The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-28
THE DIAMOND.
FACTS ABOUT THE MOST VAIL
UABLE OF PRECIOUS GEMS.
Diamonds Among the Ancients-
Their Form-Where Diamonds
are Found-The Origin ofDia-
monds-The Grand MoSul."

are Found-The Origin or D1a-
monds-The Grand Mogul."
Speaking of the diamond, the Chicago
Herald says: At very ancient day it
attracted notice, though not clearly dis
tinguished by the sncients from other
less precious gems. In India it has been
used from the most ancient times as
gem for personal ornamentation, aud
especially az q jewel for religious para
phcrnalia and decoration. It was the
third gem in the second row of the high
priests breastplate, and was called ia
halom by the doctors. Among the
Greeks it was used at any rate three CEN
tur:es B. G. and was called adamas, the
unsubduable, from its hardness and as
we'll from its quality of resisting fire.
The fullest ancient account of the stone
is in the writings of Pliny, who says that
its value surpasses all human things, and
its use is confined to Kings and few even
of them. Its peculiar hardness and the
extreme difficulty of working it for many
centuries limited its use and its value,
and it was not until 1476 that one Lud-
wig Won Bueucn discovered the present
method of working and cutting it.
Even in the sixteenth century ruby or
a garnet was far more esteemed, as they
were more readily cut, and hence more
available for use.
With its form and chemical character
every one is of course familiar. Dia-
monds crystalline always upon the tes-
been found that were perfect cubes.
Generally they are in the form of double
four-sided pyramids or twelve-faced
crystals. Its chemical character is that
of pure crystalized carbon, easily demon
strated by the application of the strong
est possible heat, when it vanishes en-.
tirely, leaving only traces OF carbonic
acid gas.
India was the oldest and the most pro.
life source of gems for commerce. The
eastern part of the Deccan contains the
principal districts for the mining OF
Jewels, the exports having been enor-
nous. They are found only among the
alluvial or more recent rocks, and mostly
in the beds OF loose sand and gravel. To
find them the miner must dig through
the top strata and pass second of sand
perhaps eighteen inches IN depth.
Then succeeds strata of stiff
black mud or clay perhaps four feet
thick, and then the diamond bed, dis
tinguishsd by the presence of large
rounded stones. Shallow pits are ex-
cavated few feet in diameter when the
workman, accustomed by practice, has
most hope of success. He digs to the
depth of a few feet, and then searches
the bed he considers most promising. II
he is not rewarded by any find he ex-
cavates another cavity. There are acres
and acres covered in this way with de-
serted pits. Brazil has more lately come
into notice as diamond mining locality.
In 1927 they were discovered in the
Province of Minas Gereas, where the ma
tives used them as counters for games OF
cards. When first bought, Brazilian
Diamonds were considered inferior to
the Indian, though without any cause.
The mines are esteemed crown property.
Up to 1918 about 3, 900, 900 carats, estimat
ed at about $35, 900, 600, have been fo und.
Since then the. yield has been possibly
5000 or 5000 carats per year. None Of
the Brazilian stones is very la"ge, though
all are remarkably brilliant. Gems have
been found, too, in New Mexico, small
ones in California and in Georgia and
South Carolina, and in some. sections oi
ARIZONA.
There has been a great deal of specu-
lation concerning tn; method of the ori.
gin of these stones, but with little def
mite result. Newton declared that It was
some "unctuous substance congealed."
Jameson thought that it might be 'the
secretion of some ancient tree, like am.
ber." Many distinguished chemists have
held to the theory that it was OF vegeta-
BILE origin, comparing the ashes of
burnt diamond with the ashes of plant
tissues. No less m authority than Goep-
pert, in his Harlem prize essay in 1868,
argued long and learnedly for this view.
Leibig ascribed its origin to slow vege-
table decomposition in some peculiar
fluid rich in carbon and hydrogen. The
fact that of later years diamonds have
been largely discovered in the very heart
Of rocky masses that show every trace OF
igneous origin rather shows that fire
must have been the chief producing
agent. The years of chemical expert.
ment are full Of the histories of enthusi-
asts who spent time and fortune in a vain
attempt to produce diamonds. One of
these, DeLaunnert, Frenchman, ex-
hausted large fortune in building fur
naces and blasts, and in bringing carbon
formations from all parts of the world,
endeavoring that from them he might
produce the shining gems of much price.
Not only the rarity but the extreme
difficulty attending the polishing OF the
diamond produces its extreme costllness,
The trade has vibrated between Nurem-
berg and England, both Holland and
Britain having made important discoy-
cries in the art. The work is done al.
most entirely by hand. and consists OF
rubbing one stone with another. or OF
grinding it against wheel coated with
diamond powder. When large pieces are
to be removed thy are sawed of by
means of an iron wire coated with the
powder, or by quick blow from ham
mer and chisel along the line OF cleavage.
There is great danger, however, from this
method, and it has resulted in the ruin
of several magnificent stones.
There are six large diamonds called
paragons. which, like the works OF
master painters, are valued at fabulous
sums. The largest is the "Grand
Moeul," belonging to the Shah OF Persia,
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