Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1898 — OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. [ARTICLE]

OBJECTS OF WORSHIP.

It 1* in That Way That Savage* Caually Regard Meteorite*. 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 discovered by Dr, Erwin, of the Ignited 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 metal. It is probably the case that a great majority of such bodies are stony, but meteorites of that description do not attract notice when lying on the ground, being mistaken for ordinary stones. All of these facts are extremely interesting in view of the belief now entertained by science that the composition of meteorites throws light upon the make up 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 comes to have extraordinary importance; for man’s knowledge of the planet on wlJich he lives is restricted almost entirely to the surface of it. The bowels of the earth remain almost unknown.