions, Nat ional Museum



Geraes,Brazi l

,associ ated wi th topaz and other s tones

already described . The s treams yield i t in pebbles seldom larger than a bean

,al though the finding of a mass

weighing sixteen pounds has been reported . Fine sulphur-yellow s tones come from the gold-bearing gravels ofthe Sanarka River in the southern Urals in associ ationwith pink topaz and other minerals . Ceylon producesmany chrysoberyls

,mainly the cat ’s- eye varie ty.

The mineral exis ts in associ ation wi th tourmaline,gar

net,and beryl l n the gran i tic pegmati tes of N ew England

,

bu t never in gem quali ty . A twin- crystal form,highly

prized by mineralogis ts, i s sometimes found ; two veryremarkable specimens from Minas Geraes

,Brazi l

,form

part of the Roebl ing collec tion .

The gem alexandri te consti tu tes a unique variety ofchrysoberyl firs t found in the emerald mine of T akowajain the Urals of Russi a in 1 830, on the day that CzarAlexander I I at tained hi s maj ori ty

,a circumstance which

caused i t to be named in his honor . For this reason,and

because i t shows the mili tary colors of Imperial Russi a,

green and red,i t became a great favori te there . Some of

the crystals reach a s ize of n ine cen timeters and those offour cen timeters are not unusual . Only small portions ofthese qual i fy for gems

,so that one rarely sees s tones of

any size . Alexandri te ranges from dark grass to emeraldgreen

,and betrays the pecul iar property of changing

color to a raspberry red in artifici al l igh t . This remarkable change resu l ts from the absorption of much yellowl ight . Exposing the s tone to combined rays of natural andart ifici al l ight wil l cause the individual facets to reflec tvarious colors—l igh t green , golden , salmon , or red, depending upon the posi t ion in which the gem is held . Insubsequen t years much larger and finer s tones appearedin Ceylon . Bauer mentions a gem of 63% carats fromthis local i ty as being the larges t known when he wrote in1 896 . The I saac Lea collection in the Nationa l Museumnow contains one of over 65 carats .

[ 248 ]


MYSTICA L PROPERTI ESAs an amu let the chrysoberyl dispel led evi l dreams

,fear

,

and melancholy . The cat ’s-eye has long been highlyes teemed as a preserver of good fortune and i s used by thenatives of Ceylon as a charm agains t evi l spiri ts .

CH RYSOLI T E

Mineralogis ts suppose chrysol i te to have been thetopaz” of the ancien ts . I t has at times been verypopular as a gem stone under the poetical n ame ofevening emerald

,though the term peridot serves

generally to iden tify 1t in the market .Chrysol i te IS a ferruginous s i l i cate of magnesium and

occurs mos t commonly as a consti tuen t in scat teredgranules o f the volcan ic rock

,basal t ; i t sometimes forms

the prevail ing cons ti tuen t in a group of 1gneous rocksknown as peridot i tes ; and i t i s also found in manymeteori tes . I n color the mineral ranges from yellow-greento deep bottle-green

,sometimes transparen t bu t more

commonly only translucen t . (Plate 6 1 , Fig . I t ratesas in the scale o f hardness

,has a h igh refractive

index,and hence in i ts bet ter grades serves well for gem

purposes .The ancien t sources for chrysoli te have for the mos tpart dropped ou t of the record . Recently old mines onthe Island of S t . John in the Red Sea came to l ight againto be worked for a while by the ex-Khedive of Egypt .The mineral occurs here in beau ti fu l flawless crystals of adeep yellow-green color . Chrysoli te forms the chief constituen t i n the rock composing the smal l i sland . The finecrystals appear in vein lets on the eas tern s ide bu t thesupply of material su i table for gems of the firs t grade issaid to be l imi ted .

Peridot has often passed for emerald and many of thelarge “emeralds in the eccles iastical and roya l treasuresof Europe are

,i t i s reported

,i n real i ty chrysol i te . A

very fine stone weighing 3 10 carats, now i n the Roebling

[ 249 ]


collec tion of the National Museum , i s said to have onceadorned the figure of a sain t . This s tone probably camefrom the Red Sea local i ty .

In the Un i ted States the gem variety apparen tly occurson ly in areas of disin tegrated igneous rocks wi th in theNavaho Indian Reservation of Arizona and N ew Mexico

,

scat tered in the form of small,dull-green pebbles in the

superfici al sand and gravel . The mineral forms anabundan t consti tuen t of a basi c igneous rock composedlargely of chrysoli te and enstati te

,the first-men tioned

often much al tered to serpentine . The rock weathersrapidly

,breaking down to a loose sand and gravel from

which Indians gather the gem stones . The grains occur invarying sizes up to four mi ll imeters in diameter . Thearea i s in fes ted wi th an t hi lls a foot or more in heigh t

,

some of which con tain up to seven ty-five per cen t ofol ivine grains . They are not, however, brought to thesurface by the an ts as some have imagined

,bu t form the

basic consti tuen t of the soi l of the surrounding region .

SPODUM ENEThe particu lar in teres t in spodumene, a si l i cate of

l i th ium and aluminum,arises from i ts remarkable color

range and from the pleochroism of the more highly coloredvarie ties

,hidden i te and kunzi te . The mineral occurs in

gran i ti c pegmati tes of the same general type as thosefurn ishing the commercial feldspar and mica

,bu t while

qui te common i t i s usual ly whi te and opaque or so considerably al tered as to be of l i t tle value for gem purposes .In the early days of exploi tation of the deposi ts of S tonyPoin t

,North Carol ina

,for emeralds, there came to l ight

pockets in the gneissoid rock con taining a large numberof smal l emerald-green crystals o f s trange aspec t . Detailed examination proved them to be the mineral spodum ene

,bu t so clear and bri ll i an t as to appear totally

unl ike the mineral commonly known under this name .The beau ti fu l color and fine luster of the s tone eminen tly

[ 250 ]



fi t ted i t for gem purposes . To distinguish i t from the commoner opaque form

,i t received the name Mo

’a’enite.

The first crystals found lay loose in the soi l bu t laterprospect ing revealed their original home to be in cleftsand cavi t ies in the underlying gneiss in associat ion withcrystals of quartz

,feldspar

,ru ti le

,emerald

,and other

minerals . The crystals never reach great s ize . Thelarges t cu t s tones obtainable do not exceed five carats,and the majori ty do no t weigh more than one or twocarats . No other local i ty in the world has producedspodumenes of this color. Since the number of good gemstones found did not suffi ce to pay the cost of mining

,

operations at the deposi t have ceased and one seldom seesthe gem outside of collections . Perhaps the finest roughcrystal forms part of the Bemen t collection now i n theAmerican Museum of Natural History in N ew York .

I n the famous tourmal ine mines a t Pala,San Diego

County,Cali forn i a

,there came to l igh t in 1902 a mineral

of a pink color,fine luster

,and strong pleochroism which

defied determinat ion by local prospectors and j ewelers .A mineralogis t la ter iden tified i t also as spodumene

,

bu t of a color and transparency never before encountered(Plate I t immediately became a favori te as a gemstone

,sel l ing in th is coun try under the name kunz ite

,

after George F . Kunz,the gem expert . Abroad i t i s

often called iri s . Crystals from the Pala Chief mine

presen t an especi ally fine and handsome appearance ;some of the larges t measure over a foot in length

,and

possess a del i cate p ink color. These l arge crystals usuallyare flat

,and since

,to ob tain the bes t color

,the gems

should be cu t wi th the tab le across the crystal, one rarelysees large cu t s tones . Perfect gems of 75 or even 100

carats have been ob tained,however

,the larges t in the

National Museum collection weighing 7 5 .9 carats .Similar pink spodumenes have since appeared in

Madagascar and while the crystals are not as largeas those from Cali fornia

,the color is a deeper shade of

[ 25 1 ]

GEMS AND GEM M INERALS

pink . Spruce Pine, North Carol ina, has yielded a singlepocket of kunzi te in a pegmati te mass . The larges tcrystal

,weighing abou t 2% ounces

,i s a deep lavender

color,qui te differen t from the Cal iforn ia and Madagascar

crystals . I t now res ts in the collect ions of the NationalMuseum . Light green ish-yel low spodumenes , uti l ized tosome exten t as gems

,abound in parts of Brazi l . The

enormous size of spodumene crystal s surpasses any othercrysta l known . Examples from the Black Hills region ofSou th Dakota

,where i t i s mined as a source of l i th ium

,

sometimes at tain a length of forty feet and a weight ofseveral tons .

B ENITOITE

The ancients knew most gem stones used in modernt imes

,and types discovered even comparatively recently

have proved bu t vari an ts o f well known mineral species .I n 1907 , however, the moun tainous region of San Beni toCounty

,Cal i forn ia

,yielded a new mineral eminently

sui table for gems . This mineral,a si l i cate of t i tan ium

and barium ,received the name oen z

'

toite. I t was a t firs tmistaken for sapphire because i ts color approximatesthe b lue of that s tone, bu t careful examination revealed amuch greater pleochroism

,or change in color when V i ewed

in differen t direc tions .Brill i ancy

,attrac tive color

,and strong pleochroism dis

tinguish beni toi te as a gem . The depth of color varies indifferen t por tions of the crystals . Light transmitted per

pendicu lar to the base i s practi cal ly colorless, whileparallel to the base i t i s blue . To secure the bes teffec t the gem should be cu t wi th the table parallel tothe principal axis and not to the base

,as i s the rule

for sapphire . The flawless gems seldom exceed a caratin weight ; the larges t cu t gem known weighs abou t sevencarats .Beni toi te occurs in veins of natrol i te which traverse a

glaucophane rock, and i s associated wi th the rare mineral

[ 25 2 ]



neptunite i n very fine crys tals . The associ ation of thebright-blue beni toi te wi th the bri ll i an t reddish black ofthe neptun ite and the pure whi te of the matrix of natrol i teresul ts l n some of the handsomes t specimens in mineralcollections . The National Museum has a very fineslab

,a gift of the min ing company which has now ceased

operations . One must regret that th e production of thisattractive stone should have been so l imi ted.

ZIRCONThis mineral, i n i ts finer grades, deservedly ranks as a

precious s tone . Only the diamond among gem stonespossesses a higher index of refrac tion . Rarely colorless

,

the usual t in t i s some shade of red or brown,bu t green

,

blue,and viole t s tones are not unknown . The red

(hyacinth) and the yellow (j acin th) furn ish the mosthighly prized s tones . A beauti fu l blue variety owing i tscolor

,some claim

,to artificial means

,has lately at tained

populari ty .

Zi rcon occurs always in crystals,square prisms ter

m inated by a four- sided pyramid,al though when found

in the beds of s treams attri t ion may have worn the facesindist inct . The crystals frequen tly appear in grani tes

,

gneisses,and s imil ar rocks

,bu t all the precious materi al

comes from the gravels of s treams, where they have ac

cumulated because of their resis tance to decay . Manyof the colored stones possess the pecu l i ar property oflosing color by heating

,the resu l t being ei ther colorless

or l ightly tin ted wi th yellow or gray . The colorlesss tones resemble the di amond to such an exten t that thenatural ones from Madura

,Ceylon

,were considered for

many years an inferior form of that stone and called“Madura diamonds .”

The s tream gravels of Ceylon furn ish the chief and on lyimportan t source of gem zircon . The minerals formoriginally 1n the gneissic rocks of the is land and win thei rfreedom by the action of rains . India and Upper Burma

[ 253 ]


have yielded some s tones . In the Uni ted S tates z i rcon asa mineral i s no t uncommon . Many tons of i t have beenmined for refrac tory and other purposes in HendersonCounty

,North Carol ina . Very large and well formed

crys tals occur in calci te a t Renfrew,Ontario

,Canada

,

and in S t . Lawrence Coun ty, N ew York . The goldbearing sands of North Carol in a have produced a fewri chly colored stones of gem qual i ty .

From the vicin i ty of the old sapphire workings northof Bangkok

,Siam

,have come the fine b lue stones called

starlite by Kunz, i n allusion to a sc in ti l l ating b lue color .Some very large gems of thi s type have been found

,

weighing as much as forty to fi fty carats . The Roebl ingcollec tion in the National Museum possesses a cu t s toneof twenty-nine carats . (Plate 6 1 , figure

JADE

The genera l term jade comprises two qui te dis tinc tminerals possess ing in common a grea t toughness and aprevai l ing green color. The firs t

,j adei te

, forms a varietyof pyroxene, a s i l i cate of sodium and a luminum ; and thesecond

,nephri te

,or amphibole

,a si l i cate of calcium and

magnesium . Casual i nspection can not always easi lydis t inguish one from another

,though the j adei te shows

,

as a rule,a granular s tructure qu i te unlike the dense

,

fibrous s truc ture of nephri te . While both show a prevai ling green

,the j adei te i s often speckled or mottled green

and whi te,while the nephri te i s clouded in the same

colors . Some of the nephri tes,however, possess a beau

ti ful milk—whi te color . The higher grades of both minerals find similar uses as carvings

,beads

,pendants

,and

brooches,for which purposes they are highly popu lar

and exact corresponding prices .Primi tive man

,where he could find j ade

,made eager

use of i t in shaping h is ornaments and implements . Theworking of the materi al reached i ts heigh t among theChinese

,and many of the obj ects made from i t offer an

[ 254 ]



place on American terri tory. A dull, rather coarsevariety came to l igh t in what i s now known as JadeMountain

,north of the Kowak River

,and abou t 1 50

miles from i ts mouth,i n Alaska . The natives used thi s

materi al,a true nephri te

,for kni fe blades and the l ike

,and

for ornaments .The distri ct o f Mogoung

,Upper Burma

,contains the

most importan t deposi ts of precious j ade, the source ofthe apple-green materi al seen so frequen tly in the marketstoday . Much of i t i s recovered as pebbles and bowldersfrom the river Uru abou t Sanka

,bu t quarrying operations

in the mother ledge also produce considerable quant i t ies .The Uru mineral i s j adei te and ranges in color from whi teto deep apple—green

,usually mottled . A fine l avender t in t

distinguishesmuch of it,bu t this has been found of l i t tle use

and i s largely rej ected. I n many p laces the j ade l ies embedded in an iron-rich clay

,the iron of which has pene

trated the s tone so as to give i t a beauti ful red t in t . Thisis called red j ade and i s said to be highly esteemed by theChinese . The material goes to Can ton and Peking forcarving in to appropri ate ornamen ts .The popu lari ty of j ade leads to shamefu l counterfei t ing

wi th other green minerals . Massive varieties of green vesuvianite and whi te garne t from Cali forn ia serve as substitu tes

, as does also dense green serpen tine, especi ally tha tfrom Manchuri a known as “Yu Yen s tone .” I ts in feriorhardness renders thi s substi tu te l i able to easy detection .

