Artificial Diamonds in America

Artificial Diamonds in America.

Henry W. Fisher, of New York, has succeeded in making diamonds so much larger than any hitherto made, that there seems to be a possibility of making gems large enough to have commercial value. Fisher's method is essentially the same as that used by Henry Moissan, the French chemist, who first made artificial diamonds six- teen years ago by means of the electric furnace. This furnace is

very simple. It consists of two bricks of quicklime placed one upon the other and grooved to receive two carbon electrodes. A cavity is made in the bricks between the carbon terminals to re-

ceive the material to be melted. The high temperature of the arc,

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i.e., the space between the carbon ends, is unequalled by any other source of artificial heat. A temperature of about 3500 C. can be produced. Moissan dissolved graphite in molten iron by placing a mixture of the two in the electric furnace. He plunged the heated mass suddenly into cold water. This quickly cooled the exterior and placed the heated interior under great pressure because iron saturated with carbon expands on cooling. The crystals produced in this way are still too small to have value as gems. When they can be made sufficiently large for this purpose, there will be a far lower value placed on them than at present quoted by the diamond trust. Charles E. Maw, B. S.

Provo, Utah.

CHRISTMAS JOY.

Look up, faint not, though dark may be the way! While sweating drops of blood, Christ bore our sin, That he might take away our weight of guilt, And pardon grant to all who come to him Christmas joy, that Jesus came to save Declare the truth to earth's remotest bound While time shall last, eternity endure, 'Twill be to human ears the sweetest sound.

Lydia D. Alder. Salt Lake City, Utah.