[meteorite-list] What makes a hammer a hammer?

From: MeteorHntr at aol.com <MeteorHntr_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 02:59:17 EST
Message-ID: <d4a.46fb60d2.3691c655_at_aol.com>

Hello Robert,

To answer your direct question, no I have not seen the "Hodges's stone."

However, in Dr. King's Meteorite Collection Catalog he listed the source of
his Sylacaga specimen as, and I quote:

"Source: Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist., Douglas Jones"

Now, if anyone on the list has access to the Hodges's stone to examine, my
hunch is that the core would have been removed from the bottom portion, as it
is displayed, and the hole was probably plugged with something and colored so
as to hide the fact that a core was removed. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but
as I recall there were some correspondence letters between Dr. King and the
Alabama Museum of Natural History at the time leading up to the acquisition.
And there was a concern that any examination would not hurt the aesthetic
appearance of the stone.

However, it might be easier to ask the Smithsonian if their records indicate
that any of their Sylacaga was traded to Dr. King. But with the conflict
NASA (including Dr. King) had with the Smithsonian in the 1960's I seriously
doubt any trades were done with the Smithsonian.

As many of you know, we auctioned off the King Collection, and it would make
some of you sick if you knew how cheaply that specimen sold for. I was
surprised at the time, but then again, there were many great specimens in the
collection being sold, and most people had to budget where they spent their
money, so some things went a little lower than expected at that time. Since
then, the value has appreciated to more reasonable levels.

I hope this answers your question Robert?

Steve Arnold #1



In a message dated 1/3/2009 10:11:11 P.M. Central Standard Time,
meteoritefinder at yahoo.com writes:
Steve and List,

Steve, are you absolutely sure the core came from THE Hodges's stone (
the one that struck her) and NOT the McKinney stone??? I have not actually seen
 the Hodge's stone in person, and maybe you have, so you MAY be right. But
... if I may quote a few words from "one of our illustrious members'" ( who I
hope doesn't mind me using them, and that he will join in the discussion, too
) website that state:

"....There were two stones - the one that hit the human and one other. The
one that hit the human is the centerpiece in a local museum. No one has ever
had access to it. However,the second stone is in the Smithsonion and though
the remainder has never been available to the public, it did have one core
drilled in it. This core ended up in the collection of Dr.
King. After his death his widow allowed it to be cut into about 10 whafer
slices all of which all ended up as primary specimens in private collections."

So have you seen THE Hodges' stone in person and saw that there actually IS
a hole drilled into THAT very one????

Thanks,
Robert Woolard

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Received on Sun 04 Jan 2009 02:59:17 AM PST