108 THE CHEMISTRY OF CREATION. 



Surely here is wisdom in design, here is fore- 

 thought, and pre-arrangement of events ; and this 

 is the work of God. 



Before passing from this subject, we may 

 mention that the origin of a jewel, the most 

 precious in the eyes of the wealthy, and the 

 most valuable in some of the arts, is probably 

 ascribable to a process somewhat similar to that 

 of the decay first mentioned. The diamond is, 

 as is very generally known, crystalline carbon. 

 It may be, therefore, burned, like charcoal, in 

 oxygen gas. Diamonds are frequently found, 

 whose lustre is greatly dimmed by some im- 

 purities within. When such " flawed " brilliants 

 are burned, there generally remains a little 

 heap of ashes behind. Under the microscope 

 these ashes are found to possess traces of 

 organized tissues, like the celled tissue of 

 leaves or wood, in a skeleton state. It has 

 been supposed, therefore, that the diamond has 

 been produced under peculiar circumstances 

 by the decay of woody fibre proceeding to its 

 extreme limit, when crystallized carbon became 

 at length separated. 



This would seem the most probable explana- 

 tion to which science can at present point for 

 a solution of the difficulty in which chemists 

 find themselves when called upon to account 

 for its origin. Diamonds cannot be artificially 



