lU THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



But there is another way of producing crystals. Instead of melt- 

 ing the substance which we desire to crystalHze, it is sufficient to dis- 

 solve it and allow it to crystallize out of the solution by evaporating 

 the latter. The crystals of barley sugar, which are to be seen in every 

 confectioner's window, are thus produced. Molten iron happens to be 

 a good solvent for carbon, which is usually set free when it cools in 

 the form of graphite scales. M. Moissan, however, hit upon the 

 brilliant idea of making the molten iron charged with carbon cool under 

 great pressure. This pressure is easily obtained by using the property 

 which cast iron shares with water and a few ether bodies, that it ex- 

 pands instead of contracting at the moment when it solidifies. 



M. Moissan thus melted iron, mixed with carbon, in his electric 

 furnace, at a temperature of about 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and then 

 plunged it into water or molten lead. This sudden cooling solidified 

 the outer skin of the ingot. The expansion of the inner part, still 

 liquid, on solidifying within this hard skin, produced enormous pres- 

 sure, and it was found that the carbon under this pressure actually 

 crystallized into minute diamonds. The largest yet made is only about 

 one-fifth of an inch in diameter, but they are genuine diamonds, and 

 M. Moissan is thus the first and only diamond maker. 



The same process in nature gives rise to the discovery of tiny 

 diamonds in many iron meteorites, like the huge one which fell at 

 Coon Butte, in Arizona, and which an expedition is now on its way 

 to dig up. Probably the gems of Kimberley have been produced 

 in a similar fashion ; but it is extremely doubtful whether we shall 

 ever be able to imitate these vast cosmic processes in our laboratories, 

 and the owners of diamond necklaces need not be in immediate fear 

 of a sudden fall in the value of their jewels on this account. — W. E. 

 Garrett Fisher in The London Mail. 



PINK TEA FOR FARM HANDS. 



The wife of a farmer had a sister come from Chicago to make a 

 visit. One day the threshers came, and the guest insisted on doing 

 the work alone and sent her sister away to rest. When twenty-seven 

 threshers filed into supper that night they found a sandwich tied with 

 ribbon, one chicken croquette, one cheeseball the size of a marble and 

 a buttonhole bouquet at each plate. — Emporia {Kansas) Gazette. 



