Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Volume III, 1863-1867Various
Science
Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Volume III, 1863-1867
Various
California Academy of Sciences -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
An additional reason for believing Dr. Cooper’s observations to
be correct is, that the locality lies in the prolongation of
the path or belt in which a considerable number of masses of
meteoric iron have already been found. It is certainly either a
very interesting fact, or else a remarkable coincidence, that
the localities of meteoric iron in Arizona and northern Mexico,
lie nearly in a straight line with each other, which line
extends from northwest to southeast, for a distance of twelve
hundred and fifty miles, or from the Colorado River, at La
Paz, to the province of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. Along this
line, at points from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles
apart, in some places one mass of iron, and in others quite a
number of them, have fallen, indicating very strongly a common
origin for the whole, or that they may all be fragments of one
immense meteor which passed diagonally across the continent,
throwing off masses in its progress. The large mass of iron
discovered by Dr. Evans, on Bald Mountain, near Port Orford, in
Oregon, is in a locality not far distant from the path of the
supposed meteor.
The belt of meteoric iron masses may also be prolonged much
farther to the south, through Mexico, and in the same general
southeasterly direction, as far as the province of Oaxaca. The
localities in the provinces of Durango, Zacatecas, Mexico,
and Oaxaca lie very nearly in the same northwest-southeast
direction from each other; but are in a line a little to
the west of the main belt which has been traced down from
the Colorado River. It is certain that the central part of
Mexico has been highly favored in respect to the distribution
of meteoric iron masses, which are not only of frequent
occurrence, but often of large size. Perhaps it may be not too
wild a speculation to suggest, that the grand disruption of
the meteor may have taken place in this part of its course,
and that the fragments were scattered far and wide in all
directions. It certainly seems difficult to account for the
peculiar position of the masses of iron found on the Pacific
side of the continent, and their great abundance in central
Mexico, on any other theory than the one which has here been
suggested.
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