The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-11-16
LABORATORY DIAMONDS.

Ehe Partial Success OF tne Urea" OF
Modern Alchemists.
The fond hope of the alchemists. the
transmutation of the baser metals into
gold, has nearly faded from the minds
of men, but the assiduity OF the chem
lists in their efforts to initiate artificial
~ the beautiful products OF nature
was never greater. Since Lavoisler
and his associates, in 1772. proved that
the diamond is only form OF carbon,
MANY efforts have been made to pro-
duce it artifcially. by the transforms
ton of some of the more common
forms These efforts have met with
varying degrees of success
Several experimenters have produced
the black diamond. but only once be-
fore has the crvstalized transparent va
riety been produced. This was accom-
plished by Hannay, but his method in
volved physical arrangements difficult
to meet, and has not been pursued N.
Moissan has now announced new
method for the artificial production OF
the diamond. It has long been
thought that if the ordinary forms OF
carbon could be converted into liquid
or gas. that they then might be made
to solidify as diamonds But there is
no way known of directly converting
carbon into liquid or gas
Moissan took advantage of the prop
erty possessed by melted iron OF a b
sorbing and diffusing carbon through
out it's mass. He saturated the highly
heated iron with carbon by infusing it
into quantity of purified sugar. By
suddenly cooling the melted metal he
formed solid crust over the still liquid
interior. As the mass continued to
cool, the interior gradually soliditied.
but it was prevented from expanding
by the rigid exterior. The interior
was thus compelled to solidify under
enormous pressure.
During the process of hardening, the
carbon solicited in part, as diamond
instead of graphite. as is usually the
case in the cooling of melted iron. The
quantity of diamonds thus produced
was small. and the crystals themselves
were small. but they were clear and
transparent and seemed to possess all
the beautiful properties of the natural
gems.
The experiment has already excited
the curiosity and interest of many pee
pie. and the simplicity of the method
will probably induce many to attempt
the production of the precious stones
1t is, however, safe to predict that
much time and labor will yet have to
be expended before marketa ble-sized
jewels can be produced.
The scientific import of the discovery
is, however, great and of immediate
bearing. It is an important success in
the efforts of scientific men to repro
duce the rarer of the natural mineral
products. The diamond, ruby, quartz,
feldspar, mica, pyroxene. hornblende
have all been in the laboratory. The
experiments are very suggestive as to
how the same ma terials were made IN
nature. Moissan's experiment throws
strong light en- the condition Of the
carbon in melted iron, a question OF
great practical import.
Finally. the discovery suggests addi-
tional information as to the processes
going on beyond our earth, which
sometimes send meteorites TO us laden
with diamonds: within the earth, by
which reservoirs may be filed with
natural gas. The discovery widens the
field for the transformation of after
and increases the possibility of inter-
preting the secrets of the mineral
world.-Samuel z. Tillman, in Cosmo.
pOlifan