varying in weight from half a ton to a fraction of an ounce.
There is little doubt that these masses formed part of a
meteorite shower, although no record exists as to when the fall
took place. Curiously enough, near the center, where most of the
meteoritics have been found, is a crater with raised edges three
quarters of a mile in diameter and about six hundred feet deep,
bearing exactly the appearance which would be produced had a
mighty mass of iron or falling star struck the ground, scattering
in all directions, and buried itself deep under the surface.
Altogether ten tons of this iron have been collected, and
specimens of Canyon Diablo Meteorite are in most collectors'
cabinets.

[4] Diamonds. Wm. Crookes, F.R.S. Smithsonian Report. 1897.


"An ardent mineralogist, the late Dr. Foote, in cutting a section
of this meteorite, found the tools were injured by something
vastly harder than metallic iron, and an emery wheel used in
grinding the iron had been ruined. He examined the specimen
chemically, and soon after announced to the scientific world that
the Canyon Diablo Meteorite contained black and transparent
diamonds. This startling discovery was afterwards verified by
Professors Friedel and Moissan, who found that the Canyon Diablo
Meteorite contained the three varieties of carbon--diamond
(transparent and black), graphite and amorphous carbon. Since
this revelation the search for diamonds in meteorites has
occupied the attention of chemists all over the world.

"Here, then, we have absolute proof of the truth of the meteoric