1855.] 



ON THE RE-CUTTING OF THE KOH-I-NOOR DIAMOND. 



167 



top and the bottom of the mine. The attraction of that shell, 

 therefore, is the difference between the two numbers which I 

 have given, or is l-14900th part of gravity nearly. But if that 

 shell had been as dense as the earth generally, its attraction 

 would have been l-5600th part of gravity nearly. Therefore 

 the earth generally is more dense than the coal measures in the 

 proportion of l-tt) to 56 nearly. You will remark that all 

 these numbers are rough, and to make their results available, 

 some small corrections are required (to which I have not 

 alluded) and some knowledge of the density of the diflFerent 

 beds, &c., which I do not possess at present. 

 I am, my dear Sir, 



Yours, very truly, 



G. P. AIREY. 



Tlic Ijatc John I^ockJiarta 



The hand of death, though most conspicious of late in the battlo-field, 

 has not been idle in the walks of science and literature. Some, in- 

 deed of the men of note whom we have recently lost are of so great 

 eminence that we look around among the rising generation with some- 

 thing like despair to find any capable of filling the gaps which have 

 been left. 



Such a one was John Gibson Lockhart, the biographer and son-in- 

 law of Sir Walter Scott, who now lies in the same grave with him at 

 Dryburgh. Mr. Lockhart was (he second surviving son of a Scotch 

 clergyman, of gentle descent and old family, in the county of Lanark. 

 He was born, 1791, in the manse of Cambusnethen, whence his fatlier 

 was transferred, 1796, to Glasgow, where John Lockhart was reared 

 and educated. The inheritance of genius (as in many other insfcinces) 

 would appear to have come from his mother, who had some of the 

 blood of the Erskines in her veins. His appetite for reading, even as 

 a boy, was great. Though somewhat idle as regards school study, he 

 yet distinguished himself both at school and college, outstripping his 

 more studious competitors, and finally obtaining, by the unanimous 

 award of the Professors, the Snell Exhibition to Baliol College Ox- 

 ford, where he was entered, 1809, at the early age of 15. Dr. Jen- 

 kyns, the present Dean of Wells, was his tutor. Before leaving the 

 University he took honours as a first-class man. After a sojourn in 

 Germany sufficiently long to enable him to acquire its language and a 

 taste for its literature, he was called to the Scottish bar in 1816 ; but 

 though endowed with perseverance .and acuteness sufficient to consti- 

 tute a first-rate lawyer, he wanted the gift of eloquence to enable him 

 to shine as an advocate. As he natively confessed to a party of friends 

 assembled to bid him farewell on his departure from Scotland for Lon- 

 don, " Vou know as well as [ that if I had ever been able to make a 

 speech there would have been no cause for our present meeting." 

 His wit, his learning, and extensive reading found, however, a ready 

 outlet through the pen. In 1818 Lockhart was introduced to Scott, 

 who in 1820 evinced his esteem and affection for him by giving him 

 in marriage his eldest daughter. At Scott's death in 1832 he 

 was left sole litt-rary executor. Many of the cleverest things in 

 Blackwood's Magazine (established in 1817) were written by Lock- 

 hart in concert with his friends John Wilson, Capt. Hamilton, Hogg, 

 &c., and much ill-blood was caused among the Whigs, who from 

 assailants, now began to be assailed by opponents of no mean skill in 

 fence. Party warfare then ran high in Edinburgh ; much ill-blood 

 was engendered. Unfortunately, the strife was not confined to squibs, 

 and at least one fatal catastrophe was the result. These events left a 

 lasting impression on Lockhart's mind, and when, in 182G, he was in- 

 vite! t) become editor of the Quarlerly Review, he quitted Edinburgh 

 without regret, with his family, as he received from the Government 

 of Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of. Wellington the post of Auditor of 

 the Duchy of Lancaster. The management of the Quarlerl;/ Review, 

 to which ho contributed many valued papers, chiefly biographical, 

 continued in his hands for 28 years down to 1853, when his 

 failing health compelled him to resign the labour. The latter 

 years of his life were mournfully darkened by domestic calamity. 

 The deaths in succession of his ehlest boy — the pet of Sir Walter, 

 the " Hugh Littlejohn " for whoso instruction he wrote T<i!'!i 

 of a (t andl'afher — of his wife, and all the other momliers of .Sir Wal- 

 ter Scott's family, were foUowcil ami wound up by that of his only 

 surviving son, under circumstances of poigniuit grief to a father's heart. 

 The vials of sorrow seomed to have been emptied upon his head. 