TURQUOI SE AND VARI SCITEIn only two i nstances does phosphoric acid combine

wi th bases to give ri se to minerals of gem value,and in

both of these ins tances the second base i s aluminum,

forming the minerals turquoise and variscite . (PlateAmong all gem minerals

,possibly no other has been so

widely used, geographically or soci ally, as the turquoise .

This seems the more s trange when we consider that i t i san opaque stone owing i ts popu lari ty wholly to color .

[ 25 6 ]

PLATE 64

Varisc i te , Lew iston ,Utah ; and Turquo ise in m atrix , Los Cerri l lo s,

N ew Mexico


GEMS AN D GEM MINERALS

early use of turquoise in Egypt, and evidences of min ingon the Sinai pen insula date as far back as 5000 B .C . Nodate can be given for i ts early use ln Persi a

,where the

ruling classes regarded i t as scarcely sui table for their use .India

,Thibet

,and Chin a apparen tly began the use of

turquoise no farther back than the Middle Ages,when

,

as in Europe,i t c ame in to favor in the bel i ef that i t pos

sessed medicina l quali ties .The southwestern

.part of the Uni ted States con tainsmany known turquo ise local i ties . Nearly all of the deposi ts show evidence o f work by aboriginal man . TheSpan ish conquerors found the s tone in very general usethroughou t the Sou thwest

,parti cularly among the Indian

tribes of the plateau regions of Arizona and N ew Mexico .

Turquoise beads are also found in graves of undeterminedantiqui ty . The mineral was used not merely for personaladornmen t

,bu t for small carved obj ects and inlay work

,

marked by great ski l l and artis ti c ab il i ty of a high order.To judge from the size of the prehistori c excavations

,

the region abou t Los Cerri l los,twenty- three miles south

of Santa F é,N ew Mexico

,furn ished one of the chief

sources of aboriginal supply (Plate A pi t 200

feet deep and 300 fee t in di ameter gives mute evidenceof a yield of many pounds of turquoise . There are twoother deposi ts of qui te s imilar character in this region

,

one abou t Mt . Chalch ihui tl,two miles northeas t of Cer

rillos,and the other

,Turquoise Hill

,s ix miles northeas t .

The country rock i s a severely frac tured monzoni te . In tothe abundan t fissures and j oin ts thus formed

,percolating

waters have deposi ted the turquoise,and inciden tly pro

duced much local decomposi tion of the rock . The mineral occurs in thin seams and veinlets

,rarely over an inch

across,and in the form of nuggets imbedded in the clay.

The best material has a fine sky-b lue color,even texture

,

and a hardness somewhat greater than that from otherlocal i ties . Smal l rami fying seams

,of a ches tnut-brown

color,cu t much of i t

,forming very at tractive materi al

[ 25 8 ]


for cutting in to matrix s tones . The workings include pi ts,

open cu ts , shafts, and tunnels, in some of which ancien ttunnels and s topes have been encoun tered .

Somewhat similar deposi ts have been worked in theBurro Mountains

,Gran t Coun ty

,N ew Mexico

,and al

though they have yielded a great amoun t of good tur

q uo ise , they seem to have been largely worked ou t .Gran i te forms the mother rock . The gem materi al occursin small veins in the j oin ts of a zone of broken rock

,or in

nodules in the clayl ike al teration of the mother rock .

These nodules or “nuggets” proved to be of the finestqual i ty

,harder than much turquoise of other local i ties

,

and often of a very fine translucen t blue color. Thisdistric t produced much of the fines t gem materi al found inthe Uni ted States . Simi larly fine material i s mined inMohave County

,Arizona

,and in the V ic in i ty of Millers

,

Nevada .

10

The occurrence of the mineral varisci te in the Uni tedStates

,i n form and quan ti ty sui table for commerci al pur

poses,was firs t made known through the publ ication of

analyses made in the laboratory of the National Museumin The firs t materi al came from near Lewiston

,

Utah ; s ince then other discoveries have been made inUtah and in Nevada

,and speci al trade names have been

given to varietal forms,as amatrz

'

ee,atalzz

'

te, wardite, etc .The materi al varies in color from deep emerald or grassgreen to pale shades or whi te

,and in i ts higher grades

bears a strong resemblance to the green varieties ofturquoise

,which i t closely resembles in composi t ion . Like

the turquoise i t occurs as a secondary mineral alongzones of shearing and crushing 1n the country rock, whichin this case i s l imestone rather than gran i te . The zone ofcrushing

,or brecci ation

,is s trongly mineral ized by deposi ts

1°Those interested may find a comprehensive history o f the stone in T he Turq uo ise,a S tudy o f its H istory, Mineralogy, Geo logy, Ethno logy, Archaeo logy, Mytho logy,Fo lk lore, and Techno logy, by Joseph E . Pogue, M em. N at. Acad. Sci., Vo l. 12, P t. 1 ,

3d M em .,191 5 .

11 R. L. Packard, Amer. your. Sci. , Vo l. 47, p . 297.

[ 259 ]


of chalecedony, chert, varisci te and all ied phosphaticminerals

,and small amoun ts of pyri te . The varisci te

generally occurs i n nodular form in the chalcedony,some

times wi th a dis t inct banding and gradation from thedeep green to pale green and whi te . As wi th turquoisethe materi al can be used effectively by cutting in connec tion wi th veinlets and particles o f matrix, or asso ciated minerals . Because of l ts opaci ty, i t i s generallycu t en eaooelzon . Although closely resembl ing the greenershades of turquoise

,i t i s readi ly dist ingu ished by i ts in

ferior hardness which comes at 4 i n the scale as agains t6 for the turquoise . (Plate 7 1 , Figs . 4 and

M YSTICA L PROPERTI ESThe turquoise i s emblemati c of success . All Orien tals

value i t high ly and wear i t to insure hea l th and success .They suppose it

'

to preserve the wearer from inj urythrough acc iden ts . I n the presence of poisons the s toneswea ted profusely

,a property thought to be characteri s tic

of many of the noble gems . I ts color paled as i ts ownersickened and disappeared entirely on h is death

,to be

recovered only when i t became the property of a heal thy

person .

LAPI S LAZULI AND SODALITEThe materi al known under the name lap is laz uli con

sis ts of a fine-grained l imestone impregnated wi th theminerals l azuri te

,pyri te

,and miscell aneous minor sub

stances . This heterogeneous charac ter reveals i tselfreadily

,especi al ly upon examination wi th a lens . Lapis

lazu l i owes i ts value as an ornamental s tone to the ri ch,

deep—blue color of the l azuri te,a su lphosilicate of sodium

and aluminum . A deep azure b lue i s much preferred tothe other shades of green i sh blue

,viole t

,and red-viole t .

Heating often in tensifies the color and some materi al willdarken upon long exposure to sunl ight . Small goldenpoin ts of pyri te frequently speckle the azure surface

,

l iken ing the cu t gem to a s tarry heaven . The mineral

[ 260 ]



adapts i tsel f wel l to use as beads and pendan ts, and isextensively employed for making small trays

,vases

,and

other works of art .Various points i n Siberi a furn ish the best gem materi al .Badakshan

,on the northeas tern border of Afghanis tan

near the headwaters of the Oxus River,a local i ty visi ted

and described by Marco Polo,leads al l others

,though im

portan t deposi ts exis t along the west shore of Lake Baikalin the vicin i ty o f the town of Ku l tuck.

North America produces no material of a high grade,

though stones unsu i ted for gem purposes have been foundin the San Gabrie l Range

,near Upland

,Cali forn ia

,o c

curring as blue or green ish-blue s treaks in a gray l imestone . A better cl ass of materi al abounds in the ChileanAndes

,on the banks of the Rio Grande in the Cordi llera of

Ovalle,near the Argentine border . Here

,as everywhere

,

the lapis occurs i n l imestone wi th gran i te nearby,to the

in trusion o f which the lapi s lazuli probab ly owes i ts origin .

Not only i s i t found abundantly in place,bu t numerous

blocks and bowlders from the mother ledge are s trewnabou t the vicin i ty . Much of the Chilean stone occurs i n agreen ish-blue color which renders i t i nferior to the Siberianmaterial . I t i s veined and mottled with Whi te calci te andoften carries abundan t pyri te . (Plate 7 1 Fig .

The mineral l azul i te,a hydrous phosph ate of aluminum

,

often confused wi th lapis lazul i (lazuri te) owing to thesimilari ty in color and name

,has no use as a gem material .

This mineral occurs in good crystal s a t Graves Mountain,

Georgia,and at Breyfogle Canyon

,near Death Valley,

Cal i fornia . Another mineral,dumorti eri te

,found in a

number of places in the western Uni te d States , alsoreadily lends i tsel f to confusion wi th lapi s lazul i bu t lacksthe fine color of the real material . An imi tation called“Swiss lapis” has a ready sale in the form of beads andother obj ec ts . This i s not lapis lazul i a t all

,bu t a dyed

chalcedony whose misleading name and low price make i t apopular article on the market .

[ 26 1 ]


Sodal i te i s a s i l icate and ch loride of sodium and aluminum

,qui te s imilar in appearance to lapi s lazul i . I t varies

from colorless to deep blue and has been used to someexten t both in decorat ive archi tectura l work and inj ewelry. Unfortunately

,while of a beau ti ful sky- blue

by daylight,i t appears almost black by artifici al l ight .

The mineral has been found in coarse granular form inthe nepheli te syeni tes of Litchfie ld, Maine, and Bancroft

,Ontario

,and in the I ce River region of Bri t ish

Columbia .

T H E FELD S PARSThe feldspar group includes a fami ly of closely relatedminerals which have a very wide dis tri bu tion in the rocksof the earth ’ s crust . Most of the occurrences

,however

,

are of qu i te ordinary varieties,withou t s triking color or

optical effects ; and hence, while of mineralogi cal in teres tand often of economic importance

,are not su i table for

use as gem stones . When they show colors of unusualbril l i ance or chatoyancy they are often cut in to variousshapes for personal adornment or for archi tec turaldecoration .

All feldspars consti tu te compounds of s i l i ca and alumina wi th soda

,potash

,or l ime . They occur often in well

developed crystals,ei ther monocl in ic or tri cl in ic in form .

The more importan t members of the group include

Orthoclase : A sil i cate of aluminum and potassium(moons tone in part) .

M icro line : A sil i cate of aluminum and potassium (amaz onstone in part) .

Albi te : A sil i cate of aluminum and sodium (moons tonein part) .

Oligoclase : A sil i cate of aluminum,calcium

,and sodium

(moonstone in part) .Labradori te : A sil i ca te of aluminum

,calcium

,and

sodium .

Anorthi te : A sili cate of aluminum and calcium .

[ 262 ]



of a l igh t—gray, p ink, or flesh color. Crystals o f quartz also

abound,usually the smoky variety bu t more rarely whi te

or colorless (Plate Often much flat whi te feldspar(alb i te) l ines the cavi t ies or attaches to the base of theamazonstone crystal . Fluori te, b iot i te, columbi te, goethite , hemati te, and a few o ther minerals l ikewise oftenoccur in associ at ion . Groups of matrix with attachedcrystals o f considerab le beau ty frequen tly are found incollections . The Canfield collection

,i n the National

Museum,possesses one of the larges t crystals known

,

some s ix inches i n diameter.The color of the Colorado amazonstone

,while often of

an in tense shade,does not please as much as that of the

mineral from Amel i a,Virgin i a

,and i s often s treaked and

uneven in i ts dis tri bu tion . Especi al ly unfortunate i s thefac t that the bes t color often forms a th in zone abou t theexterior

,covering an in ferior shade in the cen tral portion .

Amazonstone abounds at the mica mines of Ameli a,

Virgin i a,Where i t occurs in a coarse pegmati te associ a ted

wi th other varieti es of feldspar. A l though massive andnot in large and freely developed crystals as in Colorado

,

i t possesses a pleasing and un i form shade and i s bet tersu i ted for cu tting in to beads and other ornamen ta l forms .Materi al from these mines goes to Europe for cut ting .

(Plate 7 1 , Fig .

Perth,Canada

,yields a fine b luish-green stone

,s treaked

with whi te,called microcl ine perthi te ; while Rockport,

M assachusse t ts, Paris and Moun t Desert, Maine, andValhalla

,N ew York, all produce ordinary green amazon

s tone .A second varie ty o f feldspar showing l ively red metall i c

reflections in a whi te background has been called run

stone. This effec t resul ts from the presence of numeroussmall

,thin plates of the oxide of iron

,hemati te

,arranged

in parallel ori en tat ion,so that when turned the s tone re

fleets the color from these small plates . Rari ty gavesunstone considerable populari ty at one t ime

,but i t los t

[ 264 ]

PLATE 66

Amazonstone and Smo ky Quartz . Pikes Peak, Co lorado



color,which

,upon continued turn ing, as suddenly dis

appears . Although pol i shing intensifies this effect,i t i s

s trik ingly vivid on natural cleavage surfaces of the roughmineral . These colors vary from blue to violet

,or are

green,grading in to blue on one hand and yellow on the

other. Rarely the colors appear in tones of yellow,

bronze,or red . These effects do not appear in small

patches as in the opal,bu t in large areas

,often covering

the entire cleavage surface wi th a single broad blaze,

usually of a more or less uni form shade . A Moravi anmiss ionary discovered the Labrador mineral during thelat ter part of the eighteen th cen tury and i t reachedEurope as early as 1775 . A number of places along thecoast produce i t

,notably Nain and the adj acen t I sland of

Paul .Other local i t ies have produced some labradori te butnone equal Labrador in abundance of yield or in quali ty.

At Keeseport, N ew York, a labradori te-bearing rock isquarried as a bui lding stone under the name of “Au Sablegran i te . Dr . George P . Merri l l described something ofth is sort in Moscow :

T he Church ofOur Savio r in Moscow has the audience room sheathedfor a he igh t o f som e 3 or 4 fee t w i th a coarse dark gray fe ldspathicrock which , l i ke the labradori te o f Am erica, shows large purpl ishiridescent spo ts. As o ne passes along the som ewhat dim ly l ightedroom these spo ts sh in e out w i th wonderfu l beau ty and then aga indisappear as the angle o f vision changes. T he effec t is exce llen t.

T he stone is sai d to have com e from K iev in the southwesternpart o f European Russ ia .

12

Madagascar yields a remarkable s tone of the feldspargroup in a transparen t

,pale-yellow variety of orthoclase.

This i s nearly colorless and sufli cien tly clear to allow cu tting into faceted forms

,yielding a un ique and very beau

ti fu l s tone . The mineral, however, has too pronounced acleavage and lacks suflic ien t hardness for commercial useas a gem .

12 George P . Merrill . S tones for Building and Decoration, p . 1 1 6.

[ 266 ]


M YSTICA L PROPERTI ESFe ldspars offer l i t tle, apparen tly, to exci te the imagination . According to Pliny

,the image shown by the moon

stone waxes and wanes according to the period of lunarmotion . During the period of the moon ’s increase thestone is a charm ; during the waning the wearer i s enabledto foretell the fu ture . Carried in the mouth i t becomesan aid to memory ; as a powder and amulet i t was prescribed in cases of epi lepsy.

