Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-03-19

IF we can trust paragraph Just now
going the rounds of the press. the "dia-
mond in the sky" of the nursery verses
must be taken not as a happy comparison
but as genuine prophecy of scientific
discovery.
lt-that is, the paragraph-gravely al
leges, on the strength of some supposed
philosophers opinion, that diamonds are
in all probability cosmic product
chips of original creation, so to speak
which the earth has picked up in the
course of her travels through space; in
short, that they are of meteoric origin.
To the popular mind there must be some
thing plausible in the suggestion, else it
would not have been so favorably re.
ceived by so many intelligent editors,
ever on the alert for bits of valuable
scientific information wherewith to regale
their intelligent readers. Indeed, what
could be more plausible to those whose
knowledge of the diamond is embraced
by the one word carbon, and whose &C
quaintance with it is limited to some lit
tie familiarity with the appearance of
the cut GEM How pure, how hard,
how brilliant What filter product could
there be of the heavenly spacesg But
facts are earthly and very stubborn, prone
ever to take the shine out of splen-
did theories. 1t is true that the diamond
is a puzzle even to chemists; that the
mode of its formation is a mystery; that
even its place in the order of Nature is a
matter of doubt. Like amber, it is found
among minerals. Amber is known to be
vegetable product; and the diamond is
thought by some to show strong evidence
of similar origin.
Its antecedents are mysterious, it must
be admitted, but not wholly dark. Enough
is known to make it certain that the no
ton OF its cosmic origin is not to be seri-
ously entertained unless one is prepared
to accept at the same time the far.fetched,
germ. bearing meteor which Sir William
Thompson suggested rs the imparter of
life to our previously lifeless planet In
no other way, barring the earthly produc-
tton OF the gem, can we account for the
! resence of plant germs in the bodies of
diamond crystals. Where in extra ter
restrial spaces could the diamond, now
at Berlin, have picked up its inclosed or
ganic forms, so closely resembling pro
its chain of green corpuscles, like polin-
0ggd mdcr0ccaS
AS surely as flies in amber prove the
presence of animal life during some stage
in the formation of that singular sub
stance, the vegetable organisms found
in diamonds are proof that these gems
were formed amid surroundings not in.
consistent with the presence of vegetation,
perhaps in water; a superstition that
finds support not only in the fact of their
occasional inclusion of organic matter,
but still more in the presence of d9ndrites,
such as form on minerals of aquatic ORR
gin, in diamond belonging to Prof
Goppert Crystals of gold, iron and other
minerals have also been found inside of
diamonds; still other diamonds are super.
ticially impressed by sand and crystals,
which leads some to believe them to have
been originally soft; but it is quite as
probable that these foreign substances
may have intertered in some way with
the perfect development of the diamond
crystals, forcing them to grow around or
partly around the distractions.
Thus, even in its crystalline condition,
the diamond is not always such simple
body as is popularity supposed. The writer
of the paragraph in question speaks of it
as "pure" So it is, sometimes, but it is
also stained with impurities at times, and
tinged with color, thing of grades and
degrees. And lower down in the scale are
the imperiectly crystalline forms, known
as boart and carbonate, harder than the
true gem, but cruder and possibly more
useful. 1t would be as correct to judge
the common mineral quartz solely from
its appearance in what is known as Bra
lillian pebble AS the diamond solely from
the flashing brilliant. One exhibits no
greater range of grades and shades and
qualities than the other.
Though supremely beautiful in its best
estate, the diamond appears to be but an
earthly product, after ALL subject, like
everything else, even theories, to earthly
imperlec,ions. There may be diamond
factory up in the sky somewhere, but the
evidence of it is not strong. Arizona,
even, promises better field for cxplora-
ton.-lScientifc american