DIAMONDS. 235 



proof of their celestial origin. That there are still lumps of iron left 

 in Arizona is merely due to the extreme dryness of the climate and the 

 comparatively short time that the iron has been on our planet. We 

 are here witnesses to the course of an event which may have happened 

 in geologic times anywhere on the eartlj's surface. 



Although in Arizona diamonds have fallen from above, confounding 

 all our usual notions, this descent of precious stones seems what is 

 called a freak of nature rather than a normal occurrence. To the 

 modern student of science there is no great difference between the com- 

 position of our earth and that of extraterrestrial masses. The mineral 

 peridot is a constant extraterrestrial visitor, present in most meteorites. 

 And yet no one doubts that peridot is also a true constituent of rocks 

 formed on this earth. The spectroscope reveals that the elementary 

 composition of the stars and the earth are pretty much the same; so 

 does the examination of meteorites. Indeed, not only are the selfsame 

 elements present in meteorites, but they are combined in the same way 

 to form the same minerals as in the crust of the earth. 



This identity between terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks recalls 

 the masses of nickeliferous iron of Ovifak. Accompanied with graph- 

 ite, they form part of the colossal eruptions which have covered a por- 

 tion of Greenland. They are so like meteorites that at first they were 

 considered to be meteorites till their terrestrial origin was proved. 

 They contain as much as 1.1 per cent of free carbon. 



It is certain from observations I made at Kimberley, corroborated by 

 the experience gained in the laboratory, that iron at a high temperature 

 and under great pressure will act as the long-sought solvent for carbon, 

 and will allow it to crystallize out in the form of diamond — conditions 

 existent at great depths below the surface of the earth. But it is also 

 certain, from the evidence afforded by the Arizona and other meteorites, 

 that similar conditions have likewise existed among bodies in space, 

 and that a meteorite, freighted with its rich contents, on more than one 

 occasion has fallen as a star from the sky. In short, in a physical 

 sense, heaven is but another name for earth, or earth for heaven. 