AM B ER AND JE TAmber appears far back in his tory . I t supplies a sub

jec t for ancien t myths and legends . I t has been foundwi th prehistoric remains in Egypt

,Greece

,I taly

,and other

lands . The Phoenici ans made their way up the Atlan ticcoast o f Europe not only for the tin of Cornwall

,bu t i t

is believed for the amber of the Bal ti c Sea as well . TheGreeks cal led i t elektron ,

or sunstone,both because of i ts

sunny color and because of i ts solar origin .

Amber i s a fossi l resin which,because i ts chemical con

stituen ts vary largely, science bel ieves to have been derived from various species of extinct trees . That fromthe Baltic comes from a species o f pine which grewabundantly along the shores of the sea during the Miocenegeologica l period

,several mill ion years ago . Subse

quently the sea invaded this fores t and entirely submerged i t . The waves have since washed up much ofthe amber

,though i t also abounds in place in sands

characteris t ic of the sea bottom .

The physical properties o f amber much resemble those'

o f other resins . I t i s always amorphous, never crystalliz ed. The pieces take numerous shapes , usually irregularly rounded bu t often in the form of icicles , drops, andothers such as a viscous l iquid might assume . I t has a verylow specific gravi ty

,equal to or sl ightly heavier than water.

I t will indeed float in sal t water,a fact of use in distin

guishing true amber from i ts many imi tations . I t i s

[ 267 ]


soft and can readi ly be cu t wi th a kni fe, which rendersi t a favori te materi al for carving . Rubbing wi th acloth induces a s trong negative charge of elec trici ty so thati t wi ll pick up small pieces of paper, a tes t often appliedto detec t true amber though i t should now be usedwith some degree of circumspection

,s ince some of the

substi tu tes and imi tations wil l ac t s imilarly . The yellowof amber comes in coun tless nuances

,ranging from almos t

colorless to dark yellow and brown . Red is sometimesmet wi th

,while b lue and green are very rare . Much of

the yellow amber becomes red wi th age . Some shows abeau ti fu l fluorescence

,that i s

,the property of producing

by reflection a differen t color from the mass of the materi al . Sici l i an amber in parti cular i s famous for thisqual i ty

,many of the yellow s tones showing sapphire-blue

,

pale-rose,and ruby hues . Amber also varies in clari ty .

The finest i s clear and transparen t and of wonderfull impidi ty . Cloudy pieces sometimes reveal clear andtranslucen t portions l ike a swirl of water. Sti ll o thersresemble goose fat in their uni form cloudiness .At the period of the formation of amb er

,

'

the mightyforests of northern Europe and even Green land and Spi tzbergen abounded in insec ts . From the viscid natureof the primi tive amber

,i t m igh t be expected that leaves

,

twigs,and insects would be caught and held in i t . In

fac t amber suppl ies an extraordinary record of the l i fe ofthese ancien t t imes

,long-extinc t species of bees

,an ts

,

spiders, fl i es, and even cockroaches having found therein“both a Death and Tombe .

” These unusual pieces areshamefully coun terfei ted by artifically embedding small,sometimes bri ll i an t insects . This regrettable practiceseems to date qu i te far back

,for Leonardus

,wri ting in

1750, reports such deceptions .At the presen t day the amber of commerce comes al

most wholly from the shores of the Bal tic Sea . I ts original home is a s tratum of dark earth

,green ish-b lue in

color from the presence of much “greensand,

” and called

[ 268 ]



Many of the ancien t philosophers recognized amberas a tree resin

,a fac t acknowledged in many of their myths

and legends,though some bel ieved i t to be of solar origin ,

generated direc tly by the rays of the sun . A Greeklegend dealing wi th amber

,quoted from Buffum

,

13 i sgiven below

T he He l iades’ legend recoun ts the adven tures of Phae thon ,

the favori te chi ld o f the Sun-

god He l ios, and his death in a rash at

temp t to dri ve the horses o f the chario t of the sun which his father,yie lding to his entreaty, had in trusted to him for a day. Phaethon

,

disregarding the injunc t ion no t to whip the fiery an imals, was se izedw i th dizziness and terror on the he igh t, and losing all con tro l o f theflashing steeds, approached the e arth too near and se t it o n fire . At

the earnest en treaty o f the goddess Earth , who feared to be co n

sum ed, Jupi ter launched a thunderbo l t at Phaethon,who forth

w i th fe l l in to the Eri danus. T he naiads of the stream buried hisbody on the shore , whi ther it had been washed by the foam ing waves.

H is sisters, the He l iades accompan ied by the ir m o ther,the

beau teous Klym ene,a daugh ter of Oceanus, at last found the tom b o f

the ir bro ther. They rem ained beside it, weeping b i tterly, and becam e

roo ted to the spo t ; and, as the penal ty o f ass ist ing Phaethon in yo kingthe steeds to the chario t

,and encouraging his adven ture , were changed

in to trees from who se branches tears con t inually fal l . These te ars,

Ovid adds, are hardened by the he at of the sun and becom e am ber,which the beam ing river rece i ve s and sends to the Rom an ladies forthe ir adornm ent .

Jet i s a variety of l igni t i c coal,and whi le i t cannot

be considered a mineral,i ts use as gem material en ti tles

i t to some consideration here . Jet, l ike coal , i s derived fromwood through a process of incomplete carbonizat ion . I tshardness and black color made i t a t one time a favori tefor certain kinds of j ewelry

,bu t the demand has largely

passed . The chief source has been the beds of Li assi cl ign i te in Yorkshire

,England . Utah has wi thin a few

years yielded material of good quali ty .

13 T he Tears o f the He liades, or Am ber as a Gem ,by W. Arno ld Buff um ,

1 900 . T o

this entertain1ng l1t tle vo lume th e author is also indeb ted for a part, at least, o f the subj ec t mat ter here presen ted .

[ 270 ]


M YSTICA L PROPERTI ESThe bel ief in the curat ive properties possessed by amber

pers is ts to the presen t day . As late as 1 862,King

,i n

his N atural H irtory of Gems , wri tes :That the wearing an am ber necklace w i ll keep o ff the attacks o f

erysipe las in a person subj ec t to them ,has been proved by repeated

experim en t beyond all possi b i l i ty of doub t . I ts ac t ion here canno t be

expla ined,bu t its effi cacy as a defence o f the thro at against chi l ls is

eviden t ly due to its ex trem e warm th when in con tac t w i th the skin,

and the c irc le of e lec tric i ty so m ain tained ; which lat ter, indeed, m ay

accoun t for its rem edial agency in the first c ase .

Jet was believed to dissolve spells and enchantment .Burned as an 1ncense , or bruised in water and taken internally, i t served as a cure for various i lls .

CORA LCoral

,l ike amber

,does not come wi thin the defini tion of

a mineral,bu t again i ts wide use for gem and ornamental

purposes makes i t worthy of consideration here . Asimple marine organ ism

,the coral polyp manufactures a

calcareous or bony growth for i ts protection and hab i tation . Many species of coral polyps exist

,each of which

bui lds i ts support in a characteris ti c form . Some branchlike shrubs

,others spread ou t fanlike

,or assume the

appearance of flowers . The precious coral i s a red form,

branched and twigged l ike a tree and known scien tificallyas Coralliurn ruarum . I t i s l imi ted to the Medi terraneanSea and comes largely from the shores of Afri ca and I taly.

The color of coral varies from whi te through yellow to deepred . Whi te and yellow varieties are rare and said to bethe resul t of disease . The I tali ans call the highly prizedpale flesh- red variety “

p elle d’

angelo”

(skin of angels) .Deeper reds are also common . Dead coral that has l ainupon the sea bottom turns brown or black and i s then calledburn t coral . The chief consti tuen t of coral is carbonate oflime

,with some carbonate of magnesia and iron presen t,

which las t consti tuen t accounts probably for i ts red color.

[ 27 1 ]


Coral occurs not as s ingle i ndividuals bu t in colon ies orbanks

,

” attached to the sea bottom,using rocks or o ther

permanen t obj ec ts encountered for supports . The mos timportan t areas s tretch along the Algeri an-Tunisian coastand abou t the i sl ands of Linosa and Pan telleria, to thesouth of S ici ly. The coral fisheries of Sardini a and Corsicaalso yield importan t quanti t ies . Sometimes divers recovercoral from shallow beds

,bu t dredging forms the general

method of production . For thi s purpose are used two

t imbers in the form of a cross,weighted by a large s tone

or by lead . Nets woven of coarse hempen cords are attached to the arms . When this i s dragged over the coralbank, the larger pieces become entangled in the coarse,loosely woven ropes and the smaller ones are retained bythe nets . The burning rays of the sun in that lat i tudemake the work very arduous

,for which the returns do not

always compensate . The industry is chiefly in the handsof I tal ians .Coral serves for beads and s imilar ornaments . Some o f

the larger pieces are carved,an art in which the workmen

display great ingenui ty,the irregulari t ies of the material

being cleverly turned to advantage .

In the Indian Ocean a black coral with a horny insteadof a cal careous base i s found

,bearing the scien tific name

Antip atlzes sp iralis. Some of the eastern countries prizei t highly. A blue coral grows along the Kamerun andGold Coasts of Afri ca .

The Greeks and Romans knew precious coral . TheGreeks called i t gorgeia and bel ieved that i t originatedfrom the blood which dripped from the head of Medusaand

,becoming hard

,was plan ted by sea nymphs in

the sea .

M I S C E L LAN EOU S M IN ERA LS

A number of minerals show pleasing or bizarre effectsin their cu t and pol i shed form , bu t have for various reasons found on ly limi ted use as gem stones . Their very

[ 272 ]



rari ty in some cases has mi tigated agains t their use.

Others , possessing great beau ty, lack durabil i ty ; whiles til l others mus t compete wi th their more s triking brethren . A few of these only wil l be mentioned here .

TITANITE : SPHENE

A s tone that surpasses the diamond in fire bu t can notcompete wi th i t as a gem because of the softness of i tssubstance, i s titanite, a si l i cate of calcium and ti tan ium .

When pure i t i s colorless,white

,or gray

,bu t small

amounts of iron , manganese, or other metals impart abrill ian t yellow or yellow-green color . I t possesses a highindex of refrac tion and i ts dispersion of l ight i s extreme

,

so that a well- cu t s tone scin ti lla tes wi th flashes of color .A matched series of s ixteen stones

,i n the Isaac Lea

collection in the National Museum,forms a rare combina

tion (Plate The mineral occurs in metamorphicrocks throughou t the Appalachian region of the Uni tedS tates

,bu t rarely in a form sui table for cutting . A number

of clear crystals yielding brill ian t gems have been foundat the old Tilly Foster iron mine near Brewster

, N ew

York . Other fine gems come from the Tyrol .

EUCLAS EEuclase

,because of i ts rari ty

,seldom appears outside

of large collec tions . I t resembles the aquamarine andlike i t i s chemically a s i l icate of beryll ium and aluminum .

The color of the s tones never varies from a del icate tintof blue and green . Only two locali ties have yielded gemmateri al : the s tate of Minas Geraes , Brazi l, where i t o ccurs in a schis tose rock associated with clear yellow topaz ;and in gold placers of the Sanarka River in the Urals .Cut gems of this mineral are not large, seldom exceedingfive carats in s ize although some large rough crystals havebeen found in Brazil . A large clear crys tal in the Roeblingcollection of the National Museum weighs over four ounces,and some have been reported weighing over one pound .

[ 273 ]


PHENACITEPhenaci te

,another of the beryl l ium si l i cates

,differs

from euclase and the beryls in i ts lack of color,a l though

occasionally i t bears a s l igh t rose or brown tin t . Since i tresembles many of the commoner colorless s tones i trarely finds use as a gem

,though i ts dispers ive property i s

more marked. Brazi l also furn ishes the finest examplesof th is mineral . Large stones l ikewise occur wi th theemerald and the chrysoberyl a t T akowaja i n the Urals .Very fine smal l crystals are found at Moun t Antero

,near

Pikes Peak,Colorado

,and at Bald Mountain

,N ew

Hampshire .

RHODONITEThis i s a massive stone of beauti ful rose-red color

,

hence i ts name from a Greek word meaning rose. I t i swell adapted for beads and small ornaments . Variouspoints in N ew England, as Blue Hil l B ay, Maine ; Cumm ington , Massachusetts ; and Cumberland Hill, RhodeIsland

,yield rhodoni te . Deli cately colored materi al also

occurs in Cali forn ia at Happy Camp,Siskiyou Coun ty ;

Taylorsville,Plumas Coun ty ; and Lemon Cove, Tulare

Coun ty . The best material comes in abundance from theUrals . Very large masses are sometimes quarried fromthese deposi ts and i t i s said that the sarcophagus of oneof the Czars of Russi a i s carved from a single b lock ofthe mineral . (Plate 6 8 , Fig .

VESUVIANITEA complex si l i cate of calcium and aluminum

, vesuvianite

i s mentioned here for the reason that a bright,lus trous

green variety found in Tulare and Siskiyou Coun ties,Cali forn ia

,and by virtue of this fac t known as californite,

has been uti l ized in the making of small ornamen ts whichare often sold to the unwary as j ade . The color variesfrom bluish to yellowish green and i s translucen t . Anapple-green varie ty has proved particularly attractive .

[ 274 ]



The mineral occurs in a region of green ish-gray to blackserpen tinous rocks which have been badly crushed byearth movemen ts so that nodules of the vesuviani teseldom exceed a few inches in diameter .

THOM SONITEThis somewhat freakish-appearing mineral

,an alumi

num,calcium

,and sodium si l i cate

,occurs in gem varieties

only as fi ll ing amygdaloidal cavi ties in trap rocks . Theprevail ing form is a spherical concretionary flesh-pinkmass wi th whi te

,green ish, and nearly black concen tric

zones embedded in i t . The mineral takes a high polishand makes a very attrac tive gem of the souven ir class .I t has been found in considerable quanti ty in the beachgravels resul ting from the breaking down of the traprocks of Lake Superior near Grand Marais

,Cook County

,

Minnesota . I t i s cu t chiefly en canoe/ion and as beads .Rounded pebbles of green ish chloras troli te and zonochlori te often occur under s imilar condi tions and are usedin l ike manner though of less s triking appearance . (Plate68

,Fig.

CYANITECyani te occurs in long thin-bladed forms

,often of a

beauti ful sky blue,i n schis ts and gneisses . I t has a very

perfect cleavage and therefore spl i ts up readi ly in to thinfoli a

,which show an odd pecul i ari ty in hardness . Tests

on the broad,flat cleavage surface in a direction perpen

dicular to the length give a resul t of about 7 of the hardness scale

,but in the direc tion of the length , of only 5 .

The pronounced cleavage precludes the use of the mineralfor gem purposes .

