66 



the case it must h^ve been unearthed about 4,000 years ago. It 

 was in possession of the Rajah of Ujazin, 56 B.C. It was re- 

 garded as a talisman of power, and was always the booty of the 

 conqueror. It passed to the Sultans of Delhi, and at length 

 came into the possession of Runjeet Singh, and in 1850, after 

 the formal cession of the Punjaub to British India, it was pre- 

 sented to Lord Dalhousie as Viceroy to her Majesty. In its 

 original form as brought from India the Kohinoor was valued 

 at ^"140,000. ft had several surface flaws, and was by no means 

 of an elegant shape. It was therefore decided to re-cut it, and 

 it was sent to Cosler's establishment at Amsterdam in 1852. 

 The Duke of Wellington was the first to place it on the cutting 

 wheel, and, after thirty-eight days' of incessant labour, the 

 diamond was fashioned into a magnificent and perfect brilliant, 

 but its weight was reduced from 1863^ to i22f carats. How- 

 ever, the improvement in its shape and brilliancy fully compen- 

 sates for this. 



The " Hope" diamond is quite unique, as it is of a beau- 

 tiful sapphire blue colour. Its weight is 44^, carats, and it 

 was purchased by Mr. Thomas Hope for ^18,000. It has been 

 sold to the Duchess of Newcastle for ^25,000. Among the 

 diamonds found in Brazil is one which belongs to the King of 

 Portugal. It is said to weigh 1,680 carats, and in Brazil its 

 value is estimated at three hundred million pounds ; but it has 

 been suggested that this diamond is topaz, in which case the 

 millions vanish. 



The concluding portion of the lecture consisted of a sketch of the 

 diamond from the chemist's point of view, showing that chemists 

 had demonstrated it to be carbon : — u As to the origin of the 

 diamond there is little to be said, for nature seems to have de- 

 cided that the operations which she employed for producing it 

 shall remain a mystery. Many attempts have been made to 

 obtain the diamond by artificial processes, and I venture to 

 think that if chemists have not triumphed already, they will 

 do so eventually. Whether diamonds will ever be obtained of 

 large size artificially is a question that time alone can de- 

 cide." 



