siderite (sider it)

[Formerly also syderite; + λίθος, stone.] 1. A name first given by N. S. Maskelyne (in the form aëro- siderolite ) to those meteorites which G. Rose had previously called palla sites. For meteorites consisting chiefly of metallic (nickeliferous) iron the name siderite was proposed by C. U. Shepard, and that of holosiderite by Daubrée; but the former is not admi ible, because this name was long ago preoccupied by a well-known and widely distributed mineral species, and the latter cannot be accepted, because the majority of the specimens so designated are not wholly of iron. The name siderolite has therefore been transferred by M. E. Wads worth to those meteorites which are composed chiefly of iron - in most cases, however, inclosing more or le irregular and nodular ma es of pyrrhotite, schreibersite, graphite, etc. The same author includes in siderolite ma es of iron of similar char acter although of terrestrial origin, as those of Ovifak in Green land. See meteorite, under which the meaning of palla site is given. 2. In zoöl., same as siderolith.