MALACHITE AND Az uRITEBoth of these minerals—hydrous carbonates of copper

are secondary,and resul t from the decomposi tion of the

primary copper sulphides through surface waters , the

[ 275 ]


sulphur being los t or carried away in the form of a soluble sulphate

,while the copper combines wi th carbonic

acid to form the two minerals . Malachi te has a characteristic green color and has len t i ts n ame to a common dyeof a similar color—malachi te green . Azuri te

,as i ts name

implies,i s blue

,most frequen tly azure blue

,i n color .

Malachi te assumes vari able forms,most commonly mas

sive,and i s sufli cien tly hard and free from defects to allow

of i ts being cu t in to sheets and used in ornamen tal work .

Such work almos t invari ably takes the form of a veneerof small thin pieces so closely j oined as to give the ap

pearance of a con tinuous sheet . The typical malachi te isbotryoidal in form having the appearance of abunch of grapes) and when cut shows concen tri c bandings of sl ightly vari an t colors l ike the agate . Azuri te andmalach i te sometimes occur together in al ternate bandsas shown in Plate 69 . Both minerals may occur in truecrystal form

,though the malachi te does so less commonly .

Since they are products of al teration by surface waters,

i t n aturally follows that the deposi ts of ei ther mineraloccur superfici ally

,and as the mines grow deeper the

carbonate wi ll di sappear and only the original sulphideremain . The copper mines of Arizona produced at onetime great quanti ties of the copper carbonates

,but have

now reached a depth below the zone of oxidation andyield only sulphides . Russi an copper mines have formany years furn ished a large share of the malach i te ofcommerce

,tha t from the Arizona and other mines occur

ring in smal l velvety masses and disseminated forms notsu i ted for commerci al veneering . The mineral i s ra thertoo soft for j ewelry

,though sometimes so used . The

industry i s largely confined to Russi a .

CALCITE : CARBONATE o r CALCIUMNone of the forms in which this mineral occurs can be

considered as gem materi al i n the accepted sense . Buti f beau ty be a suffi c ien t cri terion

,many varieties among

[ 276 ]



them will j us ti fy s tretching a poin t and the devotion ofa few l ines to their consideration . Calci te

,or calc spar

,

crystall izes under a variety of forms,to which varietal

names are given . N ail-bead sp ar iden tifies crystals theterminations of which resemble the head of an old- fashioned wrought- iron nai l ; dog-tooth spar refers to sharplypoin ted forms l ike a dog ’s tooth ; I celand sp ar includesthe beauti fully clear

,doubly refracting forms from

Iceland used for opti cal purposes and figured on Plate70 ;fl osferri (flower of i ron) , s talacti te, s talagmi te, chalk,l imestone

,and common marble are bu t varietal forms of

the same mineral i n a condi tion of more or less puri ty.

The name satin spar applies to a compact bu t finely fibrousvariety sometimes used in small ornaments . The highes tgrade of s tatuary marble i s bu t an aggregate of smalli rregular calci te granules . For many years a calci tespecies of fossi l coral (Aeeroularia daoidsoni) , from theDevonian beds of Iowa

,has been cu t and polished and

used largely for paper weights and local souvenirs .No more beau ti ful forms of the mineral occur than thetwo erroneously grouped under the names onyx andOriental alaaaster. Onyx proper is a variety of chalcedony ; and alabaster, of gypsum . The misnamed stonesare forms of calc ium carbonate deposi ted from solu t ionin ri fts and caves of l imestone areas or by springs inregions of dying vulcan ism . The cave deposi ts, l ike thestalac ti tes and stalagmi tes which form so in teresting a feature of the caves

,take as a rule a whi te or l ight amber

color,with wavy bandings due to the mode of growth .

So far America has found bu t l i t tle use for this materi al .The ancien t Egyptians however

,uti l ized i t in the manu

facture of “ alabas trons for holding the ashes of the dead,and for small household articles

,as well as for s tatues .

The varie ty deposi ted by springs,presumably hot, re

veals a more variegated color,greens and reds predom i

nating. The so - called Mexican onyx used for the topsof stands

,soda-water fountains

,and the like, i s of this type .

[ 277 ]


Deposi ts of the materi al near Prescot t, Arizona, havebeen u ti l ized of late in the manufac ture of smal l spheresterminating the gear-shi ft of automobiles . The mostnoted deposi ts occur

,however

,i n Mexico

,both on the

pen insula and main land .

14

STAURo LITEThis mineral scarcely belongs among the gems

,though

i ts form,i n part artifici al

,yields i tsel f to decorative pur

poses . Chemically a hydrous si l i ca te of aluminum andiron

,staurolite i s opaque and of a prevai l ing brown color.

I ts in teres t l ies wholly in i ts cruci form or star-shapedcrystals

,which

,when wel l developed

,can wi th the aid

of a fi le or other abras ive ins trumen t be wrough t in toforms sui table for use as charms . The mineral occursabundan tly in certain crystall ine sch is ts in Virgin i a andGeorgi a

,and being somewhat refrac tory under normal

condi tions,remains among other de’éris when the mother

rock weathers away .

One legend concern ing these fairy s tones relates thatwhen Chris t was crucified, e lfin messengers carri ed thenews to all parts of the world . When the t idings reachedthe fairi es in the far-off rugged moun tain regions theyceased their merrymaking and at once began to makethese crosses as memen tos of the sad even t .”

PYRITEPyri te

,a su lphide of i ron , crys tall ized in the form of

cubes or some of thei r modifications,i s hard

,bri t tle

,and of

a lus trous brassy-yellow color. In nei ther color norhardness does i t resemble gold , yet s trangely enough sofrequen tly do men mis take i t for that metal that i t hasearned for i tself the soubriquet of “fool ’s gold . I t mayoccur in rocks of any kind and in all geological horizons .1“See Geo . P . Merril l . T he Onyx Marbles : the ir Origin, Compositio n and Uses, bo thAncien t and Modern . Rep . U S . N at. M us .

,1 893 , pp . 539-5 8 5 ; also S tones for Building

and Decoratio n, (W i ley and Sons) N ew York .

[ 278 ]



consis ts of two or more minerals, principally quartz andfeldspar

,with perhaps mica and other minor consti tuen ts .

Naturally then,rocks occur in larger masses and are for

the most part less su i ted for the purposes we have beendiscussing .

Many of these mineral aggregates, however, call themrocks

,s tones

,or whatever one wills, possess characterist ics

of color and texture which make them eminen tly desirable for ornamental work and the higher grades ofarchi tectural cons truction . I t wil l be worth while toconsider these briefly

,though the subj ec t i tsel f deserves

a volume .

1 5

T H E MARB LES

No exact defini tion for this word exists, dictionaries tothe con trary notwi thstanding . Basing our defini tion onworld-wide usage

,we may say that a marble i s a s tone

composed essenti ally of carbonate of l ime and magnesi apossessing such qual i ties of color

,tex ture

,and perhaps

markings as to render i t sui table for works of art,decora

tion,or the higher grades of archi tectural construct ion .

Yet this l imi ts the word unduly . The green marble, popu

larly called verd-antique, i s an impure serpentinousrock

,whi le the marmor lacedoemon ium viride i s a por

phyritic diabase, an igneous rock . Chemical ly no distinct ion can be drawn between rocks known simply as l imes tones and those called marbles . A compact neu tralcolored s tone

,which the Census of 1 8 80 unhesi tatingly

tabulated as a l imestone, has now,wi th the gradual

change in taste,en tered the market as a marble . The

I tal i an travert ine,which has for many years been imported

as l imestone,wi thou t ques tion , has now become the sub

jec t of a cus toms fight, because American dealers wouldclassi fy i t as a marble for no other reason than to have i tsubj ected to a higher duty in order to “protec t” the15 Geo . P . M erril l . S to nes for Building and Decoratio n , (Wiley 81 Sons) N ew York ,

1 89 1 , 1 897 , 1 903 . Appendix I V gives a b ib l iography o f the subjec t.

[ 280 ]



structed of this material . Alaska has not as yet had herresources sufli cien tly explored for complete knowledge ofthem

,bu t a whi te

,variously clouded and veined s tone of

high grade from the Wrangell I sl and region is now beingproduced by Vermont quarry companies .Of all the purely decorat ive marbles none has shownmore pleas ing colors and configuration than the miscal ledonyx

,best known commerci ally as Mexican onyx . The

true onyx,as noted elsewhere

,i s a variety of chalcedony.

The onyx marble i s a calcareous rock,l ike the travertine

of I taly,a product of deposi tion by hot springs . To

this mode of origin i t owes i ts banded structure andtranslucency. Stones of thi s nature occur near Prescottand Phoenix

,Arizona

,to a l imi ted exten t in Cali fornia

,i n

Mexico proper,and at N ew Pedrara

,abou t hal f way

down the peninsula of Lower Cal i forn ia . The colorsrun from green to a cream tin t, often beau tifully veined.

Unfortunately poor taste in i ts use and in i ts adoptionfor drug-s tore and bar-room coun ters has brought thiss tone in to discredi t . Of the same general nature bu t ofa cream-whi te to almost golden-yellow tin t are the s talac tites and stalagmi tes i n our l imestone caves, parti cularlythroughou t the southeastern S tates . In composi tion

,

mode of formation,and general aspect

,these resemble

iden tical ly the Egypti an “Orien tal alabas ter .” The nameconsti tu tes a misnomer s ince this s tone i s a very pure calcium carbonate whi le true alabaster i s a variety of gypsum ,

a sulphate of calcium . No serious attempts have beenmade to uti l ize this s tone in America . The Egyptiansused i t i n the manufacture of their “alabas trons (hencethe name) , various arti cles of the toi let, and even statues .An occasional pedestal of foreign manufacture for a bustor statue may be found in our art galleries

,bu t nothing

else . A most s ingular i llustrat ion of the misuse of thematerial i s offered in a Virgin ia cemetery where i t has beenmade in to tombstones .As a whole

,coarser crystal l ization characterizes the

[ 282 ]


American marbles in comparison wi th many of the imported variet ies . None of the domes tic quarries producesa dense

,close grained s tone l ike those of Siena

,I taly

,

or of northern Africa,nor highly brecc i ated varieties

l ike those of Gragnana and Seravezza in I taly.

GYP SUM : ALABASTERGypsum is a hydrous sulphate of calcium

,snow-whi te

when pure , but often colored and clouded in all shadesof gray . The whi te, compact varie ty consti tu tes thealabaster of commerce, so generally used for carvings instatuettes and smaller works of art . I t i s too soft foruse where subj ect to wear, and soils too readi ly to makei t des irable material where exposed to handl ing or theweather . A compact bu t finely fibrous si lky variety

,

known for i ts luster under the name “satin spar,

” 16 suppl ies a favorable material for the manufacture of souvenirs

,and i s a t times even cu t in to beads, though their

softness renders them short- l ived . The common comm ercial variety occurs in beds sometimes of great thickness and extent

,and i s used as a land plaster or in the

manufacture of plas ter of paris . I t often crystall izesin giant crystals which have a pronounced cleavage parallel to one of the faces

,yielding beauti fu l transparen t

fol ia . The untrained mis take i t for mica, from which,however

,i t may be dis tinguished by i ts softness and the

elastic i ty of the foli a . The pale,soft color of this form

led the mineralogis t Wallerius to name i t selen ite, from aGreek word mean ing “moon .

”

M YST I CAL PROPERT I E SAlabaster

,according to Leonardus, serves bes t for

vessels to hold unguents,as i t preserves them wi thou t

spoi l ing . Dioscorides and many other doctors of an tiqui tyaccounted i t good in medicine . He who carried i t wouldprove Vi c torious in su i ts at-law . I t i s doubtfu l whether16A fibrous varie ty o f calcite passes under this same name.

[ 283 ]


the material here referred to was not the so-cal led Orien talalabas ter

,a carbonate of l ime .

SERPENTIN ELike calci te

,serpen tine can scarcely be considered

a gem or a precious s tone ; nevertheless, i n some of i tsphases i t surely displays sufficien t beauty to meri t at

ten t ion here . Of a prevai l ing greenish color,variously

streaked and mottled,the ancien t world used serpentine

,

call ing i t verd-antique marble whatever i ts source . Thename serpen tine derives from the Latin serp entinus (ser

pen tlike ) , presumably because of i ts spotted colors whichrange through gray-green to bright green

,yel low

,and

black, sometimes spot ted wi th red . The stone is of closetexture and i s used extensively as a marble . I t requirescare in production and handling owing to the only toonumerous dry seams which traverse i t and which resul tfrom i ts origin through oxidat ion and hydration from amassive igneous rock . Properly used, i t adapts i tsel f wellto certain forms of in terior decoration

,though the green

color i s necessari ly cold and needs to be used wi th disc retion .

Widespread in i ts dis tribution , the s tone occurs ingreater or less abundance in al l of the Appalachian S tates

,

and to an as yet unknown exten t in the areas west of thefron t range of the Rocky Mountains . Small depos i tsrender many occurrences of l i t tle consequence ; the smal lamoun t of desirable materi al i n some large deposi tsdecreases their value

,as i s the case wi th the will i amsi te

varie ty i n Pennsylvania . Roxbury,Vermont, produces

a beau ti ful deep-green s tone mottled wi th dark blotchesand whi te veins and streaks

,which ' finds extens ive

use for in teriors and facings of business houses . Thisi s probably the most widely known of American serpen

t ines, and, wi th the poss ible exception of some Pennsylvani an and Maryland occurrences

,the only one that com

petes in our market wi th the imported I tal i an materi al .

[ 284 ]



now i n use i n America comes from I taly and Greece . TheLizard dis tric t in southern England

,however

,produces one

of the most noted of the foreign serpen tines . The s tonevaries from grayish to deep green , often red and greenspotted

,and i s admirab ly su i ted for ornamen tal columns

,

bases for s tatuettes, and so on . I n years pas t an attemptwas made to work i t as a marble for general in terioruse bu t the j oin ting so characteri s t ic of the s tone causedi ts fai lure . Scores of private individuals in the nearbylocal i ty now work i t up in to small obj ec ts of more or lessarti s ti c qual i ty .

The Chinese work a very dense compac t serpentinousrock known as Yu Yen i n to small obj ec ts

,many of which

are sold as j ade .

GRANITE

The grani ti c rocks are bet ter su i ted to the more massive forms of arch i tectural work than for purely decorativeeffec ts . Nevertheless

,many of them

,owing to co lor and

structural features,may be u til ized to advantage . I n

deed,a peculiar varieta l form occurring in smal l j oin t

blocks in the moun tains of Virgin i a and North Carol ina,

known as unaléite, has been used in canoe/i on forms qui teeffectively. (Plate 7 1 , Fig . The s tone comes in abeauti fu l pink

,mottled wi th green and speckled wi th

black . Certain of the Maine gran i tes Show large porphyritic crys tals of l ight flesh-pink orthoclase embedded in thefiner gray ground . The pink

,greenspotted gran i te o f

Mi lford,Massachuset ts

,or that of Stony Creek

,Con

nec ticu t,with i ts wavy bands of varying hues of pink

and gray,are well adapted to in terior as well as exterior

uses and may properly be classed as ornamen tal . Theform of pegmati te known as graphic gran ite, thoughlacking in color

,possesses a un ique characteri s ti c in a

letter- l ike figuration . The so -called porphyries, l ike therosso antieo of Egypt, are prominen tly developed in manyparts of the country . Those of eastern Massachuset ts and

[ 286 ]

Sem i-prec ious sto nes

1 . Fo ssi l wo od . 2 . Sodal i te . 3 . Am azo nsto ne . 4. Varisc i te .

