The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08

an eliptical hole to contain the cruciblc.
while two carbon electrodes pass from the
cavity to the exterior, where they are con-
nected with the electrical battery. The
upper brick serves for a cover. NJ. MoIs-
son first sprfnkled the cavity with mag
nesia in order to prevent the formation
of calcium carbide He then placed It In
the crucble, into which he had put some
soft iron filings and charcoal, covered
it with the top brick, and turned on ths
current.
In three minutes the indicator showed a
| temperature Of $500 degrees Fahrenheit.
| The clay was boiling and flaming before
| the eyes of the audience when M. Mois-
son puts his hand on the top brick and
| kept ii there to show that the heat did
| not come through.
At the end Of ten minutes the process
was complete. M Moisson lifted the top
with his hands, though its under side was
white, hot mass of fame, and after
holding 1t up for while dropped it into
some water.
The crucible he took out with tongs
and also dropped into cole water. He ex-
planned that the first time he had cooled
the mass I'm that way he had taken every
possible precaution, expecting an explo
sion, but that after repeating the process
800 times without an accident, he felt that
the audience was safe.
On breaking the crucble he took out
an ingot the size Of a leaden bullet and
explained the process by which the iron
would have to be eliminated In order to
get at the crystalized carbon that was
probably within. The diamond will have
no commercial value, as the largest he
has succeeded in making is only one mllli-
meter in diameter.
The form Of the crystals varies accord
ing to the method used in cooling. When
water Is used the diamond is often full
of black specks, which jewellers call era
pauds "pogs," and which detract from
the value of a stone. M. Moisson was de-
lighted to discover these spots, as they
proved to him that he was following in
the track of nature.
When molten lead is used TO cool the
crucble the crystal takes the shape of
a small rectangular figure, sometimes
with the sharp edges rounded, but when
mercury is used the crystal is a regular
octahedron. Some Of the last, when ex-
posed to the air, split, as has happened
to some of the diamonds found at the
Cape This is an additional proof to M
Moissan that diamond is produced under
strong pressure.
His conclusion is that at the ordinary
temperature carbon does not lquefy, but
changes at once from solid into q gas,
always taking a graphite FORM and that
only under pressure does IL take the III
quid' FORM diamond.
He ran over the properties OF the long
list Of carbides discovered by him, and
produced acetyline gas before the audi
ence by putting some hthium into a high
Jar of water, which thereupon dubbed
After which he touched the gas off with
match, producing a brilliant flame. 1t
smoked so much that after two minutes
the jar was removed. and during the rest
Of the evening smoky hlaments kept fall
ing upon the spectators.
The last experiment was the volatilizing
Of silica, one Of the latest of M. Moissan s
scientific achievements. This was done in
the electric furnace, a glass globe placed
over 1t catching the beautiful violet gas
as it escaped.