Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Iron Fulgurite From Nebraska, C. M. Riley

Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum

From the time of the ancients man has been impressed with the force of lightning and its effect on the rocks at the surface of the earth. It was Saussure in 1786 who first wrote a scientific account of a true fulgurite, and a wealth of literature has been written about the subject since this time. Many unusual fulgurites have been described, some of which may not truly be the result of lightning. The iron fulgurite is a strange conical object about 3 inches high composed mainly of tiny spheres and filaments of metallic iron intermixed with a small amount …