Foreign Sec. R.S., Hon. LL.D. (Birmingham), Hon. Sc.D. (Camb. and Dubl.), Hon. D.Sc. (Oxon. and Cape of Good Hope); Past Pres. Chem. Soc., Brit. Assoc., Inst. Elect. Eng., Soc. Psych. Res.; Hon. Mem. Roy. Phil. Soc. Glasgow, Roy. Soc. N.S.W., Pharm. Soc., Chem. Metall. and Mining Soc. of South Africa, Amer. Chem. Soc., Amer. Philos. Soc., Roy. Soc. Sci. Upsala, Deutsch. Chem. Gesell. Berlin, Psychol. Soc. Paris, “Antonio Alzate” Sci. Soc. Mexico. Sci. Soc. Bucharest, Reg. Accad. Zelanti, Aci Reale; Corresp. Inst. de France (Acad. Sci.), Corresp. Mem. Bataafsch Genoots. Rotterdam, Soc. d’Encouragement pour l’Indust. Paris, For. Mem. Accad. Lincei Rome.
WITH 24 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON AND NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS
45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1909
TO MY WIFE
MY COMPANION AND FRIEND OF
FIFTY-FOUR YEARS.
TO HER JUDGMENT AND ADVICE I OWE MORE
THAN I CAN EVER REPAY
AND TO HER I DEDICATE THIS BOOK.
[PREFACE]
The following pages are based on personal observations during two visits to Kimberley, in 1896 and 1905, and on personal researches on the formation and artificial production of diamonds. In 1896 I spent nearly a month at Kimberley, when Mr. Gardner F. Williams, the General Manager of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, and the managers of neighbouring mines, did their utmost to aid in my zealous quest for reliable information. They gave me free access to all workings above and below ground, allowed me to examine at leisure their stock and to take extracts from their books. I had exceptional opportunities of studying the geology of the Diamond and of noting the strange cataclysmal facts connected with the birth, growth, and physics of the lustrous stones.