5 . Jasper. 6 . T iger-eye . 7 . Chrysoprase . 8 . Varisc i te , 9 . Unak i te .

10 . Lapis- laz u l i . 1 1 . Malach i te



red tone perhaps generally prevail ing. The material,

though hard,badly j oin ted

,and ob tain able in blocks of

bu t very moderate dimensions, could yet be worked up toadvantage

,had one the necessary originali ty in taste .

These rocks are described in detail by Geo . W. S to se i n areport of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey.

17

JAS PERY HEM ATITEA unique s tone for in terior ornamen ts

,urns

,newel

posts, and so on , i s offered by a lean type of iron ore fromthe I shpeming dis tri c t of Michigan . The materi al consis ts of an admixture of deep blue-black hemati te andred j asper

,arranged at times in contorted al te rnating

bands,and again as sharply angular fragmen ts of j asper

in the hemati te . A 5- inch sphere of the lat ter type is onexhib i tion in the mineral hal l of the National Museum .

17 Mineral Resources o fAdams County, Pa. , Bull. C-I , P enn. Geol. S urvey, 1925 .

[ 288 ]

CHAPTER V

SYNTHETI C GEM S

T H E great value of precious s tones has led man toexert e y ery effort to solve the mysteries that surroundtheir origin and to duplicate

,i f possible

,the more valuable

varieties . A syntheti c gem is one prepared in the laboratory

,and which

,in i ts chemica l and physical properties

i s iden tical with the natural s tone . That man producesthe one and nature the other

,forms the only essenti al

difference .Naturally enough

,the diamond

,as the mos t valued

and popular of all gems,firs t a t trac ted in teres t in this

field,and numerous more or less ingen ious at tempts to

produce i t have been made . The experimen ts of H .

Moissan came nearest success,al though the diamonds

produced were barely vis i ble to the naked eye . The ex

perimen ter obtained them by saturating mol ten ironwi th carbon at the temperature of the elec tri c arc andplunging the mol ten mass in to cold water . The massof i ron was then dissolved in acid and the res idue sub

jec ted to the laborious process of extracting the diamondswi th the aid of a microscope . Commerci ally

,we are far

from being able to produce artifici a l diamonds, and i tmay never become practicable .Outs tanding success has met the efforts in one group

of minerals,th at of syn theti c rub ies and sapphires . These

are now manufactured on a large scale,one plan t in Ger

many having a productive capaci ty of five mill ion caratsa month . The synthetic gems differ from the natural

[ 289 ]


stones in such minor details that often the expert findsi t difficu l t and the layman qui te impossib le to detectthe difference . Verneui l , devised the apparatus for producing these syn theti c corundums . Finely ground alumina

,the substance of the ruby and sapphire

,i s s i fted upon

a clay support which a b lowpipe,burn ing a mixture of

oxygen and hydrogen,heats to a high temperature . The

part icles fuse and gather together as a small drop whichgrows by accretion of fine dust from above . In th is waya pear-shaped drop i s formed

,called a boule or birne

,

varying in weight from thirty-five to two hundred andfifty carats .At firs t the manufacturers powdered fragmen ts

,re

jec ts, and other undesirable n atura l s tones, and reformedthem in to gems . These were cal led reconstructed gems .N ow they employ chemically pure alumina

,to which i s

added an appropri ate amoun t of co loring compounds .To produce the ruby

,chromium oxide i s added ; for the

the sapph ire,the oxides of iron and ti tan ium . Green and

yellow s tones may also be produced,and by use of vana

dium a stone somewhat resembl ing the alexandri te i sformed . Spinels of a beauti fu l color may be obtainedin the same manner .In chemical composi tion and all physical properties

,

these synthetic gems are iden ti cal wi th those occurring innature and may appropri ately be called rub ies and sap

phires. I t Shou ld be borne in mind by the prospect ivebuyer that the corundum group supplies the only synthetic gems now commerci ally produced . The unscru

pu lous or ignoran t sel l them as syn thetic emerald, oralexandri te, a decidedly fraudulen t practice .

Syntheti c rub ies and sapphires can be ob tained a tprices varying from two to three dollars a carat . Anatural ruby

,on the other hand

,may bring as much as

three thousand dollars a carat . Fortunately for the rubyminer

,many persons of taste and discrimination sti l l

prefer the natural s tones .

[ 290 ]



But whether or no the individual obj ects of a collect ionpossess a value that may be expressed in dollars and centsis a secondary consideration . The real value in i ts indulgence finds expression in the rel ief afforded from monotonyprofessional or business tasks

,or a men tal tonic and

exci tement inciden t to pursu i t and acquisi t ion .

1

There is,moreover

,i n many cases a dis tinc t esthetic

gain,as when the growing collect ion is of materi als such

as to exci te discriminative care and selec tion and,i t may

be,a knowledge of techn ique .

Of the hundreds of invi t ing fields open to the col lectorwe can here consider bu t one—that of n atural obj ects ofthe mineral kingdom

,the varied shapes and colors

,high

indices o f refraction,and consequen t beau ty of which

have made them sought in some of their varie ties bypeoples o f al l national i t ies and stages of civi l ization s incetime immemori al .The true collector

,i t may be remarked

,i s not sat isfied

with mere perfect ion of crystal forms,their rari ty or

beau ty ; he must know their l i fe h istory, as i t were , thecondi tions under which they have originated and thetransformations

,i f any

,they may undergo . He will dis

cover that quartz i s one of the mos t s table as well as themos t widespread of minerals ; that i t may occur in goodcrys tall ine form in the cavi ties and ri fts

,not only of

grani t ic and gneissi c rocks,bu t in sandstone

,as at the

noted Hot Springs region in Arkansas ; i n cavi t ies of l imestone

,as in Herkimer Coun ty

,N ew York ; i n slates,

sch ists,and elsewhere . Beryls and topazes he learns to

look for in the veins of pegmati te whence come our comm ercial supply of mica and feldspar. Tourmal ines , greenand red

,he finds in these same veins only where the

1 I t is to ld of Prof. Geo . J . Brush that when worried and vexed over adm inistrationproblems he wou ld lay them aside and resort to his co l lec tion o fm inerals for re laxation.

T he late Secre tary Walco tt o f the Sm ithsonian Institution would do the sam e with hisco l lec tion o f fossils, whic h he kept in a room adj acent to his Office . M r. F. A. Canfield

wou ld spend hours in the recreation o f c leaning the matrix from a particu larly finecrystal, and Co lone l Ro eb ling rare ly le t a day pass that he was no t “at play” with hisco l lec tion .

[ 292 ]

COLLECTIONS AND COLLECTORS

orthoclase has by chemical processes been replaced byalb i te . The almandine garnet i s widespread as a constituen t of schis ts and gneisses , while grossulari te, or c i nnamon garnet

,i s a consti tuen t of l imestone . Peridots are

found in basal t ic rocks and diamonds in peridot i tes .He wil l learn also to distinguish between primary and

secondary minerals—between those which form wi th theoriginal consol idation of the rock and those which come inafterwards

,as the zeol i tes and opal . Turquoise i s not an

original consti tuen t of the rock where found,bu t as

s ta ted elsewhere,i s a secondary product along zones of

shat tering and decomposi t ion .

There are minerals,too

,that are al teration products

,as

serpentine after ol ivine,and pseudomorphs

,or fal se forms

,

such as are assumed by l imoni te al tered from pyr i te . Allnatural substances are susceptible to change under thechanging condi tions of heat and cold

,moisture and

dryness,and even the hardes t and toughest of rocks wi l l

i n t ime break down to clay and sand .

To derive the u tmost satisfac tion from collecting i t i snot enough that one remain at his desk and mai l h i s ordersfrom a prin ted catalogue . He wi th whom the tas te i s inborn wil l obtain h i s chief j oy through the finding of thingsfor himsel f. He wil l prowl among the stal ls of dealers inold books ; haun t the rooms of the auctioneer and otherpurveyors of “used” articles from dismantled households ;or, i f he be one of the elect o f whom I am wri ting, t herefuse pi les o f mines and quarries . He who has not himsel f unearthed

,through perhaps hours of labor i n soi l and

muck,some rare treasure to be added to hi s hoard

,has

ye t to taste the supreme del ight of h is adopted call ing. Weknow of a retired business man who finds congenialoccupation in seeking ou t for himsel f in teres tingly coloredor marked b i ts o f minerals and grinding them into variousforms and shapes such as when polished are en ti tled toconsideration as gems .The collecting of minerals i s not to be regarded as wholly

[ 293 ]


a hobby for the en tertainmen t and divers ion of the few .

Recen t advances in science and industry,parti cularly

during and s ince the latewar,have developed many uses for

minerals heretofore l i t tl e dreamed of; and in seeking sourcesof supply

,exis ting collections have proved of ines timable

value . This may be i l lustrated by the sudden demandduring the late war for so common a minera l as quartzfor various uses in connection wi th the transmissionof sound, when collections the coun try over were ransacked for materi al of the desired quali ty . Beryllium

,

the essen tial consti tuen t of beryl,i s becoming o f value in

the construction o f motors for aeroplanes,and an adequate

source of supply may become an importan t problem .

Polluci te,heretofore regarded as an in teres ting chemi cal

compound,suddenly becomes of commerci al value as a

source of the e lemen t caes ium for radio tubes ; and thecommonplace and heretofore l i t tle prized minerals

,

andalus i te,s i l l imani te

,and cyan i te

,are being u ti l ized

to give s trength to the porcelain spark plugs in automobi leengines . Hence i t i s that the larger museums have madestrenuous efforts to build up their collec tions

,and in so

doing have sought far and near for new sources ofsupply.

The American Museum ofN ew York,the Field Museum

of Chicago,the Bri tish Museum

,and the National M u

seum of Washington,as wel l as the museums of Harvard

and Yale Universi ties and those of the Univers i t ies of Parisand Vienna

,have been particularly active in this direction

and have each accumulated m any thousands of specimensof a value diffi cul t to estimate or indeed to comprehend .

As has been noted,minerals not only possess a fasci

nation for the collector on accoun t of their variety ofbeauti fu l forms and colors

,bu t they are of al l natural

his tory obj ec ts bes t adapted to his purpose on accountof their comparative permanence and indestruct ib i l i tyunder ordinary care . The fact tha t many of the lessvaluable varie ties are of such color and physical proper

[ 294 ]



alogist and Troost, who had studied under the Frenchmineralogis t Hauy

,the first crystallographer . The firs t

mineral cabinet to be publicly exhibi ted in the Uni tedStates was

,according to G . B . Goode

,

5 that brought fromEurope in 1 790 (Gordon says 1 794) by David Hosack,the botanist and founder of the firs t American botan icalgarden . This collect ion passed subsequently in to thepossession of Princeton Universi ty where i ts iden ti ty became lost . Seybert ’ s cab inet, the second brought over,has been kept in tact in i ts original condi tion in theAcademy of Natural Sciences i n Phi ladelphia

,where are

also to be found those of Sylvanus Godon,above men

tioned, and others of later date, as Thos . M c en ( 1799Samuel Ashmead (died Geo . W . Carpenter

( 1 802 and W. S . Vaux ( 1 8 1 1 The las tnamed

,which was for i ts t ime one of the finest in Amer

ica,has since been probab ly equaled by that of George

Vaux, Jr.

,also of Philadelphia . Mr . F . A . Canfie ld i n a

pamphlet i ssued in 19236 enumerated 1 80 i ndividual

American collectors who had made,each

,one or more

collections which in later years passed over to publi cmuseums

,universi ties, or back into the hands of dealers to

be redistribu ted . Many of these collections were of a highorder and of very considerable value from a monetarystandpoint . A collection contain ing some individualspecimens made by Clarence S . Bement of Philadelphiawas rated a t the t ime ( 1 890—1 900) as the finest i n Americaand one of the finest i n the world. This was a t thelates t date mentioned sold to Pierpon t Morgan andpresen ted to the American Museum of Natural Historyin N ew York . Bemen t ( 1 843—1923 ) was a weal thy manufacturer who turned to the making of collections as arecreation and spared nei ther time nor funds in pursu i tof his hobby . Having followed one l ine as long as i tfurn ished adeq uate returns, he would sell h is collection andl5Op . c it .

3 T he Final Disposition o fSome American Co l lec tions o fMinerals. (Private ly prin ted .)

PLATE 72

Jam es Sm i thson, founder of the Sm ithson ian Inst i tut ion

PLATE 73

( I ) C . S . Bem en t ; (2) W . S . Vaux ; (3) George Vaux ;(4) Isaac Lea



sion bridge . In seeking relaxation from the strain on aweakened physique he turned h is atten tion to the colleeting of minerals . Unable to undergo the physica ldiscomforts of travel and active work in the field

,bu t for

tunate ly endowed wi th the necessary financial means,

he did a l arge share of h is collec ting by correspondence,

and there i s probably not a dealer or collec tor of importance in the world who has not in h i s fi les one or moreletters wri t ten in the fine

,almost womanly hand for

which the Colonel was noted . He sought not merely thebeautifully developed specimens

,bu t those that were

rare—indeed, h is aim was to secure a represen tat iveof every known mineral however insign ifican t and un

in teresting in appearance i t may have been . While noth imsel f a man of research in mineralogy he fully appre

ciated the work of those that were, and h is materi als,even the choices t

,were always accessi ble to au then ti c

workers . His collection at the time of h is death comprised some individual specimens

,l acking bu t

abou t a dozen represen tatives of every known welldefined species . I ts great value lay not more in the rarebeau ty and excellence of some Of the specimens than ini ts completeness .Among the more s triking obj ects of the collec tion is awonderful blue apati te from Auburn

,Maine ; two fine

tri l l ings of chrysoberyl ; a collection of Arkansas diamonds ;a wel l developed cub ical crys tal of black di amond

,1 5 mm .

in diameter ; two large pink tourmalines said to beamong the finest known

,from Mesa Grande

,Cal i forn i a ;

a beauti fu l wine-red cu t topaz weighing carats ; aCleavage section of a mons ter topaz weighing some fortyfive pounds ; and a magnificen t series of opals includingthe larges t known black mass

,s ti l l uncu t

,weighing

ounces avoirdupois . I t i s an in teres ting idiosyncrasy ofthe man that he would accept from a member of his fami lyas a presen t a mineral he would not h imself buy on accoun tof i ts high price . After h is death the col lection

,together

[ 298 ]


wi th a generous endowmen t for i ts care and fu ture growth,

was presen ted by his son,John A . Roebling, to the

National Museum .

