* Astronomy

Soon after Chicago Museum obtained the Mapleton meteorite, it was briefly described (Roy, 1939).
The meteorite was purchased by the Museum on July 31, 1939, from Mr. Harvey Meevers, of Mapleton, Iowa. It was accidentally found by him on his farm on June 17, 1939, while he was cultivating corn. According to Mr. Meevers, his cultivator caught behind a heavy "stone" that seemed heavier than any other stone he had hitherto encountered. He dug it out of the ground and, believing it to be a mass of iron, carried it to his barn for safe-keeping. The find, like many other finds, would in all probability have been for- gotten had it not been for a timely article on meteorites published by F. Barrows Coulton (1939). The article reminded Mr. Meevers of the "mass of iron" he had found a few days earlier. He examined his find and decided that it might be of meteoric origin; so he sent a small sample, approximately 34 grams, to the Museum for examination. It was found to be an iron meteorite and was purchased by the Museum and named "Mapleton," the name of the town close to which it was found.
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