DIAMOND-CUTTING. 209 



ablest of the Dutch lapidaries, with the aid of steam-power. The 

 cost of cutting is said to have been 840,000 reduced, however, to 

 some extent by the sale of the fragments. 



The process of diamond-cutting has within a few years been estab- 

 lished in the United States. Mr. Henry D. Morse, a jeweler of Bos- 

 ton, conceived the idea of constructing a machine for cutting and 

 polishing the gem. While engaged in perfecting his appliances, 



Fig. 7. Proper Size op Brilliant Diamond, Fig. 8. Foem op the Beilliant- 



100 CARATS, ACCORDING TO JeFPEIES'S CuT. 



Scale. 



chance threw in his way an itinerant vender of porcelain, who had 

 once been employed as a workman in the diamond ateliers of Amster- 

 dam. The sight of the rough gems and the apparatus recalled to 

 the mind' of the Jew the scenes of his youth, and awakened a desire 

 to resume his former occupation, and he offered to do the work of a 

 diamond-cutter. But, as the process was carefully considered, it was 

 discovered that the Jew could only cut the facets of the diamond, and 

 the art of the subsequent polishing he did not understand. It seemed 

 strange that an artisan who possessed the rare ability to tell at a 

 glance how large a gem the stone would cut, how to avoid internal 

 imperfections, and how to take advantage of the cleavage-planes, 

 could not i^olish the facets after he had cut them. But such was the 

 fact, for the two processes of cutting and polishing are widely differ- 

 ent, and require separate instruction. However, the deficiency was 

 soon supplied by an acquaintance who was induced to leave Holland 

 and act as polisher in the American diamond adventure. The estab- 

 lishment was now complete, but the business was at first confined to 

 recutting and repolishing gems that had been damaged by long use 

 or accident. The inventive genius of Mr. Morse made several impor- 

 tant changes in the machinery required by the lapidary, and displaced 

 the rude and cumbersome apparatus of the old system. At first but 

 two or three men were employed, but, after the discovery of the South 

 African diamond-mines, the rough gems soon furnished abundant ma- 

 terial, and now several men and boys are constantly employed, with 

 the aid of steam-power. 



In consequence of the success of the South African diamonds, and 

 tlie abundant supply of the stones, another a^e^/er has been established 

 in New York, under the direction of Mr. J. Hermann. A large amount 



VOL. Till, \i 



