The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1856-02-02

The NewYork Express, in a city article, re-
ferring to the beautiful sights to be seen in a
Broadway Jewelry and Silver Plate Store, has
the following account of precious stones. 1t
contains much interesting Attenuation:
APRopos OF PRECIOUS STONES, ETC.
Diamonds, we know, came originally from
the East, from the land of BIS always, of
Bengal, Of Borneo, and now of Brazil, where
they were first found during the last century.
The primitive crystalline form of the lump of
charcoal termed a diamond, is +" a regular octa-
hedron," the learned tell us and it was acci-
dentally discovered in 1916, only, by Louis
Berghem, of Bruges, in Europe. that by rubbing
two of them together their surfaces could be
polished and thereby made sparkling gems, al.
though they lose one half of their original size
by the process. The diamond is so rich with
prismat!c colors that it can be seen at a distance,
and Sir Isaac Newton conjectured it was a
combustible body long before it was, by expert
ment, ascertained to be capable of being burned
Gin 1894 by Florentine A~cademicians,) be-
cause he observed its great power to refract
light. From being always in fashion, diamonds
are a species Of property not liable to ~fuctua-
ton in value: hence a present to ones wife, of
an, ornament composed Of these starry gems, is
INV 81 u Oh AuSGoidttuI dS Liz ullnlllbLeQ
might suppose. They differ in value according
to purity and quality more than in size, for
diamonds are of many c%olors, and not. as is
generally supposed, only white. Queen Victo-
ria is in possession of the largest brilliant on
record-the famous " Kohinoor," or Mountain
of Light" formerly belonging to the great Mo-
gul, and discovered in the mines of Golconda
in 1850. When found in the rough state it
weighed 500 %carats, but when cut, iby Horton
so Borgia of Venice,) it was reduced 10 296
carats. at which the Great Morgul was SO en-
ragged that he fined the unskillfnl artist 10, 900
rupees, instead of paying him for his work. The
great Pitt diamond, now among the Crown
jewels of France, is said to be the finest bril-.
liant in Europe. Its original weight was 2IO
carats its present, after being cut, is 1874 carats
The most splendid yellow diamond in the world
is the property of the Emperor of Austria it
weighs 1898 carats. 1t formerly belonged to
the Grand Duke of Tuscany. And the most
exquisite green diamond known is among the
Court jewels of the King of saxony. OF all The
iairy.like wonders of the famous "grune &C.
palde" of Dresden, this gem strikes one AS
being the most beautiful. and stirs up ones
heart to envy and righteousness. with a dange-
rous fire. We are told to "covet The best
gifts" not gems, however. and even if the nen.
S"h"''y PSAsob VIII accompanies YOU WlGn
visiting those " %vaults,'' did not loo;a too sharp
ly at your slightest movement to prevent the
expression OF desires, by acts, you would with.
draw YOUR eyes, for conscience sake, and de.
part, perhaps, meekly, as others had done before
you, resigned meier TO lock on its like again.
The great Russian diamond mnst not be for
gotten in the list OF Worlds wonders in mine.
ralogy. 1t is said to have formed the eye of an
Indian idol, and was stolen by a French soldier.
who sold it for $4,000 to a captain of u ship.
and the captain sold it for 800, 900, and after
several changes it was purchased for Catherine
of Russia, for $3.50. 900, an annuity of $4,000,
and a patent of mobility! 1t weighs 1873 cara,s.
The carat, which is the universally adopted
standard of weight, is an Indian denomination,
i5o5 carats equal to l OF. Troy. "The carat
IS divided into four parts, called grains, and
the grains are subdivided into fractional parts.
which are ascertained by scales with great nice.
IT," When set, diamonds always appear larger
than they really are, and their real value esnn,.