The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-08-02
NEW ORLEANS BULLETIN
NEW ORLEANS. AUGUST 9, 1874.
J IWrltcn for the New Orleans Bulletin.l
bIAM0NDS AND PRECIOUS STONES.
THE DIAMOND.
BY AJ:sERT FABRE.

THE DIAMOND.
The diamond. called by tho Greeks and Latins
elynsnas. stinvinciLe' on account OF its hardness
nod supposed property Of resisting the action OF
ere and ths strokes Of the hammer, has attracted
s,se attentlOn of men from the oldest time Medi-
siucl properties wcNc ascribed to IT by the an
esor IT,. sod during the Middle Ages the influence
sr cens upon our destiny Was looked upon az
Ss,ite as iadisputabe that of the celestial
HDdias w. ,4.; -
fko study Of precious stones is not frivolous
s,e, for they are th, basis Of important indus
yryes, snd have materially contributed to the ad-
!ysnce Of Gne sciences Of optics and miDeraOgy.
There IL nothing in the world which is scarcer
,nd Of groster value than the diamond There
liz nothing more common or cheaper Than coal
lot this diamond i, bothihg but pure charcoal in
n ccystaiizesi state. Whenever a common salt Is
ehssOiyed in waller. and the compound ~ allowed
"a, settle and tho water to cvapo ate, the sed-
r1fnt will appear aS,smaf cubes, perfectly regu-
Tar in shape, 1f salspetre be the subst 'nce dis
1otved the Crystals will take the form OF qnadran
spiar STICKS. Sugar similarly treated Will
.oappear - cubes with their faces obquely placed
40 each oshcr. Aluaa will show double square,
terminating into a I.int ike two minute pyramids
united Of their bases, This IL precisely the shape
;aF The ouystaliiNed carbon or diamond. Having
:ssoertaned this fac. il was not upphi osophcal to
;aspect that diafnpl;ds could be artticiay repro
slced, although every effort in that direction has
!ao far proved. if not complete failure, at least
without amy practical value, the dmnutive da-
nonds produced ky. Mr.. Desprets and other
modera chemists, Deing not larger than minute
! - tioAas If diamond DUST Several hundred
/ crystals Of yarious shapes and colors not to be
found in nature have bee. produced in the labo-
rs.tory Of tho chemist Other precious gems, such
/, ~ the ruhy. may .be reproduced by chemical
vtioH: bit this " rot tho case with the diamond,
tho emerald. and n few minerals not included
among vaci6us stGnes.
The general char .cteristic of these gems lis the
regularity aud pc feet polish OF their various
faces, AMI ti,eir pslfeot transparency: This last
qualify il not aft cted by the dor, for you can
soc any dIjoct AZ distinctly through the red ruby,
The blue sapphire, the yellow topaz, the green
emerald, IN violet amethyst. the pink spinelle or
stse crimson garnet az through the diamond, and
Mr. Hopes unique blue diamond is also pure
and translucent 81: the finest glass or crystal.
The chemistry Of nature seems to select the
..ornmone-t slbsta noes TO produce it's most beau
3fsl creations. With q small lump of charcoal it
makes the hardesi, most translucent and brilliant
~ weH ~ costly. of all the gems.
Out If little ytottcr's clay, yariously impreg-
nEed wAh iron. turns out rubies, sapphires
ana oreatal toptn. A small crystallized pebble
combined with other Subst noes, becomes either
N OydiaaaY topaz, an emerald or an amethyst.
Al first u giat it would seem that the countries
wfNOh produce an abundance of precious stones,
ought 70 b. considered ~ the most highly favor
i'd Yot what are tho diamond mines Of Golconda
md VisasDOor. Of Brazil and BOrneO, when COM
sered WITH the yAst coal depots of the United
States ard Of Gteat Britain2 The annual i'm
pOrts Of 0ianOnds aud precious stones into the
Nnited Kingdom amount to about 81, 5OO. 900,
iwhe CAS- coal TO, the value of over one hundred
|nilkons of dOsssvis yearly extracted from the
EnSfsh ssiAAs.
DsAmonds have been found in every part Of the
MOrid. bat India has so far yielded them i'll
greater Quantities and Of larger size than any
other rogisn Tho Ii and of Borneo and Brazil
come next IL lnGia in that respect The rough
atoGe IL generally found oOyeie ed with red COM
pncs earth, frequently imbedded in the rock.
