Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-15
The biggest Diamond Of tBe Century.
From the London Times

The Biggest Diamond Of tIae Century.
From the London Times.
On Saturday night one of the greatest dia-
monds Of the world. the largest which has been
found this century. was exhibited. 1t was dis
covered in the claim of Mr. Porter Rhodes in
the kimberley Mine, South Africa, and by its
remarkable whiteness completely disposes of
the charge against Africa Of being the nurse of
tawny diamonds. The surface diamonds had,
indeed, yellow hue, but now that the miners
nave gone below the trap they find in Ja9ers-
foDtein and other famous regions of the Griaua
dam0nd-feds the clearest biue-white stones
The Porter Rhodes diamond was brought to
hight on February 12. 1880. and before it left the
diamond-fields $500 (Which was placed to the
credit of the local hOspitaD had been paid by
spectators admitted to see it. aud 100 600 had
been offered for it in vain by syndicate of Lon
don jewellers. 1t weighs 80 carats is still I'M
cut. but is so clOven that the table and one of
the steps are already formed. and it will lose
less than most diamonds in the cutting. being
expected to produce a net weight of about 100
carats. when it assumes the form of a brilliant
Mr.. Rhodes says he will not take f1OO 600 for
the diamond. 1t was shown to the Queen early
in the year. and Her Majesty on the occasion
presented Mr.. Rhodes with a watch Fancy
ENing tl00.oo0 for gem-that is to say at 5
per cent. paying $4,000 a year. or -f1G0 a week
Tor the privilege Of wearing it. It's great purity
VI color and compactness Of shape make it a
beautiful object. even in its present rough state
Mr. Streeter shows near it models Of other
famous diamonds the koh-i-Noor (l06 1-l6
carats) with which Mr. Rhodes has been enabled
to compare it ut Windsor the Star of the South
the great Brazilian stOne). the Dresden Drop,
&c. together with the unique jewel. the Mackel
diamond in which a smaller stone has been EN-
bedded Dy some freak of nature. Here also is
the red diamond. like the ruby, but shooting
back the RAYS Of the electric light with direct
ness characteristic of the diamond; the green
diamond. with the stone of CeylOn, smaller
stones carried for years in a pith-box behind a
Negroes ear. great milk-White pearls. and the
lustrOus shells from which they have been taken;
pink pearls. and the topaZps which display a
luminous star blazing in different quarters of
their convex hemisphere as the lights fall on
them differently.
The MISUNDERSTANDING Defence.
From the n. Y. Tribune.
1t ought to be we'll understood what manner
of men are hereafter to be at liberty to commit
murder if they desire to do so. E. c. SptZka,
NJ d., of New York. a witness in the Guteau
case. has enlightened us upon that point. Be-
fore striking their fatal blows. or firing their
homicidal pistols, they need not be examined
as to the eyes by an Ophthalmoscope nor as to
their pulsations by a sphygmograph, because
DR.. Spitzka considers the result of investigation
by these instruments as far from decisive
What the intending murderer should take an
opinion on is - the expression of his face" He
must strengthen the DIAGNOSIS which is to save
him from the gallOws by taking advice upon
every available point Upon the other hand
the doctor who is TO give him his invaluable
certihcate must first insist that his patient Sc
cure the publication of his own portrait in an
illustrated newspaper. This portrait the doc
tor will inspect. 1t was from such a portrait of
Guiteau that the great DIR. SpitZka made up his
mind. He knew from the shape of the mans
head. from the defective innervation of the
facial muscles" from 1.-The assymetrv Of the
face" from 1.-The pronounced deviation of the
tongue to the left that Guiteau was one of
those persons, fortunately at present not
numerous, who are privileged to commit
murder. If you can procure a certificate from
any craniOlOgist that the two sides of your brain
are not equal, buy revolver and shoot your
enemy at oncei If the end of your tongue de-
viates One-half or quarters of an inch
from the medium line. you are all right. If you
have "a peculiar ascent of the back part of the
head. as If it were cut off suddenly and sort
of keel-like prOlOngatiOn in the middle line
extending along down the back or the head you
are one of the ''rhOmbO-cephallics," as the doc
tors call Them and can do Just what you please
with impunity. If you are indicted and ar
ralgned. all you will have to do is to plead
''rhombo cephallic." The district attorney will
quail and guash the Indictment at once
Whoever has the luck to have "a mean eX-
preston OF face" can snap his fingers at the
courts, and be found not guilty of any crime
which he pleaSes to commit. Should he unfOr-
tunately be convicted, when the court asks
II he has any reasons to give why sentence
ofdeath should not be passed upon him. all he
will have to utter is 'rhonbO cephallc. Judge"
and the judge will at once say: Take that
man out, give him drink. and let him go,"
There are no doubt good many people in the
TOmbs to-day who heartily wish that they
were ''rhombO cephallic' They should send
for DR.. Spitzka. He will give them certii-
cate of rhombo-cephaIlicaty He will find
safety for them in their eyes and noses The
shape of their skulls shall prove their salvation
AS science advances. criminal law will be en-
tirely changed; and Heaven alone knows what
will become OF people with properly shaped
heads and the correct facial angle when the
neutrality-suspicious. are recognized as chartered
murderers. their craniums so many licenses to
indulge in homicide, and their facial muscles a
recognized attestatiOn of their moral irrpspOn-
sibility. The cOngenital mOnstrosities will have
everything their own way.
What shall we do with them? DR.. SpitZka
does not with all his science. seem to have re-
membered that If he creates a large number of
moral mOntrOsties. and as good as lets them
loose upon society, he will put the people who
have not the ill-luck to be neutrality-suspicious.
upon seif-defence. If he turns a considerable
portion of the human race into tigers and leop-
ards and lions and rattlesnakes. if he reduces
society to a Jungle there is nothing for those
who possess common sense and wish to save
their lives to do but to buy guns and cultivate
the art and mystery of workmanship. Is this
to be the outcome Of the Guiteau trial?
Violent storms ON the Atlantic.
The incoming vessels continue to report severe
storms on the Atlantic. The captain OF the City
of 0ftI Tho