The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-24

solution or salt and water or of alum and
| water. The method of the gem-maker is
| exactly similar; but the gem materials
| VIII dissolve only in certain substances at
| very hlSh temperatures Moissan finds
that carbon, the material of the diamond
viii form solution with molten iron. and
so he employs this metal The carbon
! crystallizeS out of the iron Just as the
sugar does out of the water.
"hroustchoff, a chemist of St Peters,
burg, has obtained diamonds by a pro-
cess not differing much from that Of
Molssan. He dissoves the charcoal in
molten silver. Two Frenchmen, Frenzy
ana Fell have made true rubies NJ a
| hNely red, and possessing the hardness
ana hrilliancy of the natural gem. This
they have accomplished by fusing alum
ina with silica, adding a metallic oxide
to give the color The mixture being
rendered molten al a high temperature
and then allowed to cool the alumlna
crystallizes out in the shape of little
ruoies. Sapphires are produced i'm the
same way using a different oxide for
coloring. Unfortunately, the biggest of
the sapphires and rubies are no larger
than pin-heads
Third in respect to value among pre-
cious stones is the emerald. In fact, it
may be put second, nasmuch as emer-
aids of the finest water fetch more Der
caret than diamonds. Chemists have
found out how to make this kind of gem
by fusing with heat a mixture OF boric
acid, pulverized natural emerald and a
small quantity of oxide of chromium The
last is to give the requisite color. Natu-
raj emerald of poor quality. hawed and
unht to be cut for gems is cheap enough.
Boric acid happens to be a substance in
which metallic oxides readily dissolve ON
cooling che crystals Of true emerald CrYs,
tallize out The value of emeralds, by the
1r,ras A.. I'LL. Al
are simply green beryls. Beryls of other
hueo may be bought for trife; there is
single crystal of beryl in the national
museum at Washington which weighs
LOO pounds. II has no gem value
Though so huge it has all of the geo,
metrical symmetry that exctes the won
der of students of the everyday phenom-
ena of crystallization II looks as if Il
were hewed to measure and polished by a
ckillful stone-cutter.
Some of these emeralds made in the
laboratory are of purest water and sat
isfactory in all respects save size. They
are too small for use as gems. That is
the trouble always-the artificial precious
stones are not big enough. If the crystals
could only be made larger there would
be no further necessity for digging them
out of the EARTH they could be supplied
in indefinite quantities from the factory.
! There is no need that they should be very
big. Diamonds of one carat are out of
reach of ali but the rich to-day and
pigeon blood ruby as big as a pea is
worth $1,000. Can crystals of greater size
be produced? That is the question. Chem
lists have succeeded in making some kinds
of crystals weighing over a pound apiece.
on the other hand, it is admitted that the
formation of large crystals of diamond
emerald and ruby may perhaps have been
very slow, requiring thousands of years
te tl, s-gN % . H..
artificial gem problem. OF it's ultimate
practical solution science is very hopeful
Apparently. the superior size of the pre-
cious stones evolved by nature has to do
with the vastly greater scale on which her
chemical operations are carried on. So
the chemists say that what is needed for
their purpose is apparatus of enormous
size, with allowance of a long time for the
slow cooling of the molten solutions and
the crystallizing out of the crystals. Elk
periments on the requisite scale would re-
quire big capital, and that is why nothing
of much Importance is being done at pres
ent. The quality, as to water etc, of
the gems produced would be probiemat-
ical, of course; each melt would be sort
of lottery But, where single crystal of
a few carats might be worth fortune,
| the industry would tempt pursuit"
Meanwhile il is imagined that some COM
| pound of charcoal may be found which.
treated in a manner similar to that al
ready described, will yield satisfactory
crystals. In this way the chemists have
tried mixture of carbon and sulphur
which forms a colorless liquid resembling
water and containing absolutely nothing
but these two MISUNDERSTANDING and
carbon. If by some method the sulphur
could be got rid Of the carbon might be
expected to be deposited in crystals. Up
to date. however, no process for accom-
I 1faI,f ,, Lra I.gs.r
authorities think that electricity is the
agent by which the artificial diamonds of
the future will be obtained. BY means of
the Voltaic battery, almost microscopic
crystals of carbon have been deposited
on threads of platinum. These seem to
be true diamonds. answering all the tests.
About thirty-fve years ago quite a
| panic was occasioned in the gem market
| of Europe by a rumor to the effect that
French savant had solved the problem
| of making diamonds. The report actually
| lowered the price of diamonds for a short
| time, and many persons who possessed
| fortunes i'm such stones were realty
| alarmed. One may easily imagine what
| would happen If the problem of producing
| good-sized diamonds cheaply should be
| solved by an ingenious chemist. The gems
/ would sink to a small fraction of their
| present value. and people of means would
| no longer care to wear them. But 1t must
be- considered that the cost of turning
| out the artificial stones would be likely TO
| be great. The case might be like that OF
| the gold which Prof Sage succeeded In
| getting from the ashes or plants. Scentifi-
| cally speaking, the result was beautiful,
| but the expense was about $25 for every
| 500 worth of the yellow metal secured.
| No wonder the chemist feels aggravated
| considering the simplicity of the things
/ which he would reproduce. Nature takes
( a small quantity II black and friable car
| bon and converts it into a diamond. the
| hardness of which is unequ6ed by any
other known substance. She takes a 1T
tie glazing, such as the potter uses in
| his everyday work, and, coloring 1t with
| a trace of iron, produces the ruby or the
| sapphire. From worthless pebbles, with
| slight additions. she forms topaz emerald
| and amethyst. Amethysts have actually
| been formed accidentally in the furnaces
| OF the porcelain factories of Sevres, in the
| same manner doubtless as they are elab-
| GRATED by nature in her vast volcanic
| workshops like that of Vesuvius, which
has been called the great crystal factory.
Nature has offered to mankind one oD-
| iect lesson to illustrate her method Of
making diamonds. The South Africa
0eids which furnish the bulk of the dia-