1hey are sometimes picked UP in tho bed OF
mountain torrcnts. and are always covered with
songh, dull lookiaS envelope. once saw small
ksap Of sucl which scarcely thought were worth
Nc trouble Of pi,kinS up. until was informed by
tAC owner IL the most expert Paris jewel
Rfs--that thsir .alue when polished would reach
aaAriy million of francs.
IN the Brazil mines diamonds arc invar ably
i4amd inSermixrd with q peculiar earth called
onscdlh1O, whics IL q stratum OF rounded pebbles
assd gravel Immediately resting on the primitive
earthly matter Of variable thickness. Humboldt
and other distin ,uished modern scientists think
u,As the forn,st:5u of tho diamond is compare
6xcly recent, extending no further back than the
sse Of the n anuloth. II is also held by high
yathoritios Mai
DIAMONDS GROW, ''.'.
md she IKndoo woFkmen in the Bhagalpur mine,
sAhA Or. Euc,la an an English traveller, that the
~ lcfAltOn Vi us0uOnClB Is Always gong IOfWaTQ.
According ta another scientific traveller, DR..
vb1sey, = uhe. Opinion that diamonds grow in the
vasuouNy washed, Sfted and examined rubbish,
and that he chips aud small pieces rejected by
esGnee eearchdss. actually increase in size and
~ process e time become large diamonds, pre-
xaJs everywhere in India" Dr. Voysey adds the
sapertsnf obs rvation that in hot climates crys-
ihi6aitaon gSAs on with wonderful rapidity, and
shat be hspos. At no distant period. to produce
uMisniablD ptbofs of tho ,p-l3yssgyisdtion Of
,neshyst, xoo,te and feldspar in ailuyial soil
1he asscsent@ do not appear to have suspected
sdsAs diamonds could be cut. They only knew that
Sem n ono hi ring two points and eight triangu-
~ koes forming double pyramid. An artist
uho hvo0 III No Sixteenth century, Berquen, first
Ned 0le idea Il polishing two diamonds by rub
EnC khe 0lc against the other. Finding that
n0tiing Slse would answer, he tried diamond
GAfe vetoed With oil on the surface of metal re-
soknDg Plate. On which tho stone was subjected
- he reditiisag process Then the desired effect
oas produced. Successive trials indicated that
tAe best wayt Of cutting the natural stone Were
che t'1iaA cat and the rose cut.
Ti,hort gping into technical or scientific de-
3hS, my fAf th.t tho first mode OF treating
Ne Eough Diamond is the one best calculated to
Hxins cDt th@ Jle of the gem, particularly when
n ssoecds a.;' ordi lary Dimensions, whereas the
0sher IS generally adopted whenever diamonds
an&Ow FIVE or ton cagAts are to be prepared by
~ artist Inc best, perhaps the only diamond
asifshc1s in tho world are to be found in Amster-
sam. where consequently, all noted gems of that |
6S.xANon are prepared for the European |,
mxrfok
y rs IN unaeniable fact that diamonds are seen !
- the Boss advantage in . room where taere is |
A0u'hphcltF Of lights. A Paris journalist re-
n0rka that 10 Tort0ni's w9.-known restaurant |
snbrc ehe b IA monde generally resort aft r the
opera IL over, there il marked contrast between
NJ ofFect Produced in tho first saloon, which is
uehtsd bJ sing lc Ola ielier with ground & ass
s5Dess, and tho next one, which is lighted BY in
nanerabsa a's96 GAS jets. Ladies' wearing dia-
1ooss. whe pas cd through the first paror, were
aampaFs w iy !nnoticed but the moment they
no ged inio the second or third saloon the ra-
dn6on frog their gems was perfectly dazzling.
NJ is py t,aiAy the reason why the British aris-
necatic i.al:ss stln prefer candle lights innume-
nAbte In tlh r Sonecs and balls to the modern i'm
ueremcns sf gas chapdnliars. - 49,
Il SAH OO$r OF DIAMONDS
~ rot v4Ned much kH several hundred wears.
n perfect mSnd wSighig one carat is worth
lsout siA. should il wright be double. 1t would
~ worth AOxax2 or, Sl6O, The value Of ten
'araS dams nd il obtaincd by multiplying 40 two
.assessive anics BY ~. which gives $4,000 for the
M 49, -