Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-26

Silldii OlleS. MOiSSett
in Paris. has manu-
featured Diamonds by melting wrought iron
together with carbon and permitting the
mixture to cool very slowly. Under these
conditions the carbon became crystallized
simultaneously, Kroustchof, in st. Peters
burg has got diamond crystals by a sim
liar process, employing silver instead OF
iron.
These artificial diamonds are scarcely
big enough to be seen with the naked eye
but they represent the solution of the prob
lem of crystallizing carbon. So much be-
ing accomplished it may be confidently eX-
pected that crystals of greater size will
soon be produced. 1t has been argued that
in the laboratory the processes of nature
can only be initiated on a contemplate
scale; but you must remember that crystals
of carbon need not be very big in order to
possess value as gems. Furthermore, chem
lists have already succeeded in making very
large crystals of a great variety of sub
stances. some of them weighing as much as
a pound.
'It is easy to find out what any kind of
precious stone is made Of by the ordinary
processes of ANALYSIS. The problem, then.
is merely to take the elements thus aSceT-
tained and put them together in the proper
crystalline form, initiating the methods OF
nature. How are diamonds formed in ma
ture? Nobody knows with certainty. but q
shrewd guess at it has been made. The
greatest existing diamond field is in South
Africa. There eruptive matter from deep
in the earth seems 20 have burst out
through a surface layer of shale. the lat
ter being very rich in carbon. Slow cOoiir g
followed, and the carbon was crystallized
out, as in the experiments of Moissan and
Kroustcroff
They Make Rubics.
"Rubies are now made by artifica They
are just az handsome as genuine ones,
and If it comes to that, it can hardly be
said that they are not genuine, inasmuch
as they are of the same material The
only difficulty I'm the way of their manu-
facture for market is that people do not
want them, regarding them counterfeit.
On that account jewelers. will not sell them,
for they can be distinguished as artif ciai
by the microscope Much has been said
about the bubbles which they certain,
but the bubbles are microscopic ard do
rot interfere with the beauty of the gems.
1t is almost impossible 10 get real ruby
that has no flaws in it.
"Of course, you are aware that rlbies
are today the most valuable of all precious
stones, far exceeding the diamond. A
gem as big as pea, of the first quality
and OF the true pigeon blood color, Will
fetch $1,000. Rubes are crystalized cor
undum, which Is oxide of aluminium. Sap
phircs are of the same material. They
also are initiated with success in the labor
atory. The process most commonly en-
ployed in the manufacture of rubes is to
fuse together small ruby sparks which
are cheap enough, by means of electricity.
This work with rubieS and sapphires has
been done by Frenzy and Fell, in Paris.
only a few months ago a German chem
list named Traube succeeded in producing
beryls artificially, employing roundabout
process tpo elaborate to describe. Before
long emerads, which are merely green
beryls, will be manufactured To obtain
the proper green color is not a matter of
serious difficulty. There is a single crystal
of beryl in the National Museum that
weighs over 1000 pounds. 1t has no gem
value however. Emeralds of q few car
ats weight serve well enough for purposes
OF ornament, 1t Is needless to say.
Some other Gems.
1.-THE moonstone is variety Of feldspar.
Fouque and Levy have reproduced field
spars by artificial means, but they have
not yet made any possessing the peculiar
optical properties Of the moonstone. These
properties are due to tho internal crystal
line structure Of the gem. It is the same
way with opals. There is no difficulty in
manufacturing the opal material, which is
merely hydrated silica, but the peculiar
optical properties Of the precious stone
have not been initiated with success. The
fire of the opal is due to the interruption
Of light by the thin layers Of which it is
composed.
chemists have known for long time
how to make peridots.
''Peridots are crystallized transparent
Divine. They have learned also how to
produce CARR cts, though imperfectly. Half
a dozen closely related minerals yield gar
nets. The most valuable ones are the
green garnets from Siberia. 1t may be
said in general way that nearly all of
the gems can now DO manufactured in
more or less perfection, though, as a rule,
they are not big enough or fine enough to
have commercial value. I have little
doubt, however. the difficulties in the way
will be overcome eventually by conducting
suitable processes on a large scale with big
apparatus"
In Paris artificial pearls are now made
by new process. Beads are cut from real
meteorological shells, and these are coat
ed with silver. which gives them almost
the same specific gravity as real pearls.
while the silver lends a luster somewhat
known as Roman pearls are
globules of glass, lined on the inside with
a substance obtained from fish scales. It
Is to this substance that the scales of some
fishes owe their iridescence.
Silver RDrely Found Pure.
Professor Phillips Of Allegheny, Pa, has
recently succeeded in obtaining wire silver
by artifice. Hitherto wire silver has been
known only In nature, and all attempts to
reproduce lC III the LABORATORY nave IaleQ.
In nature the most beautiful Of white
metals is found native and pure in only
one form-that is-in the shape Of what is
known as wire silver. The latter is SO
called because Of its peculiar appearance
somewhat resembling fine wires tangled
together. Often 1t looks like moss. Con-
siderable masses of it are sometimes dis
covered, the minerals with which 1T was
originally associated having been dissolved
out and washed away by water, leaving
chunks Of the virgin metal. Frequently
such chunks have been termed nuggets.
but there Is no such thing as real mug
get of silver.
Silver is exceedingly ready to combine
with many other elements, such as arsenic
and sulphur. Most commonly it Is found
associated with the latter, taking the form
Of "sulphde." Its affinity for sulphur
Is illustrated by the fact that it quickly
becomes furnished If exposed in the same
room with the contents of an overstale
egg, the decomposition Of which sets free
hydrogen. Lead has the
curious property of dissolving silver.
combination of these two metals forms the
most extraordinarily rich ores Of Creede,
Col. which were thrown up by volcanic