[meteorite-list] NP Article, 07-1897 Meteorites Objects of Worship

[MARK BOSTICK]

Paper: Reno Evening Gazette City: Reno, Nevada Date: Sunday, July 18, 1897   OBJECTS OF WORSHIP   It Is In That Way That Savages Usually Regard Meteorites   Savages, whenever they come across meteorites of large size, are apt to regard them as objects of worship. Such however, was not the dignified fate of a very remarkable specimen that is now in the National museum, says the Washington Post. This strange aerolite is four feet in diameter, weighing 1,400 pounds approximately, and has the shape of a ring. It was found in the Santa Catarina mountains, and for a long time was used as an anvil by Mexicans at Tucson. In this employment it was discoverd by Dr. Erwin, of the United States army, who bought it for a small sum, and gave it to the Smithsonian institution. Doubtless the substance of this meteorite originally was largely stony, but the stony parts became disintegrated and disappeared after it fell, leaving the ring of iron. Of 400 meteors that have been seen actually to fall, only about a dozen were metallic, the rest being mainly of stony material, though containing more or less iron. On the other hand, nearly all of the meteorites picked up in a casual way are masses of materal. It is probably the case of that a great majority of such bodies are stony, but meteorites of that description do not attract notice lying on the ground, being mistaken for ordinary stones. All of these facts are extremely intercating in view of the belief now entertained by science that the compostion of meteorites throws light upon the makeup of the terrestrial globe. In fact, according to this theory, the make up of the earth is much like that of the average meteorite. Obviously, the moment this assumption is made, the study of the structure of meteorites come in have extraordinary importance; for man's knowledge of the planet on which he lives is restricted almost entirely to the surface of it. The bowels of the earth remain almost unknown. Please visit, www.MeteoriteArticles.com, a free on-line archive of meteor and meteorite articles.