Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-02-21
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ARTIFICIAL DIAMONDS.
Mary Attempts to Make the Gems Ar.
tificially--Paste "Jcwels."

From the earliest times the hia-
rnonl has occupied mems minds. II
has been perennial puzzle. one OF
the riddles of creation. No wonder.
therefore, that attempts 10 make this
gem artincially have been numerous.
In December, 1879, Mr. MaceTar, OF
Glasgow, claimed to have produced
carbon In the diamond modification.
says The London Globe" Working
upon perfectly sound theory. he OBJ
tanned a crystalline substance SO like
diamond dust in appearance. even UNI
der q high power of tile microscope,
rs 10 deceive experts. II. resisted the
action of acids and strong alkaline
solutions, as well as n high degree Of
heat. and Mt least q portion OF 1t prov
ed hard enough 10 cut a diamond. and
engrave rnhies, sapphires. amethysts.
etc. AIR. MacTear acted in perfect
good fni,h He couI'iod the fullest
possible inquiry, showing the results
TO Professors Tyndall. Smyth and Sto-
rs Maskelyne The latter authority,
q few weeks later. demonstrated Mir.
MacTear's claim to be false, while
very shortly afterward he himself fell
into a like error by atiributing a So
luton of the problem to the process
invented by Mr.. Bnllentne liannay.
another Glasgow chemist. But the
snc oimens OF damondtoid carbon thus
pro .nced were OF iniinitesimal size
and crumbled immediately. AS the ex-
perimenta Offered no promise of com
mercial success and were of n diff
cul and dangerous character they
WOT a not nnrSpyara1 with
However, the formation OF the din-
mond is no longer an unsolyed prob
lem of chemistry; at any rate, many
circumstances point TO the conclusion
that the diamond OF the chemist and
the diamond OF The mine are strange
~ akin rs to origin. The French pro-
fesHor, Moissan. was the first person
ort' liciallv 10 produce diamonds, and,
tbs llis 10 his researches, we are ablc
today to manufacture diamonds in
lab rratorics infinitely microscopic,
Nevertheless yeritable diamonds, with
crystalline form and appearance, col
or. hardness and action on liglr the
SAME us The natural gem" so Profess
sor Crookes describes them. Moissan
owed Ills success to the development
OF electricity, with the Introduction OF
the electric furnace. Until recent
ye"rs carbon--and the diamond is
onlT pure carbon In The crysialllzed
condition-was considered absolutely
non volatile and infMsible. The enor-
mons Temperatures placed ut Our dis
pe Il b. the electric furnace showed
that carbon obeys the rules that gov
err other boiler.
In June. 1897, Professor Crookes
manufacturCd diamond before r4lc
eys < of an audience at the Royal In
si.ntion by the process Of AIoissan.
and told his hearers that II the tenn
peIature could only be allowed to act
for n sufficient time on the carbon the
artificial formation of diamonds would
s3an pass from the microscopic stage
10 a scale more likely TO satisfy the
requirements OF science. industry, and
personal adOrnment The procesA is
tedious and costly one. ana the larg-
est artificial diamond. so far, is said
to measure less than one-fiftieth of
an inch across. CRYSTALS which do
NOT exceed half carat in weight are
OF itle or no value. and chemists, In
this country, at least, have not yet
." ceeucu III ipliiiHS crystal any
thing approaching this size. There
fore. treated from commercial
|s';ndpoini, the present state of the
process for effec,ing the transmuta-
ton Of pure iron 10 diamond is not
surh as to cause the possessors of n
wealth OF jewelry any uneasiness.
Al nina. the substance of sanbhire
aud ruby, has long been crysiallized:
the halas ruby. or red spnel. wa
formed about seventy years ago Nv
Fhelmen in small but distinct crvs
tails: ard the Oriental emerald. 20
na.. amethyst and hyacln,h have all
hfcn manufactured In the laboratory
However. apart from their infArIn-