A composi te collec tion to which the National Museumhas lately fallen heir was bu i l t up through three success ive generations of the same family . The nucleus wasformed by Mr. Mahlon Dickerson , of Dover, N . J .

,who

began collec ting in the early part of the n ineteen thcen tury . His collection passed in to the hands of hisnephew

,Frederick Canfie ld, Sr ., who added to i t unti l

i t comprised some specimens,when in turn i t

came in to the hands of his son of the same name . Theyounger Canfie ld kept this collection in tact, bu ilding upone of his own independently, to which he added from timeto time

,and on his death in 1926 willed the en tire lo t,

which comprised some specimens,to the National

Museum . Canfie ld was a min ing engineer, who, l ikeothers of his profess ion

,traveled extens ively and was

thus ab le to secure many rare and valuab le specimens ,both by purchase and in the field . That portion of thecollection formed by his father and Mahlon Dickersoncomprised no t merely materi als from class i c European 10calities, bu t was of dist inctive value on accoun t of materi alscollected previous to 1 860 from areas no longer avai lable .I t included large crystal groups

,some of them hundreds

of pounds in weight,of j efferson i te

,franklin i te

,gahni te

,

garnet,and many fine masses of calamine

,z inci te

,etc .

,

of a quali ty not equaled elsewhere . Of the materi aladded by himself the mos t noteworthy was a series ofBolivian s i lver ores and an iron meteori te weighing fortytwo pounds . These ores include the larges t known massof argyrodi te

,a mineral consis ting largely of the rare

elemen t germanium . There i s also a large cleavagepiece of topaz weighing n inety-five pounds kilograms) and en tire su i tes of such rare minerals as ben i toi te,nep tun ite , etc .Possessed of a sufficien t income

,Mr . Canfield subsi

[ 299 ]


dized workmen in the rai lway tunnels and s tone quarriesof northern New Jersey to gather for h im the choices tspecimens as the work progressed

,and his professional

connection wi th the mines a t Franklin Furnace enabledhim to keep pace wi th the new and rare minerals constan tly found there . I t was h is endeavor

,so far as

practicable,to con tinually improve the quali ty of his

collection by replacing inferior wi th better specimens ofthe same mineral as opportun i ty ofl ered. Occasionallya newly described mineral or a new find would apparen tlytake his fancy and he would obtain a complete sui tei f such were avai lable . Such sui tes of beni toi te

,nep tunite ,

b ixbyi te,etc .

,mentioned above as found in the col

lec tion,are now well-nigh priceless . Many of the speci

mens owe much of thei r beau ty and value to the longhours of pains taking work which he spen t in removingthe matrix from crystal groups .Mr . Canfie ld never married, bu t may be said to have

been wedded to his collection . After the death of hismother he l ived in a pic turesque house s i tuated in a groveof p ines on a hi ll top, near Dover, N ew Jersey

,wi th no

compan ions other than an elderly housekeeper and agardener. His t ime was largely given up to h is hobbiesfirst

,his minerals ; second, hi s coins, of which he had a

very valuable assemblage ; and third, the s tudy of hisfamily his tory and genealogy . The mineral collection washoused in beau ti fu l oak and mahogany cabinets

,the

specimens neatly labeled,catalogued

,and numbered .

Mr . A . F . Holden of Cleveland,Ohio

,who made one

of the larges t and finest o f recen t collec tions,was in 1 8 8 8

a graduate of Harvard where he had achieved fame as afootball player . Selec ting min ing engineering as h i sprofess ion he shortly became possessed of a cons iderableincome, and his in teres t becoming aroused by the beautyin color and form of the crystal l ized orpimen t from themercury mines of Utah

,he entered the l i s ts as a co lle c tor

in 1 895 , wi th more than a fai r s tart, and shortly ou tranked

[ 300 ]



bu t himself collected,and in 1904 sold his collection

to the Carnegie Museum at Pi ttsburgh for more than

Thus far we have mentioned on ly what may be calledgeneral collections

,i .e .

,collec tions which ranged through

ou t the en tire field of mineralogy . Many collec tors,how

ever,confined themselves to special groups or regions .

One of the most celebrated collections of Maine tourmalines

,a few years ago, was that of A . G . Hamlin of

Bangor,Maine

,who limi ted himself wholly to the beauti

fu l green products of the feldspar mines a t Pari s Hill .This was firs t described by him wi th colored illus trations

,

natural s ize,i n a l i ttle volume enti tled The Tourmaline in

1 873 ,and later in a larger work

,The H istory of M ount

M ica, published in 1 895 . The collec tion was later pur

chased by Mr. James Garland of N ew York Ci ty and

presen ted to Harvard Univers i ty .

Messrs . John Daniels and W . E . Parnall of Ca lumet,

Michigan,and Charl ie Quarles of Milwaukee in terested

themselves chiefly in their own local i t ies and made largecollections of minerals from the Lake Superior coppermines

,that of the las t mentioned having later passed in to

the possession of the Milwaukee Publ ic Museum . Acollect ion made by B . B . Chamberlain of N ew York City,which was purchased by the New York MineralogicalClub and i s now i n the American Museum of NaturalHistory

,consisted exclusively of minerals found on Man

hattan Island . A collection made by Prof. G . J . Brushwas especially noteworthy for the perfection of crystalliz at ion of many of i ts individuals and the number of types

,

i .e .,specimens that had served as the basis for description

of the species . This collec tion,valued at he

presented to the Sheflield Scientific School .Still other collec tors are even more l imi ted in their

range,confining themselves to minerals of perfect crystal

developmen t or to those of gem qual i ty . A collec tion ofcu t s tones in a case prepared to be carried in the pocket

[ 302 ]

PLATE 74

( 1 ) Washington A . Ro eb l ing ; (2) F . A . Canfield;

(3) George F. Kunz ; (4) \V. S . D isbrow



chester collec tion con tain ing in teres ting materi al from theErie Cut through Bergen Hill

, presen ted to the PublicLibrary of Fall River

,Massachuset ts ; the H . D . Miller

collec tion of extra quali ty of some specimens,given

to the Hartford,Connecticu t

,museum in 19 14 ; and the

Theodore D . Rand collec tion of upward of specimens

,presen ted by his daughter to Bryn Mawr College .

Among collec tors s ti ll active,mention must be made of

George F. Kunz,now of Tiffany and Company

,N ew

York,known throughou t the commerci al world as an

expert on gems and as a col lector of minerals whereverthe call ing finds a practi tioner . Born in N ew York, aregion abounding in minerals and with ah i ngrained tastefor the pursui t

,he began collec ting as a mere you th and

while ye t in h i s “ teens” had sold h i s firs t collec tion tothe Universi ty of Minnesota for something l ike $400 .

From the s tart thus made he has fol lowed consis ten tlythe profess ion o f collector and dealer and has capi tal izedhis acquired knowledge to the mutual benefi t of himselfand the trade . During al l the years since the date ofhis firs t sale he has dri fted more and more in to the speci aliz ed l ine of gem s tones

,and has wri t ten several au thori

tative treatises on the subj ec t . Today he i s recogn izedas a leading authori ty and a member of the most widelyknown of American j ewelers ’ establ ishments . I t i s asafe s tatemen t tha t there i s no col lec tion of note inthe Uni ted States tha t has in it—parti cularly i f i t be acollec tion of precious s tones—materi al i n the securing ofwhich Dr . Kunz has not had a hand .

Mention should also be made of the geni al Dr. W. S .

Disbrow,who collected not for h imself but for others .

His systematic series he deposi ted in the Newark,N ew

Jersey,pub lic l ibrary

,bu t many of his fines t specimens

from the trap rocks and z inc mines of N ew Jersey weregiven to the National Museum . He was a man of unusual j udgment and ranged widely ; old si lver andcoins

,together wi th rare books

,were promptly gathered

[ 304 ]


in whenever h is prac tice as a family physici an permi t ted,and almost as promptly parted wi th did he find theywould be of greater value elsewhere than in his owncollec tions .One of the mos t inveterate of collec tors of mineralsand meteori tes—both as collector and dealer—was thelate H . A . Ward of Rochester, N ew York

,founder of the

wel l known Ward ’s Natura l Science Establi shmen t . Notsatisfied wi th buying and sell ing to others

,he gave free

rein to hi s hobby and buil t up for h imself one of the numerically larges t meteori te collections i n the world, which afterhis death became the property of the Field Museum ofNatural His tory in Chicago . Having once heard of ameteori te

,s tone or iron

,fal l or find

,Ward was never

satisfied unti l he had secured a sample—it migh t be everso small— for h i s collection . In pursu i t o f h is hobby hewandered li teral ly al l over the earth

,examining every

collec tion and exchanging,begging

,or buying materials .

He was a man of wonderfu l en thusi asm and agreeab lepersonal i ty and did not hes i tate to exercise any or al lof his powers of persuasion

,l inguisti c or financial

,to

accomplish his purpose .

CHAPTER VII

THE CUTTING OF GEM S

I T i s a fair assumption , i f indeed i t be not a proven fact,that when primi tive or ancien t man selected a stone forgem purposes he based hi s selec tion wholly on a consideration of color . Even the Navaho Indian of the presen ttime comes down to his trading post wearing a necklaceof rough b i ts of turquoise

,and records of primi tive man

in al l ages tel l the same s tory . Indeed, unti l the customof cutting s tones in faceted form came in to vogue

,l i t tle

else could be expected . The great diamonds of his toryfai led to real ize their full beauty unti l recut by modernmethods .A gem stone i s cu t to improve i ts appearance and bring

out i ts h idden beauties . Many pi ec1ous s tones en tirelylack appeal in the rough s tate ; even the diamond hidesthe fire which chiefly recommends i t . Each individualmineral presen ts differen t problems according to the effectdesi red . We strive for the fire in the diamond

,bu t for the

pure blue color in the sapphire ; hence these call for differen t treatment .The form in to which a gem should be cu t depends pri

mari ly upon whether i t i s transparen t,translucen t

,or

opaque . In the las t case,since faceted cu tting adds

nothing to the gem,a smoothly rounded surface i s em

ployed . Face ting will bes t bring ou t the beau ty of thetransparen t s tone . In this group the index of refractionof the mineral and the degree of i ts dispersion of l ightfurther influence the cu t . I ts proportions mus t be sodetermined as to return the maximum amoun t of l ight

[ 306 ]



2. Bounded by curved surfacesDouble cabo chon cut .

S ingle cabochon cut .

Ho l low cabochon cut .

3 . Bounded by curved and plane surfaces : Mixed cabo chon cu t .

BRI LLI AN T CUT

The bril l ian t cu t may be described as two truncatedpyramids placed base to base . The upper pyramid iscalled the crown

,and i s so truncated as to give a large

plane surface ; the lower one, called the pavilion,termi

n ates almos t in a poin t . The l ine of union of the twopyramids i s called the girdle, and i s the wides t part o f thes tone . This fashion of cut, though occasionally modified as to the s ize, mutual proportions , and even the number of facets

,requ ires

,when perfect

, 5 8 facets . The uppermost facet i s called the crown

,and i s formed by removing

one- third of the thickness of the fundamental octahedron ;the lowermost facet i s cal led the culet

,or collet, and is

formed by removing one-eighteen th of the thickness o f thes tone (a and t , i n text fig. The triangular facets touching the table (S in c

,fig. 9) are called star facets ; those

touching the girdle fal l i n to two groups, skillfacets (E in c)

and skewfacets (D in c) . The corner facets touching thetable and girdle on the crown (B in c) , and the cule t andgirdle on the pavi l ion (Q in d) are called quoi .ns Thefacets between the quoins

,and touching the table and

girdle when on the crown,and the culet and girdle when

on the pavi l ion,are called

,respect ively

,acz el facets (A

in c) and pavilion facets (P in d) . The total number offacets are distri buted as follows : 1 table

,1 6 Skil l facets

,

16 skew facets,8 s tar facets

,8 quoins

, 4 bezel facets , 4pavil ion facets

,and 1 cule t

,as shown in c

,d,and e of the

text figure,represent ing the top

,side

,and bottom views

of a bri ll i an t wi th 5 8 facets . Occasionally the cut i smodified by cutting extra facets around the cu let, making66 i n all .

[ 308

THE CUTTING OF GEMS

The bril l i an t cu t i s especi ally appl ied to the diamond,and when perfec t should be of the following proportionsFrom the table to the girdle

,one-third

,and from the girdle

to the culet,two- thirds of the total . The diameter of

F I G . 9 . T he bri ll ian t . a and t , m anner in which the bri l l ian t isderived from the fundam en tal form ; c, d, and e, top, S i de , and backV iews o f bri ll ian t w i th 5 8 face ts; f , g, and lz, top , s ide , and back views

ofmodified bri ll ian t w i th 66 face ts

the table should be four-n in ths of the breadth of thestone . When appl ied to other s tones these proportionsare more or less modified to sui t their individual opticalconstan ts .

[ 309 ]


DOUB LE BRI LLIANT CUT

The double bri ll i an t,or Lisbon

,cu t differs from the ful l

bri ll i an t in having the foundation squares divided horiz o n tally in to two tri angular facets, 74 i n all . The figureshows top (a) , s ide (a) , and bottom (c) Views of thisfashion .

C

F I G . 10 . T he double bri ll ian t . T op a,side a, and back c, views

HA LF BRI LLI AN T CUT

The half bri ll i an t,s ingle

,or old English cu t i s the s im

plest form of the bri ll i an t, and i s generally employed fors tones too small to admi t of numerous facets . Thefigure shows top (a) and side (5 ) views of thi s s tyle of cu t .Occasionally the top is cu t so as to form a s tar (c i n fig. 1 1 )and then called Engl ish s ingle cu t .

0

F I G . 1 1 . T he half bri ll ian t . T op a ,and s ide 5

,views o f the half bri ll ian t .

I n c the top is cut in the form o f a star,then cal led Engl ish bri ll ian t

[ 3 10 ]



equilateral tri angles,whose apices touch the girdle

,and

these triangles,by the prolongation of their poin ts, form

a s tar .

F I G . 14. T he star cu t . Fron t a,and back 5 , views

ROS E CUT

The rose cu t differs from the brill i an t cu t in that thecrown consis ts of tri angular or s tar facets

,whose apices

meet at the poin t or crown of the rose . The base l in esof these s tar facets form the base l ines for a row of ski l lfacets whose apices touch the girdle

,leaving spaces

which are each cut in to two facets . The base may beflat or the bottom may be cu t l ike the crown

,making a

double rose or briole t te cu t . The shape of a rose- cu ts tone may be circular

,oval or indeed any other that the

rough gem may permi t .

b c

F I G . 1 5 . T he rose cu t . a and 5,top and side views ; c, s ide view o f

doub le rose

THE CUTTING OF GEMS

TRAP OR STEP CUT

In the trap or s tep cu t the facets run longi tudinallyaround the s tone from the tab le to the girdle and from thegirdle to the cu let . There are usually bu t two or threesets of s tep facets from the tab le to the girdle, whi le thenumber of s teps from the girdle to the cu let dependsupon the thickness and color of the s tone . The fash ion i sbes t adapted to emeralds and other colored stones .

