Diamondi. — Chemistry. 7 1 



than IP, two only of which were in England, the Piggott dia- 

 mond weighing 45 carats, and worth 16,200/. and one in the 

 possession of the Hornsby family of 36 carats, worth 80O0/. 

 Holland has but one, which weighs 36 carats, and is valued at 

 10,368/.; its form is conical, and it was for some time in the 

 possession of Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, of London. — France 

 has two; the largest was bought by the Duke of Orleans during 

 his Regency, and thus called the Regency Diamond ; its weight 

 is 166|- carats, and value 149,038/. — Germany has one weighing 

 139f carats, and worth 155,682/. — Russia is rich in these gems; 

 its largest is that of the Sceptre, which is said to weigh 779 ca- 

 rats. If this be true, it must be worth, according to the general 

 mode of estimating them, the enormous sum of 4,854,728/. — 

 The history of this diamond is rather curious. For a long time 

 it formed the eye of an East Indian Idol, from which post it was 

 removed by a European soldier. From him it passed through 

 several hands, and was finally sold to the Empress Catherine for 

 90,000/. a handsome annuity, and a patent of nol)ility. — Russia 

 has several others, one of which is estimated at 369,800/. — The 

 Great Mogul has one of a rose colour, and valued at 622,728/. 

 The two principal ones belonging to Persia are called in the 

 hyperbolical language of the East " The Mountain of Splendour," 

 &c. and " the Sea of Glory:" one is worth 145,800/. and the 

 other 34,848/. — The Portuguese Royal Family have two, one of 

 which is still uncut ; and, if we may credit the Portuguese ac- 

 counts, is the largest ever found: it is said to weigh 1680 carats: 

 and supposing it to lose half its weight in cutting, it would be 

 worth 5,644,800/. upwards of a million more than the Sceptre 

 Diamond of Russia. There is a small part broken off, which 

 was done by the man who found it ; who, ignorant what stone i% 

 was, struck it with a hammer upon an anvil. It was found at the 

 Brazils. It must not be concealed that some persons conversant 

 •n these things doubt the existence of this stone. According to 

 the model exhibited, it is somewhat like the shape and size of 

 an ostrich's egg. The other diamond in the possessioij of the 

 House of Braganza is worth 3,098,000/, 



M. Van Mons, of Brussels, observes in a letter recently re- 

 ceived from him, addressed to the Editor of this Journal : — '* My 

 friend Brugnatelli has ascertained that ice is electrified positively 

 xvhile it is scraped : he always found it a very good conductor, 

 whereas water exempt from salts, or when distilled and very 

 pure, is almost a non-conductor. Electricity is checked in bo- 

 dies in which it finds hydrogen to displace or oxygen to take up ; 

 and the ice which, by the abstraction of caloric, has acquired a 

 »;ew excess of oxygen, is not in this sitrtf^tion. M. ErugnatelU 



E 4 {)?18 



