Evening star., 1926-04-04


For vain repentance flow. This stone
Emblem Of limo, ence Is known.
THE diamond, the natal stone for
April is the gem of reconciliation
and is believed to have the power Of
enhancing the love of husband for
wife This stone, the purest. hardest
and most brilliant of gem stones. is
svmbolical Of Constancy. purity and
Innocence. hence early used in be-
throthal rings 1t softens anger,
strengthens devotion and is an in
falliblo test of fidelity Its virtues
safeguard against lightning. prevent
and cure insanity and drive away evil
spirits. OF the many medicinal vir-
tues assigned to the diamond. one of
the most noteworthy is as an anti
dote for poison. Strangely enough,
with the belief in its efficacy in this
respect is coupled the idea that the
stone in itself is a deadly poison. Ac-
cordinC to the views of the Arabians
and Persians the diamond promotes
health and dispelS fear. The stone
Is supposed TO bring victory in time
of battle by endowing its wearer
with strength, fortitude and coura Ge.
OF all precious stones the diamond
has the simplest chemical compost
tton. 1t is crystallized carbon, a ma
terial familiar to everybody in the
humble form of graphite, the writ
ing substance used in lead pencils.
BY what process in natures labora-
tory carbon was Crystallized into the
diamond is unknown. but scientific
investigators agree that the trans
formation was >slow and that titanic
pressure was a prime factor. The
diamonds of the world-famed Kim
herley mines of South Africa were
formed in great pines of blue clav
under hundreds of feet of pressure.
hut due to the wearing away of the
overlving rocks as wealth of stones
has been found near the surface. The
discovery of the African diamond
fields is ascribed to the chance find
ing Of diamond, in 1859, among
childs playthings. As the story
goes. the little son of Boer farmer
was in the habit of gathering pretty
stones to pla% with. One of them
attracted his moTler's eye and she
spoke of it to a neighbor. who be-
came interested and offered to buy 1t.
Laughing at the idea of accepting
money for a stone, the woman gave
il to her friend Later this stone,
passed into the hands of 4 mineralo-
gist. who at once recognized 1t as
fine diamond.
The quality that makes the dia'
mond so SupremclE beautiful as
gemstone is it's jsurDassng property
of, rejecting and dispensing light
that is. dividing light into colored
rays. causing the peculiar fash of
nrismatic hues called its fire. The
RANCE Of color of the diamond is eN-
ien4ive. but the nue white and the
"fancv" stones Uhose that display
red. green. l'ln yellow, brown or
orange of decided colorl are by far
the most valuable. Brilliancy cut
and general perfection are also FAC
tors governing the price of n dia-
n1ord so that of two stones. both
fav!ess and of eoual weight, one may
be worth twice the other.
,r,onc the historically interesting
diamonds are the Regent or
"pitt." diamond. weighing 1876 carats.
for rnany wears the finest large dla'
1nond in the world 1t was discov-
cred in India in 1901, and weighed
41o carats in the rough. The tine'x
hluc diamo"P is the Hope, al
almost yqDphire-btue stone, Weighing
A. carats The Dresden Green Is
4he finest green diamond, pear
shaped 4S-carat. brilliant. The "koh-
r%,,r - or mountain of light. which
weighed. when first brought to Eng
land. 1SG carats. but reduced by re-
cutting in 1852 to LOG carats. Is
among the English crown jewels. The
'A,ictor;Q." Cane diamond, weighed
4S7 carats in the rough and lSo
carats cut The worlds largest dia-
monds. the Excelsior" and the "Cul-
linan." weighing in the rough, re-
spectively, 995 carats and 3,106 car
ats. are both South African, the for
mer being found in 1898 and the
latter in 1905. These have both
been reduced in size by cutting. and
glass models of some of the result
ant stones are included in the Ma
tional Museums collection of imita-
tion stones The largest diamond in
America at the present time and the
finest yellow diamond in the world
is the Tiffany" a fiawless double
cut brilliant of rich orangeyellow
color 1t also. came from the famous
Kimberley mines and weighs 125
carats.
The diamond gets its name from
the Greek word adamas. meaning
uncomfortable, referring to its ex'
treme hardness. Although the hard
est of all stones. the diamond is not
indestructible, for, being carbon, 1t
can be burned in the air, leaving be.
hind carbon dioxide gas. 1t is also
very brittle and easily Clipped or
hEokea.