16 . Upper and under si des o f trap cut

STEP BRI LLIANT OR M IXED CUT

Here the form from cu let to girdle i s the same as thatof the trap cu t

,whi le from the girdle to the tab le the s tone

is bri l l i an t cu t,or the opposi te .

F I G . 17 . T he step bri ll iant cut

[ 3 13 ]


TAB LE CUT

The table cu t consis ts simply of a greatly developedtable and cule t meeting the girdle wi th beveled edges .Occasionally the 8 edge facets are replaced by a borderof 1 6 or more facets .

F I G . 1 8 . T op and side V iews o f tab le cu t

CA BOCHON CUT

The cabochon cut i s usually appl ied to opaque,trans

lucen t,deep-colored

,or chatoyant s tones . The double

cabochon i s usually cu t wi th a smaller curvature on thebase than on the crown . The single cabochon is a charac teristic cu t for the turquoise . The hollow cabochoni s adapted to very deep-colored transparen t s tones . Themixed cabochon has ei ther the edge or s ide faceted, orboth . In all of the cabochon cuts the arches may be ofa varying degree of flatness

,depending upon the nature

of the S tone .

(1

F I G . 19. T he cabochon cu t . a,the single cabo chon ; a, the doub le

cabochon ; c, the ho l low cabochon ; d, flat or tallow top cabochon ;e,m ixed cabo chon .


CHAPTER VIII

GEM S M ENTIONED IN THE BIBLE

T H E Bible con tains three l i s ts of gems . The firs t o fthese i s an accoun t of j ewels on the ephod of Aaron . Theephod i s descri bed as having a fron t part and a backpart fas tened at each shoulder wi th an onyx mounted ingold and engraved wi th the names of the chi ldren ofIsrael

,s ix on each s tone

,to memorial ize the Lord of the

promise made to them (Exodus, xxvi i i, 6 Thebreastplate was made of the same materi al as the ephod

,

and folded so as to form a kind of a pouch in whichthe Urim and Thummim were placed (Exodus, xxxix,The external part of this gorget

,or “breastplate of

j udgmen t,

” was set wi th four rows of gems,three I n each

row,each stone set in a golden socket and having en

graved upon i t the name of one of the twelve tri bes o fI srael (Exodus , xxvi i i, 17In many instances the equ ivalen t of the Bibl ical

names of gems i s uncertain in the nomenclature of modernmineralogy

,and as a consequence there are several dis

t inc t l i s ts of n ames given for the s tones in the breas tplate .

In the section of comparat ive rel igions in the NationalMuseum is a very old s i lver breastplate employed as anornamen t for the manuscript copy of the Torah

,or

Pen tateuch,used in an ancien t synagogue . The twelve

stones,witli the names of the twelve tri bes

,according to

i t are as follows : Garnet, Levi ; diamond, Zebulon ;amethys t

,Gad ; j asper, Benj amin ; chrysol i te, Simeon ;

sapphire,Issachar ; agate, Naph thali; onyx, Joseph ; sard,

Reuben ; emerald, Judah ; topaz, Dan ; beryl, Asher.

[ 3 16 ]

GEMS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE

The following li s ts taken from Biblical Antiquities byAdler and Casanowicz 1 give the names of these s tonesin the original and in the Septuagin t, together wi th themean ing adopted by most authori ties

,the rendering of

the Revised Version,both in text and margin being added

in paren theses :

I . Odem (sardion ) , carne 2 . P i tda lx (topaz ion ) , to 3 . Bareketlz (smaragdos) ,lian (sardius, ruby) . paz or perido t . smaragd o r em erald

(carbunc le, emerald) .4. N ofc/e (antlzrax) , carbun 5 . Sapp ir (sapfeiros) , 3ap 6 . Yaba lom (iasp is) , onyx,

c le, probably the I n phire or lapis lazuli a kind o f chalcedonydian ruby (em erald, (sapphire) . (diamond, sardonyx) .carbunc le) .

7. Leslzem (ligyrion) , ja 8 . S lzebo agate . 9 . Acb lamalz (amethystas)cinth, o thers, sapphire ame thyst.(j acm th , am ber) .

I o . Tarslzis/z (chrysolztlzos) , I I . S lzolzam (b e ry I l i o n ) , I 2. Yas/zpe/z (o ny c /z i an) ,chryso lite , o thers, to bery l (onyx, beryl ) . j asper.paz (bery l, chalced

ony)

The second lis t i s that given in the description of theornamen ts of the Prince of Tyre (Ezekiel, xxvi i i , 13 )

The third l is t i s that given in the description of theHeavenly Ci ty (Revela tion , xxi , 19, As in the preceding l is t

,the word used in the original

,or Greek

,i s

fol lowed by the rendering given by most authori t ies,

that of the Revised Version in paren theses :

I . I asp is, j asper. 2. Sapfeiros, sapphire or 3 . Cba lleedon , chalcedonylapis lazu li.

4. Smaragdos, s m a r a g d 5 . Sardonyx, sardonyx . 6. Sardios, sardius.

(em erald ) .7 . Clzrysolzt/zos, chryso lite . 8 . Beryl/0s, bery l . 9 . Top az ion , topaz .10. Clzrysop rasos, c h r y s o I I . H ya/cintbos, j a c in t h 1 2. Amethystas , am e thyst .

prase . (sapphire) .

1 Rep . U. S . N ation . M us.,1 896, p . 943 . A co l lec tion o f these s to nes is on exhibition

in the d ivision o fOldWorld archeo logy, departm en t o f anthropo logy.

[ 3 17 ]


In addi tion to the gems enumerated in these l is ts,there

i s mentioned the diamond by the Hebrew name of shamir(Jeremiah , xvi i, I ; Ezekiel, i i i, 9 ; Zechari ah, vi i,amber

,Hebrew lzaslzmal (margin of Revised Version gives

electrum) (Ezekiel, i , crys tal (quartz) , Hebrew gem /zand

<gabisb (Ezekiel 1 22 ; Job, xxvi i i , 1 8 ; Revelation , iv,

The complete l is t of gems mentioned i s as follows

Agate, Hebrew slzebo.

—One o f the stones in the bre astplate o f judgm ent . (Exodus xxvi i i ,Amber, Hebrew baslzmal . - Ezekie l i

, 4. Som e render the Hebrewles/zem as amber, thus m aking it o ne of the gems of the breastp late .

(Exodus xxvi i ,Ametlzyst, Hebrew alzlamalt .—One o f the stones in the breastplate .

(Exodus xxvi i i , I n Reve lat ion xx i,20

,it is men t ioned as garn ish

ing the twe lfth foundat ion o f the heaven ly Jerusalem .

Bery l, Hebrew sbolzam.

—One o f the stones in the breastplate .

(Exodus xxvi i i , Men t ioned as one of the ornam en ts o f the K ingof Tyre . (Ezekie l xxvi i i , I n Reve lat ion it is spo ken o f as adorning the e ighth foundat ion o f the Ho ly C i ty .

Carbuncle, Hebrew nofe/e.

—One o f the stones in the breastplate .

(Exodus xxvi i i , 1 8 ; see also Ezekie l xxvi i i,

T he word nofek hasbeen rendered ruby .

Carnelian, perhaps the Hebrew odem o f the breastplate (Exodusxxvi i i

,and the sardius in Reve lat ion xxi , 20 . I n Reve lat ion i v

,

3 , o f the Revised Version , is the rendering sardius. I n the AuthorizedVersion the reading is : “And he that sat was to loo k upon l ike a j asperand a sardine stone .

”I n the Vulgate : “E t q ui sedebat sim i l is erat

aspec tui lapidis jaspidis e t sardinis.

”T he Textus recep tus (Greek)

is : K a l b Kafl fiuevo s ONOLOS Op do ei. q o ia6’

7ra5 c; Ka i o apbiz/ Lco A l l o theredit ions have for the last word, a ap 5 iw. I t is evident that the Vulgateand the Au thorized Version s im ply fo l lowed the Tex tus recep tus, andthat the correc t rendering is “

sardius” and no t“sardine stone .

”

Chalcedony—T he Hebrew tars/zislz (Exodus xxvi i i , 20) has been

rendered chalcedony . I n Reve lat ion xx i,19, it is enum erated in the

descrip t ion o f the foundat ion o f the N ew Jerusalem .

Clzrysolite .

—(See Reve lat ion xxi , T he Hebrew tars/z islz (Exodus xxvi i i

,20) has been rendered chryso l i te .

Clzrysoprase.

-One o f the stones in the foundat ion o f the Heaven lyC i ty. (Reve lat ion xxi ,D iamond

,Hebrew shamir.

- (See Jerem iah xvi i , 1 ; Ezekie l i i i , 9 ;and Zechariah vii

, where it is spo ken of as an o bj ec t o f extreme

[ 3 1 8 ]


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ADAM S,FRANK D . A visit to the gem districts of Ceylon

and Burma . Bulle tin Canadian Insti tu te of Min ingand Metallurgy

,Feb .

,1926 . (Reprin t in Ann . Rep .

Smi thsonian Insti tu tion for 1926 ,BALL

,SYDNEY H . S ome facts about famous emeralds .

Jewelers ’ Circular,Vol . 8 8

,No . 9, pp . 65-67, No . 10

,

1212-63-65 , 1924

BA LL,V. A manual of the geology of I ndia . Calcutta

,

1 8 8 1 .

BAUER,M Ax . E delsteinleunde. Leipzig

,1 896 . Engl i sh

translation by L .J . Spencer . Philadelphia,Lippincott

Co .

BUFFUM,W . ARNOLD . The tears of the H eliades or Amber

as a gem . New York,G . P . Putnam ’s Sons

,1 900 .

BURNHAM,S . M . P recious stones in nature

,art

,and

l iterature . Boston,1 8 86 .

CATT E LL'

E,W. R . P recious stones . A book of refer

ence for j ewelers . Philadelphia and London,1903 .

CHURCH,A . H . P recious stones

,considered in their

scientific relations . London,1 8 82 .

CLAREM ONT,L . P recious stones . Philadelphi a and

London, J . B . Lippincot t Co .

,1903 .

FARRINGTON,O . C . Gems and gem minerals . Chicago

,

A . W . Mumford Co .,1903 .

FEUCHTWANGER,L . A p op ular treatise on gems in ref

erence to their scientific value. N ew York,1 872 .

GOODCHI LD,W . P recious stones . London

,1908 .

HAM LIN,A . C . The tourmaline. Boston

,1 873 .

HINDM ARSH , R . P recious stones,being an account of

the stones mentioned in the Sacred S crip tures . London

,1 85 1 .

[ 3 20 ]

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

KING,C . W . The natural history of gems or decorative

stones . London,1 867 .

KRAU S,EDWARD HENRY

,and EDWARD FULLER HOLDEN .

Gems and gem materials . N ew 'York,M cGraw-Hill

Book Co .

,Inc

,1925 .

KuN z , GEORGE F. Gems, j ewelers’

materials,and orna

mental stones of Cal ifornia , 2d ed . Cali forn ia Min .

Bureau,Bull . 37, 1905 .

The curious lore of precious stones. Philadelphia,J . B . Lippinco tt Co .

,19 13 .

Gems and precious stones of N orth America . N ew

York,Scien tific Publishing Co .

,1 890 .

and CHARLE S H . STEVENSON . The book of the p earl .New York Ci ty

,The Cen tury Co .

,1908 .

—Thefresh-water p earls and p earlfisheries of the UnitedS tates . Bull . U . S . Fish Commission , 1 897 , p . 375 .

H istory of the gems found in N orth Carolina . Bull .No . 1 2

,North Carol ina Geological and Economic

Survey,1907 .

MAWE,JOHN . A tfeatise on diamonds and precious

stones, including their history, natural and com

mercial . To which is added some account of the best

method of cutting andp olishing them . London,1 8 13 .

MERRI LL,GEORGE P . H andbook and descriptive cat

alogue of the collections of gems and precious stones

in the Un ited S tates N ational M useum . Bull . 1 1 8,

U . S . National Museum,1922 .

MICHEL,HERM ANN . D ie Kunstlichen E delsteine . Leipzig

,

1926 .

POGUE, J . E . The turquoise : A study of its history,

mineralogy, geology, ethnology, archeology, mythol

ogy, folklore, and technology . Nation . Acad . Sci . ,Mem .

,vol . 1 2

,pt . 2

,No . 3 , 19 1 5 . (Contains full

b ibl iography to date of issue . )RO S ENM ULLER

,E . F . C . M ineralogy of the Bible. Trans

lated by Repp and Morren . Edinburgh,1 840 .

[ 3 2 1 ]


ROTHCHI LD,M . D . H andbook of precious stones. N ew

York,1 890 .

SM ITH,G . F . H . Gem stones and their distinctive characters .

London,19 1 2 .

SCHALLER,W . T. The production of precious stones .

Mineral Resources of the Uni ted States,1 9 1 5-19 1 9 .

SPENCER,LEONARD J . The larger diamonds of S outh

Africa . Mineralogical Magazine,Vol . 1 6

,19 1 1 .

STERRETT,D . B . The production of precious stones . Min

eral Resources of the Uni ted S tates,1906

- 19 14.

STREETER,E . W. P recious stones and gems. London

,

1 877 .

Great diamonds of the world. London,I 892.

TAGORE,S . M . M ani a treatise on gems, 2 vols .

Calcutta,1 879 . (Contains a bibliography of San

skrit,Persian

,Arabic

,and other Orien ta l works on

gems . )WI LLIAM S

,GARDNER F . The diamond mines of S outh

Africa . N ew York, Macmillan Co .,1902 .

WOD I S KA,JULIU S . A book of precious stones. N ew York,

G . P . Putnam ’ s Sons,19 10 .

[ 322 ]


INDEX

CCabochon cu t , 3 14Cairngorm

,225

Calc i te , 276Cal iforn ia moonstone , 230

tourm al ines o f, 240Cameo

, 3 1 5Campion , John H .

, 303Canfield, F. A.

,296 , 299

Canyon D iab lo , m e teor crater, 24

Canyon D iab lo m e teoric iro n ,22

distribu t ion o f,23

Cape York m e teoric iron, 56

Carbonates, defined , 1 70Carbunc le , 3 1 8Cardez a, J . T .

, 303Carne l ian , 230, 3 1 8Carpen ter, Geo .W.

,296

Cat’s-eye , 247Ceylon , pearl fisheries o f, 2 19sapphires o f, 205Chalcedony, 228 , 3 1 8Cham berlain ,

B . B., 302

Frances Lea, 297L . T . ,

297Cham berl in

,T . C .