With broken health and spirits he betook himself to Rome, by medi- 

 cal advice, with slight hope on his own part of benefit. Having 

 little taste for foreign tr.avel, he returned home in the spring of the 

 present year. He made a partial rally on his arrival in Scotland, 

 but a very severe attack of diarrhoea in the month of October shattered 

 his already enfeebled frame ; he was removed from Milton Lockhart, 

 the house of his eldest brother, M.P. for Lanark, under the care of his 

 old friend. Dr. Furgerson, to Abbotsford, where he breathed his last, 

 on the 2.5th of November, in the arms of his daughter, the sole sur- 

 vivor of the line of Scott in the second generation. — Evening Mail. 



Oil tile IiO"Cuttiiig of tlie IColl*l-Noor Olamond. 



BY PROF. J. TENXANT. 



At the meeting of th^ British Association at Belfast, the author 

 gave some account of this diamond, and described some of the remark- 

 able changes which it had undergone, and on this occasion exhibited 

 some interesting diagrams illustrating the crystalline form andcleavage 

 of the diamond. Mr. Tennant now introduced the subject by drawing 

 attention to the former weight of the diamond, compared with its 

 present bulk, now reduced by cutting ; and also to its mineralogical 

 appearances. With regard to the history of this extraordinary gem, 

 he stated that some people had actually disputed its authenticity, 

 which caused some discussion amongst those best informed in matters 

 of this description. At the Great Exhibition in 1851, an opportunity 

 had been afforded, such as was never previously enjoyed by the public, 

 of studying the substance of a vast number of foreign valuable stones, 

 and probably of Koh-i-Xoor diamond was the most attractive in that 

 valuable collection. The rough manner in which that diamond had 

 been cut, however, had disappointed many who looked upon it. When 

 the sun shone on it at noon-day the stone appeared peculiarly brilliant, 

 but when the atmosphere was dull, it had merely the appearance of a 

 thick piece of glass. This placed it in a very unfavourable position, 

 and caused doubts to arise in the minds of some gentlemen as to its 

 authenticity. This diamond originally belonged to Runjeet Singh, who 

 usually wore it upon his left arm, according to the custom of Eastern 

 potentates ; and the original mounting was now in the hands of Her 

 Majesty's jewellers. "The stone perfectly agreed with the drawing 

 which had been made of it by Miss Eden, and also of the account given 

 of it by the Hon. W. G. Osborne, who had published a very interesting 

 description of the Court of Runjeet Singh, where the old man (who 

 was blind and a cripple also) sat arrayed in a robe of simple white, 

 wearing upon his arm the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and sui-rounded by his 

 eastern nobles. On special occasions, Runjeet Singh was in the habit 

 of decorating his horse with this precious gem, together with numerous 

 other valuable stones, mounted upon various parts of his harness. All 

 authentic accounts of the East proved that the nobles were in the habit 

 of decorating their horses in this manner; and the horse of Runjeet 

 Singh was decorated with diamonds valued at £300,000, tbe great 

 Koh-i-Noor being placed on the pummel of the saddle. Lord Auckland 

 and his sister, the Hon. Miss Eden, had this diamond sent to them for 

 inspection, in the East Indies, and .Miss Eden's drawings agreed with 

 the appearance of the diamond on its arrival in this country Mr. 

 Tennant stated that in 18.33 he had given in a report as to the cutting 

 of the Koh-i-Xoor diamond ; and after producing various models, Her 

 Majesty fixed upon the present form, by which the widest spread of 

 brilliancy was obtained. When the diamond was exhibited at the 

 Crystal Palace it weighed 180 1-lG carats ; its present weight, reduced 

 by cutting, was 102 13-16 carats. The Persian diamond weighed 130 

 carats, and the great llnssian diamond 193 carats. After giving a 

 description of the method of cutting diamonds, and the plan adopted 

 for cutting the Ivoh-i-Noor, he observed that the late Duke of Welling- 

 ton had been an interested spectator of the operation, and was a fre- 

 quent visitor during its progress. It was finished in September, 1852, 

 and occupied thirty-eight days in cutting. Diamonds were usually 

 reduced to one-half their weight in cutting ; and he gave the exact 

 weight of the Koh-i-Noor, in order to correct various erroneous state- 

 ments which had been published on the subject. The finest diamond 

 in France weighed 139 carats, and had cost X130.000; it was called 

 tlie Regent, or Pitt diamond. To arrive at an estimate of the value cf 

 the Koh-i-Noor the author stated, that it was only requisite to mul- 

 tiply 102 (its weight) by 102, and then by 8. which would give 4:83.- 

 232 as its value. This rule would not apply to stones having deficts, 

 as instanced in the celebrated " Nassuck " diamond, for which the 

 East India Company refused £30,000, and yet this stone when 



