In one of the mines of Borneo there was once a laborer who managed to steal several valuable diamonds. As he wore no clothing when at work, and underwent the usual examination, he was considered entirely safe. He escaped with his prizes, became a rich man, lived contented, and died happy. In his old age he revealed the secret of his diamond thefts.
INGENIOUS MODE OF STEALING.
He had prepared himself for the work with the assistance of a surgeon, who shared with him the proceeds of the enterprise. The surgeon placed a ball, somewhat larger than a pea, in the fleshy part of the man’s thigh; kept down the irritation as much as possible, and allowed the flesh to grow over the wound, or nearly so. The ball was then taken out, leaving a comfortable cavity a quarter of an inch below the skin. A small opening was made, and the skin at the opening was allowed to grow around a steel rod about half as large as the diameter of the cavity. In this way a very fine receptacle was formed for the deposit of the diamond.
It took some time to get it up, but when finished it was entirely satisfactory, and the man was sure of having his pocket always about him. When he found a diamond that could be crowded into this cavity, he would manage to stow it away; and then, at the earliest opportunity, he repaired to the office of the surgeon, where the diamond was removed with the aid of a pair of forceps. They did not strike for the largest diamonds, and were doubtless more successful in this mode of working than if they had planned their enterprise on a grander scale.
It is a general principle in chemistry, that when the component parts of an article are well known, a counterfeit can be produced, provided the component parts are attainable. But it is not so with the diamond.
For hundreds of years chemists have labored to produce this stone. They know perfectly well of what it is composed, but they cannot repeat it. The diamond is nothing more than pure crystallized carbon, and placed under a great heat it boils and disappears. It is not acted upon by acids or alkalies, and when kept in the open air, it may be heated to a high degree without damage. Exposed to the intense heat produced by a Bunsen burner, it is converted into coke; and if it is heated in the open air, it boils at the temperature of melting silver, and disappears in the form of carbonic acid gas. If the sun’s rays are converged to a focus by means of a lens, and directed upon a diamond under a bell-glass filled with oxygen gas, the diamond will burn; and when it is consumed, carbonic acid will be found beneath the glass. Thus the most precious substance in the known world can be made to disappear.
HOW TO KNOW THE VALUE OF DIAMONDS.
The diamond is sold by its weight, estimated in carats,—a carat being equal to three and one fourth grains Troy, and subdivided into half, quarter, eighth, and so on. It is difficult to say what a rough diamond is worth, since a great many reasons may occur to cause its fluctuation in value. The ordinary estimate for a cut diamond is sixty dollars a carat, that is to say, when the stone weighs a single carat. The price of the diamond exceeding a carat is not in proportion to its weight, but by the square of the weight, that is to say, to the weight multiplied by itself. Thus, if a diamond weighing one carat is worth sixty dollars, one which weighs two carats is worth 2 × 2, and then multiplied by sixty, or two hundred and forty dollars. A stone of three carats is worth 3 × 3, multiplied by sixty, or five hundred and forty dollars. The value, therefore, of a polished diamond is found by multiplying the square of the weight by the price of a stone of one carat. This is the rule generally given for the pricing of diamonds; but the value of each stone varies more or less according to its character, so that one stone weighing fifteen carats might be worth three or four thousand dollars more than another stone of the same weight. The best rule, probably, for obtaining the price of diamonds, is to ask a man who has them for sale. Diamonds are sold very much like any other commodity, that is, for the highest price the purchaser is willing to pay.
Diamonds, especially those of a large size, require, it is needless to say, great care in keeping, to save them from being stolen. The crown jewels of England are kept in the Tower of London in an iron cage surrounded with glass. Some of them are of great antiquity. The crown jewels include not only diamonds, but some valuable rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls. The crown contains a heart-shaped ruby, which is said to have been given to Edward the Black Prince by Don Pedro, King of Castile, after the battle of Najera, A. D. 1367.