,views on

origin o f m e teori tes,89

Charac ters o f m e teori tes, 50

Chester, A . H . , 303Ch ladn i , E . F . F . quo ted , 24Chrysoberyl , 247myst ical propert ies of, 249Chryso l i te , 249, 3 1 8Chrysoprase , 230, 3 1 8C i trine quartz, 225Classificat ion o f m e teori tes, 80 ,

109Co llec t ions, early m ineral, 296Co l lec tors o f me teori tes

, 5 1

Co lom bia, emeralds o f

,2 1 1

Co lor ofm inerals, 1 78Composi t ion ,

average , o f m e teor

i tes, 67 , 68Coral , 27 1

[ 3

Cosmic dust, 6 1Crusts, format ion o f o n m e teor

i tes, 5 8Cryo con i te

,62

Crystal fo rm at ion ,agen ts in

,1 74

forms, 1 73Crystals, agen ts in format ion o f

,

I 74faces o f, 1 73growth o f, 1 72shapes o f, 1 73variat ion in s ize , 1 72zonal deve lopme nt o f

,1 76

Cu ll inan diamond,1 97

Cul ture pearls, 223Cu t t ing o f gem s

, 306

Cyan i te , 275

4 ]

Dan ie ls, John , 302D aubrée , A. ,

on origin o f me teor

i tes, 8 8D elafie ld, Jos.

, 303D elsner, D . , 303

Dep th of pene trat ion o f me teor

i tes,29 , 30

Dewey diamond, 201D iam o nd

,T he , 1 90, 3 1 8

b lack,19 1

Cu l l inan, 197early o ccurrence of

,192

Exce lsior, 1 97Great Mogu l

,192

Herk im er, 225Hope

,1 92

Imperial,1 98

in glac ial drift, 200in m e teori tes

,66

,69

Jubi lee , 1 98Koh-i-noor

,1 90

Madura,253

m yst ical propert ies of, 202o f Arkansas, 200Belgian Congo , 198

INDEX

D iamond, T he of Borneo,

I 9SBrazi l

,193

Bri t ish Gu iana,198

India, 1 92N ew Sou th Wales

,199

North America,1 99

Portuguese Ango la,1 98

Sou th Africa, 1 94V ic toria, 1 99

physical charac terist ics o f,1 90

S tar o f Sou th Africa, 1 95S tar o f the Sou th , 1 94D isbrow,

W . S . , 304D ispers ion , 1 8 1D istri but ion o f me teori tes, areas

Of, 42

D og-too th spar, 277

Double bri l l ian t cu t , 3 10Dumort ieri te

,26 1

Dust , cosm ic , 6 1E

Early m ineral co llect ions,296

Earth as a m e teori te, 76

Egypt, em eralds in , 2 1 1Elem en ts, defined , 1 70in m e teori tes

,65

Em erald, T he , 2 10 , 3 19Em eralds, large , 2 13

o f Co lom bia, 2 1 1Egypt

,2 1 1

Mon tezum a,2 13

North Am erica, 2 1 2Russia, 2 1 2

Ensishe im m e teori te , accoun t o f

fall, 7

Esthervi lle , Iowa, me teoricshower, 19

Euc lase,273

Exce lsior diamond,1 97

FFaces of crystals, 173Factors o f valuat ion o f m e teor

i tes, 53

Fall ing me teori tes, injury to hu

m an be ings by, 3 5 , 36, 37phenomena attending

,27

Falls, m e teoric , num ber of, 45Fe ldspars, 262myst ical propert ies o f, 267

Ferrier, W . F ., 303

F irebal ls, Newton on speed of, 27Fire opals, 234F ires se t by m e teori tes, 34Flaws in m inerals, 1 77Flos-ferri , 277Form o f me teori tes, 57

Garne t, 243m yst ical propert ies o f, 247whi te

,246

Garn e ts o f Arizona, 245Bohem ia, 245N ew Mexico

,245

Gem m inerals, chem ical composirion o f

,170

virtues o f, 1 70Gem s, cu t t ing o f, 306

early uses of, 1 69m en t ioned in the B ible , 3 16m yst ical propert ies of, 1 83syn the t ic , 289Geographic distri bu t ion o f m e te

ori tes, 45

G lac ial drift, diamonds in , 200Godon , Sylvanus, 295 , 303Goode , G . B. , c i ted, 296Gordon , S . G .

,295

Gran i te , 2 86Graphic gran i te , 286Gre at Mogu l diam ond

,192

Grow th o f crystals, 1 72Guernsey Coun ty, O.

,m e teoric

fal l,1 7

areal distri bu t ion o f, 44

ve loc i ty o f, 28

INDEX

HHalf bri ll ian t cu t

, 3 10

Ham l in,A . G .

, 302

Hammon,G . W. , 303

Hano ck, E . P ., 303

Hardness o fm inerals, 1 82He l iodor, 2 16Hem at i te , 279j aspery, 28 8Herkim er diamond

,225

Hersche l, A . S .,o n ve loc i ty o f

Yorkshire m e teori te , 28Hessle

,Sweden, me teoric shower,

1 8

N ordenskiOld o n ve loc i ty o f,28

H idden i te , 25 1H idden ,

W . H . , 303Ho lbrook

,Arizona

,m e teoric

shower, 19Ho lden

,A . F . , 300

Hom estead, Iowa, me teori te , ac

coun t o f fal l , 4area o f distri bu t ion, 43Hope diamond

,192

Hosack , David, 296Howe

,Henry S .

, 303Hungarian opal

,232

Hydrocarbons, defined , 17 1I

I ce as a m ineral,175

Ice land spar,277

Idaho, sapphires o f, 208

Ident ificat ion o f m e teori tes,

errors in, 49

Imperial diam ond,1 98

Inc lusions in m inerals,176

Index of refrac t ion , 1 80India

,diamonds o f, 192

Injury to human be ings by fall ingm e teori tes

, 35 , 36, 37In tagl io

, 3 1 5Isle o f Beryls, 2 1 5I taco lum i te , 194

MMadagascar

,gem s of, 2 1 5

Madura diamond,253

[ 3 26 ]

Jac in th, 3 19

Jade,254

Jade i te,254

Jasper,230, 3 19

Jaspery hem at i te , 28 8Jefferies

,Wm . J .

, 301 , 303

Je t , 267 , 270m yst ical propert ies of

,27 1

Jubi lee d iam ond,198

Juvinas,France , m e teori te

,ac

coun t o f fal l , 1 5distri bu t ion o f, 52

KKeat ing

,Wm .,

295K ingsley and S i l l iman on fal l o fWeston me teori te

,13

Knyahinya, Hungary, m e teori te,

diagram of fall,29

Koh-i-noor diamond,1 92

Krakhut,India

,m e teoric stone

,

26

Kunz,George F .

, 304Kunzi te

,25 1

L

Labradori te,262

,265

Laigle , France,me teoric fal l

,

B io t on, 1 1report on

,26

Landsc ape agate , 229Lapis lazul i

,260

Largest me teori te , 5 6Lazu l i te , 26 1Lea

,Isaac

,295 , 297

Leon id me teors, ve loc i ty of, 3 1

Lockyer, N . ,on Berkshire m e teor

ite , 9on i den t i ty of shoo t ing stars

w i th me teori tes, 9 1


INDEX

N ordenskifild on Ve loCitY Of Pearl (cont.) fisheries o fAustral ia,Hessle m e teo ri te , 28

North America, diam onds o f,1 99

emeralds o f, 2 1 2sapphires of, 207tourmal ines o f

,239

Nu t tall , Thos .,295

OOlbers, Wi lhe lm ,

views on originof m e teori tes, 84

Ol igoc lase , 262Ol ivier

,C . P . , quo ted , 98

Olmsted, D .,o n i den t i ty of sho o t

ing stars w i th me teori tes, 90Onyx

,277 , 3 19

marb le , 282Opal

,23 1

Austral ian , 233Hungarian, 232Nevada, 233o ldest local i ty of

,232

superst i t ions co ncern ing,23 5

Orien tal alabaster, 277Origin o f m e teori tes

,8 2

skep t ic ism concern ing,24

theories advanced o n,83

views o f A . D aubrée , 8 8

T . C . Cham berl in ,89

E . F . F . Ch ladn i , 25S . Meun ier, 87W . Olbers, 84, 8 5W . H . P ickering

,89

C . U. Shepard , 87J . Lawrence Sm i th , 84, 8 5H . C . Sorby, 86G . T schermak

,8 8

Orion i d m e teors, ve loc i ty o f, 32Orthoc lase , 262Oxides, defined , 1 70

PPal las

,S i beria, stony iron ,

25Parnall

,W . E .

, 302

Pearl, T he , 2 17 , 3 19

220

of Ceylon,2 19

Malay Archipe lago,220

she l l of Sou th Sea Islands, 220Pearls

,baroque

,222

cu l ture , 223fresh-water, 22 1m e thod o f recovery

,2 1 9, 220

of Pers ian Gu lf,2 19

Pene trat ion o f m e teori tes,depth

of,29

Pepys, Samue l,quo ted

, 39Perido t

,249

Perishable nature o f m e teori tes,

5o

Perse id m e teors, ve lo c i ty of, 32Persian Gu lf

,pearls o f

,2 1 9

Perth i te , 264Phenac i te , 274Phenom ena o f fal l of m e teori tes,

27difficu l ty in recording

, 46

Phosphates defined,1 7 1

P ickering, W . H .,views o n origin

o f m e teori tes, 89P iedm on t be l t , sapphires in ,

208

Plane ts, apparent brigh tness of,

5 5Pleochro ism

,179

Pl iny,on stones from the sky, 7

Porphyry, 287Portuguese Ango la

,diamonds in ,

1 98

Portuguese cu t, 3 1 1

Prase , 230Propert ies o f m inerals, 1 78co lor, 1 78dispersion , 1 8 1hardness

,1 82

p leochro ism ,1 79

refrac t ion,1 80

spec ific gravi ty, 1 83Pyri te, 278

INDEX

Quartz, 224c i trine , 225m i lky

,225

m yst ical propert ies o f, 230produced in Brazi l , 226Madagascar, 226

smoky,225

uses o f, 228

Queensland, sapphires o f, 206

Rand,Theodore , 304

Refrac t ion , index o f, 1 80Rhodo l i te

,246

Rhodon i te , 274Rhyo l i te

,287

Rico lite , 28 5Ro ck crystal , 225Roe bl ing, Co l . Washington A.

,

297Rose cu t, 3 1 2

Rub ies o f Burma,204

o f S iam,205

world ’s largest , 204Ruby

,203 , 3 1 9

myst ical propert ies of, 2 10Russia, aquamarine in, 2 14emeralds in , 2 1 2topaz in , 237

Sagen i te , 225Sapphires, 203 , 3 19large , 204me thods o f m in ing

,206

myst ical propert ies o f,2 10

o f Ceylon,205

Idaho,208

Montana,207

North America,207

P iedmon t be l t , 208Queensland, 206

Sardonyx, 3 1 9

Sat in spar, 277Serpen t ine , 284Se t t ing o f fires by m e teori tes, 34Seybert, Adam ,

295Shapes o f crystals, 173Shepard , Charles U.

, 30 1

views on origin o fm e teori tes,87

Shoo t ing stars, iden t i ty w i thme teori tes, 90views o f N . Lo ckyer, 9 1H . L. New to n , 90D . Olm sted

, 90

S iam,rubies o f

,205

S iena,I taly

,me teoric shower, 26

S i l icates,defined

,17 1

S i ll iman and K ingsley on fal l o fWeston m e teo ri te

,13

S ize o f crystals,variat ion in

,1 72

S izes, comparat ive , of stony and

iron m e teori tes, 5 8Skep t ic ism co ncern ing origin of

m e teori tes,24

Smal lest known me teori te, 5 5

Sm i th, J . Lawrence , V iews on

origin o fm e teori tes, 84, 85Thomas P .

,295

Sm i thson,Jam es

,295

Smoky quartz,225

Sodal i te,260

,262

So rby,H . C .

,V iews on origin of

m e teori tes,86

Source o fme teori tes, 82theories advanced

,83

Sou th Africa,diamond workings

o f,1 95

discovery of diamonds in,1 94

K im berley m ines o f, 196large diam onds o f, 197Sou th Sea Islands, pearl fisheries

o f,220

South West Africa,discovery of

diamonds in , 1 98Spar

, dog-too th

,277

Ice land,277

INDEX

Spar nai l-head, 277sat in

,277

Spec ific gravi ty,1 83

Speed o f m e teori tes, 53Sphene

,273

Spine l,203, 209

Spodum ene , 250

S tannern m e teoric stone , speedo f

,27

S tar cu t , 3 1 1S tarl i te

,254

S tar o f Sou th Africa,195

S tars,apparent brigh tness o f

, 5 5S tauro l i te

,278

S tep bri l l ian t cu t, 3 13

S tep cu t, 3 13

S tones from the sky, Pl iny on, 7

Su lphates defined,1 7 1

Sulphides defined,1 70

Sunston e , 264Superst i t ions regarding me teor

i tes, 37

Sw iss lapis, 26 1Syn the t ic gem s, 289

Table cu t, 3 14

Temperature o fm e teori tes, 33 , 34

Theories o n o rigin and source of

m e teori tes, 83The t is hair stone , 1 76Thom son i te , 275Thomson , James, quo ted , 3Ti tan i te

,273

Topaz,235 , 3 19

Am erican sources of, 237m yst ical propert ies o f

,23 8

o ccurrence o f,236

prec ious, fraudu len t substitu

t ions for, 236produced in Brazi l

,236

Russia, 237To tal num ber o f m eteori te fal ls,

5 5

U

Un i ted S tates, bery ls of, 2 1 6fresh-water pearls o f

,22 1

Ural Moun tains, em eralds o f,

2 1 2

Uses o fm e teoric iron,100

[ 330 ]

Tourm al ine , 238of Cal iforn ia

,240 ,

241

Ma ine , 240North Am erica

,239

Trap bri l l iant cu t, 3 1 1

Trap cut, 3 13

Troost,Gerard

,295 , 301

Trowbridge,O . C .

,quo ted

, 32

T scherm ak,Gustav

,views on

origin of m e teori tes,8 8

Turquo ise , 256local i t ies for

,257

myst ical propert ies o f,260

VValuat ion of m e teori tes

, 5 2

fac tors o f, 53Vanuxem ,

Lardner,295

Varisc i te , 256Vaux

,George , Jr.

,296 , 297

Wi ll iam S .,296, 297

Ve loc i ty o f theAndrom edm e teors,

3 1

fal l ing m e teori tes,27

Leon id m e teors, 3 1

Orion i d me teors, 32

Perse i d m e teors, 32

Verdo lite , 285Vesuvian i te

,274

V ic toria,d iam onds in ,

199Von N iessel

,G.

,quo ted

,28

WWard

,H . A.

, 305We igh ts o f m e teori tes, 56We igh t, to tal

,o f all m e teori tes

,

67


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