3i>8 The Avnencan Geologist. December, 1892 
PERSONAL AND SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
\)\\. A. OsANX, for luaiiy years first assistant to I'rof. lloscn- 
busch in HeidcllRTg, and later extraordinary professor of miner- 
alogy and petrography in that University, has been appointed 
geologist on the (Teological Survey of Texas and will have charge 
of the petrographie work of the survey. He sailed from Germany 
about the middle of November. 
A Lar<je Diamond. — The second largest diamond in the world 
is now undergoing the cutting process at Antwerp. Its weight is 
at present 474 carats, ))ut it will lose no less than U74 carats be- 
fore it is ready for the market. Even then, however, it will be 
the second largegt diamond in the world, standing l)etweeu the 
280 carats of the Persian diamond ''(Ireat Mogul," whose exist- 
ence is considered very mythical to-tlay, and is said to weigh 193 
carats, and the Victoria, or Imperial, diamond, the property of 
the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Russian ''Orlotf" brilliant. 
The l)e Beers Yellow weighs 225 carats, recently sold to an In- 
dian rajah. Roughly speaking, the Antwerp stone will be about 
the size of a pigeons egg. In its present state it measures 2.741 
inches hy 1.7G7 inches. Its polished surface will measure .786 
inch each way. 
Cheap Aluminttm. — A French electro-metallurgical company, 
which employs the Herault-lviliani aluminum process, asserts that 
it will be able to sell the aluminum at a price ecpiivalent to less 
than 15 cents a pound, provided it is in a position to dispose of a 
yearly output of 3,000 tons of the metal. 
Alabama Beryl. — The range of metamorphic schists and coarse . 
granites that traverse Coosa county, Ala., yield some interesting 
minerals. Among them are tantalite, cassiterite and beryl. 
Some line specimens of the latter have been cut for exhibition at 
the Alal)ama State Fair soon to be held in Birmingham. The 
better specimens are found near the old town of Rockford in the 
vicinity of Hissop P. (). 
The most striking geological feature of the district is the occur- 
rence of hea-s'y bands of a c(jarse schist in i)laces heavily impreg- 
nated with graphite and pyrite and lying between extensive ledges 
of granite. Some large pieces of tantalite have been found 
near Rockford, the largest weighing 45 ounces, being now in the 
Museum of the Alabama Geological Survey. Tin ore also occurs, 
but, so far, only surface fragments and ciystals have been found. 
The (iEolo(J1cal Society of-Amekica will hold its fifth annual 
meeting at Ottawa, beginning Wednesday, Pec. 2<S, at 10 o'clock 
a. m. The in\itation to this city was issued jointly by the Logan 
Club, the Canadian Geological Survey, and the Ro3'al Society of 
Canada, and the sessions will 1)e in tlie House of Commons l)uild- 
ing. His Excellency, the Governor-General, will give an address 
of welcome. 
