LARGEST METEORITE IS INVESTIGATED BY HARVARD OBSERVER

Assistant Professor W. J. Luyten, of the Harvard University Observatory at Bloemfontein, South Africa, has recently investigated and reported on the most massive meteorite known at present to astronomers, the Grootfontein Meteor, which fell at Grootfontein, in the Union of South Africa, it has been announced.

In describing this meteorite, Luyten reports, "The first impression that one gets of the meteor, seeing it from a distance, is not too overwhelming, but this changes when one gets close to it. It is an enormous block of metal, almost rectangular in shape, of dimensions nine by ten feet, and a thickness varying from two and a half to almost four feet. When first found only a small part protruded above the limestone; since then a pit has been dug all around it which shows the full extent of the meteor on all sides. On the northeastern side the pit has been excavated to the depth of eight feet, and in this way the compression of the layers of the limestone under the meteor can easily be seen, as well as the sharp upward bending of these layers on the sides. Owing to the position of the meteor it is not possible to ascertain how much of a "nose" it has, and how deep this nose has buried itself in the rock. Accordingly only a rough estimate can be made of its mass, in all probability not less than fifty tons.

"It would thus appear to be the largest meteorite known at present. The Greenland meteor brought back by Admiral Peary, and now reposing in the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, weighs 36 1-2 tons, considerably less than the Grootfontein specimen.

"One remarkable feature of this meteor", continues Professor Luyten, "is that it felt cool, in spite of the tropical sun almost overhead, which made the surrounding limestone unpleasantly hot to touch. It is said that this meteor is not magnetic. The results of the chemical analysis show 17.42 per cent nickel and 81.29 per cent iron. This is an unusually high proportion of nickel. It is not surprising, therefore, that the meteor is extremely hard and especially tough. Investigation with a file led to the estimate that this nickel-iron alloy compares in hardness with the hardest steel used on railroads. An idea of the toughness may be obtained from the fact that it took fully two hours of sawing and more than a dozen hacksaw blades to saw off a piece with a surface of only two inches!"