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Arizona Sketches by J. A. (Joseph Amasa) Munk
page 91 of 134 (67%)
small pieces of iron which he calls "iron shale." It is
analogous to the true meteorite, but is "burnt" or "dead." He
regards these bits of iron as dead sparks from a celestial forge,
which fell from the meteorite as it blazed through the heavens.

In experimenting with the stuff he found that it was not only
highly magnetic, but also possessed polarity in a marked degree;
and was entirely different from the true meteorite. Here was a
curiosity, indeed; a small, insignificant and unattractive stone
possessed of strong magnetic polarity, a property of electricity
that is as mysterious and incomprehensible as is electricity
itself.

Another peculiarity of Canon Diablo meteorite is that it contains
diamonds. When the meteorite was first discovered by a Mexican
sheep herder he supposed that he had found a large piece of
silver, because of its great weight and luster, but he was soon
informed of his mistake. Not long afterwards a white prospector
who heard of the discovery undertook to use it to his own
advantage, by claiming that he had found a mine of pure iron,
which he offered for sale. In an attempt to dispose of the
property samples of the ore were sent east for investigation.
Some of the stone fell into the hands of Dr. Foote, who
pronounced it to be meteorite and of celestial origin.

Sir William Crookes in discussing the theory of the meteoric
origin of diamonds[4] says "the most striking confirmation of the
meteoric theory comes from Arizona. Here, on a broad open plain,
over an area about five miles in diameter, were scattered from
one to two thousand masses of metallic iron, the fragments
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