August 5, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



69 



much — perhaps any thing — towards it ; nor should they be ex- 

 pected to. It is a matter in which American naturalists surely 

 should be proud and glad to aid. It is intended to bring it before 

 the American Association in some form, next week, and I should 

 be very glad to have a notice in Sciejice regarding it. 



D. S. Martin. 



New York, Aug. i. 



Four Large South African Diamonds. 



A MODEL of the Victoria, the Great White Diamond, or the Im- 

 perial as it has been more recently called, having been sent to this 

 city lately, and nothing having been published in any scientific 

 periodical concerning this stone, it occurred to the writer that some 

 illustrations showing it in its natural, uncut form, as well as after 

 cutting, might be of interest. Concerning its early history very little 

 is known : in fact, where the stone was found is only a matter of 

 conjecture, — a remarkable circumstance when we consider that 

 this is the largest brilliant in the world. 



An explanation by a letter in the London Times was given, as 

 follows : " that this stone was not found in English dominions at 

 all, but in the neighboring Orange Free State ; that it had been 

 found by a boor on his farm, who, knowing it to be a diamond, but 

 fearing being turned out of his farm by a mob, kept the secret a 

 whole year, until a iVIr. AUenberg of Porth-Elizabeth saw it, and 

 forwarded it to London." 



It is, however, believed that it was found by some one in one 

 of the Kimberley mines. South Africa. The first intimation that 

 any of the various mining companies had of its existence was when 

 they heard of its safe arrival in London. It is generally supposed 

 that in the month of June or July, 1884, the stone had been found 

 by one of the suveillance officers of the Central Mining Company in 

 the Kimberley mines. It being his duty to search others, he had the 

 privilege of not being searched himself, and so the stone was passed 

 through the searching-house, and he was afterwards supposed to 

 have found means of communicating" with four illicit diamond- 

 buyers. Owing to the stringency of the diamond laws of Griqua- 

 land-West, the trading in rough diamonds is forbidden any one not 

 owning one of the ' patents ' or ' licenses,' as they are called, cost- 

 ing ^200 and a guaranty of ^£500. All purchases made by them 

 must also be entered in a special registry, and are duly signed every 

 week by the police authorities. _^3,ooo was the price paid to obtain 

 the stone from the first possessor. To prepare themselves for the 

 ordeal of transporting the stone out of the district, they assembled 

 at night, commenced drinking, then gambling, and after a night's 

 debauch two of the party lost their share in the big stone. The 

 other two reached Cape Town in safety, where the diamond laws 

 are not in force, and from a dealer there received ^19,000 cash for 

 their stone. An outward duty of one-half per cent is collected on 

 all shipments of diamonds from Cape Colony ; but this diamond is 

 said to have been carried by one of the passengers of a mail 

 steamer, and was hence undeclared. We next hear from it in 

 London, causing considerable sensation at Hatton Garden, the 

 great diamond-market. After considerable time had been spent 

 in trying to find a capitalist who could afford to buy such a gem, 

 it was at last arranged by a former resident of the Cape mines to 

 form a company of eight persons, who bought the stone together 

 for ^45,000 cash, on condition that if they should dispose of it each 

 should receive a ninth share in the eventual profits. 



Before cutting, it was estimated that the crystal would furnish 

 either of the following gems ; if cut as a briallette, 300 carats ; as 

 a drop, 230 to 240 carats ; as a lozenge, 250 carats ; and as a mathe- 

 matically perfect brilliant, 1 50 carats. If cut in the latter form, it 

 would have furnished cleavages that would cut into one 40-carat, 

 one 20-carat stone, and 40 carats of smaller stones. It was finally 

 decided to cut it into the largest possible brilliant, still preserving a 

 good shape, and Amsterdam was selected as the place where the 

 gem could best be cut. 



It was accordingly sent to the polishing-mills of Jacques Metz, 

 who erected a special workshop for the purpose. In order to better 

 obtain the brilliant form of cutting, a piece was cleaved off which 

 furnished a 19-carat diamond, and was sold to the King of Portu- 

 gal for ^4,000. The cutting of the large stone, which was com- 

 menced on the 9th of April, in the presence of the Queen of Hol- 



land, took about twelve months, since, instead of being cut by 

 abrasion with another diamond, as diamonds are usually cut, it was 

 polished down on the scaif ; and a great amount of time was con- 

 sumed by the cooling of the stone, as it heated after an hour's run- 

 ning on the wheel. The cutter of the stone was M. B.Barends. The 

 stone in its finished condition weighs 180 carats, and is a beautiful, 

 perfect, steel-blue diam.ond, and is the largest brilliant in the 

 world. 



It is 39.5 mm. (ixff inches) long, 30 mm. (yW inches) wide, and 

 23 mm. (44 of an inch) thick, being exceeded in size by one diamond 

 only, the Orloff, bel( ' ' T 1 ' 1 n, which weighs 194! 



carats, but is a large deep rose, and not a brilliant. The Victoria 

 exceeds the Regent in weight by 44-^ carats. The Kohinoor weighs 

 only I06-I-V carats. 



"The three figures (Figs, i, 2, 3) give the front, back, and side 

 features of the stone. It will be observed that the form is not en-, 

 tirely even, and that on one side of the girdle there is quite a flat 

 place, a natural unpolished surface, necessary, in cutting, to pre- 

 serve the large weight of the stone. It is, however, a perfect 58- 

 facet brilliant. 



The original weight of the stone was 457-i- carats, 3^V ounces 



Troy. The figure (Fig. 4) is drawn from two photos, that, strange 

 *to say, had been taken by a Cape photographer, and fortunately 

 passed through my hands ; and the stone to-day is held by a Lon- 

 don syndicate for ^200,000. 



The Tiffany Company large yellow diamond (Figs. 5, 6, 7) weighs 

 125-1 carats, is absolutely perfect, is a 'double-deck' cut brilliant, 

 as it is termed, and is undoubtedly the finest large yellow diamond 

 known. It was found in the Kimberley mine about nine years ago, 

 and was cut in Paris. One of the most pleasing features is that it 

 not only retains its rich yellow color by artificial light, but is even 

 more beautiful than by day. It has 40 facets on the crown, 44- 



