ISO 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



The Cullinan was cleaved on Feb- 

 ruary ioth, 1908, by the eldest partner 

 of this firm, Mr. Jos. Asscher, and 

 ground by Air. Henry Koe, an eminent 

 expert in this kind of workmanship. 

 It will be of interest to know what Dr. 

 G. A. Molengraaff, now professor at 

 the Technical High School in Delft 

 (Holland), to whom the diamond was 

 sent by the direction of the Premier 

 Mine, says about this magnificent 

 stone : 



ice or that of hyalite. The diamond 

 shows some inclusions and also some 

 feathers or inside cleaving surfaces. 

 However, they are so situated that the 

 value of the diamond is not lessened by 

 same. No doubt it is the clearest of 

 all known giant diamonds. 



"The question has been raised 

 whether it will be possible to find the 

 other pieces that have been blown off 

 by cleaving. Of course there is a pos- 

 sibility of finding them but no one 



THE CULL1XAX 



"Although the diamond is a giant 

 gem, it evidently seems to be only a 

 part of a much larger stone, the form of 

 which can be only guessed. Four pieces 

 of this main stone have been blown off 

 along the cleaving surfaces that, as we 

 are aware, show the position of oc- 

 tahedrons. Each of those pieces must 

 have had an enormous circumference 

 Therefore, the stone, lately found, 

 shows only a part of its former sur- 

 face. 



'The stone is a single crystal with- 

 out twin surfaces or twin lamels. It 

 is fully clear. Its perfect lucidity is 

 best to be compared with that of clean 



would be able to say whether or where 

 they will be found. 



"Diamonds originate in very great 

 depths from carbon material which has 

 been dissolved in melted basic pluton- 

 ic minerals. Out of these minerals, 

 crystallized by enormous pressure and 

 powerful temperature prevailing in 

 those depths of the inner earth, the car- 

 bon material turns into pure diamonds. 

 During the time of volcanic eruptions 

 the diamonds were thrown out bv enor- 

 mous power to the surface, and by the 

 strong friction which must have ex- 

 isted when the minerals passed 

 through the crater pit the pieces were 



