Abstract
THROUGH the courtesy of Prof. Henry A. Ward, of Rochester, New York, we are able to reproduce for our readers a photograph which gives a good idea of the form and dimensions of the large mass of meteoric iron lying at a place called Ranchito, near Bacubirito, in the province of Sinaloa, Mexico. The existence of the mass was made known to the scientific world by Prof. Barcena more than a quarter of a century ago, and, later, its dimensions were recorded by Prof. Castillo; but until after the visit of Prof. Ward there had been no published information as to the particulars of the occurrence. Prof. Ward, who is greatly interested in meteorites, travelled from the city of Mexico to Bacubirito, an extremely long, arduous, and expensive journey, for the special purpose of examining the meteorite in situ. It was found by him to be lying at the place specified, but to have only one end projecting from the ground. Twenty-eight labourers were employed by him to excavate round the mass and make it possible to determine the complete form. After two days' work not only had this been done but, through removal of the support from one side, the large mass had been made to turn itself Over. It is 13 feet 1 inch long, 6 feet 2 inches wide, and 5 feet 4 inches thick. Its irregularity of form and the character of the surface are manifest from Fig. 1. The mass is estimated to weigh 50 tons (the specific gravity having been determined to be 7-69), and it is probably at least, as large as the big mass brought some years ago from Greenland to the United States by Lieutenant Peary. After these two, the next largest known meteorite in the world is that of Chupaderos, which has lately been removed to the city of Mexico and found to weigh 152/3 tons, A polished face of the Bacubirito iron, when etched, shows very distinct Widmanstatten figures. According to a chemical analysis made by Prof. Whitfield the percentage of nickel (and cobalt) is 7.2. The time of fall of the mass is unknown. The meteorite is described by Prof. Ward in the Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science (vol. iv. p. 67, 1902).
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Recent Papers on Meteorites . Nature 68, 532–534 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/068532a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/068532a0