Panna in Bundlckhand. 165 



points, I have found great accordance with his result, and 

 am happy in hiiving it in my power to express it. 



4?th, There is another circumstance to which I must advert, 

 but I do so with diffidence, and under a hope that it will be 

 considered merely conjectural. Dr Brewster supposes the dia- 

 mond to have originated like amber, perhaps from the conso- 

 lidation of vegetable matter, and that it gradually acquired its 

 crystalline form, by the influence of time and the slow action 

 of corpuscular forces : the late Dr Voysey adverted to this 

 opinion in his account of the diamond mines of Southern In- 

 dia; and on the occasion of publishing an abstract of that 

 paper in his Journal of Science, Dr Brewster observed that 

 he saw no reason to alter his opinion : now, as the rock matrix 

 of the diamond of Panna appears in some respects, though not 

 altogether, to resemble that of Banganpilli, in Southern India, 

 there would seem to be little chance of my conjecture being 

 useful, still, however, as every opinion regarding the origin of 

 this fine mineral is as yet theoretical, I will not withhold what 

 occurred to me on this subject, though I again repeat that I 

 offer it with great diffidence. 



The theory of Sir James Hall on the consolidation of strata 

 frequently recurred to me when examining the sandstone in 

 which the diamond is found ; I thought that I could discern 

 much in favour of it, and particularly in the gradual changes 

 of its nature, from the lower to the upper strata ; now, if the 

 principle of this theory is admitted to be correct and applica- 

 ble universally, it follows of course that it must be applied 

 here ; and then it may be questioned how the diamond was 

 preserved, under that degree of heat which must have been 

 necessary to form its matrix the gritstone ? In answer to this 

 objection, I suggest, that the circumstance of calc spar, oc- 

 curring in trap rocks is somewhat analogous, and if it is ad- 

 mitted that compression under the weight of strata, and a 

 superincumbent ocean, had the effect of resisting the expan- 

 sion of its carbonic acid, and constraining it to continue in 

 combination with lime, might not the same principle be rea- 

 sonably enough applied, to account for the preservation and 

 detention of the elements of the diamond in the gritstone ? and 

 again, should il lie further shown lli.it Crystals, such as those 



