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Ch. 6: Inherent Diamond Qualities & Cutting

Ch. 6: Inherent Diamond Qualities & Cutting Page of 448 Ch. 6: Inherent Diamond Qualities & Cutting Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
112
THE DIAMOND
reflection. Sent on according to the laws of light at the same angle as that of the incidence, they pass through the body of the stone to meet again angles of total re­flection, and are again carried on until they emerge finally from the front of it. Look into the face of a diamond and you will see the imprisoned light scintil­lating on the burnished facets at the back. Turn it as you will and wherever you look, there is the sheen of light playing over transparent walls, adamantine to it; an imprisoned star beneath a covering of limpid dew.
High refractive power is accompanied by a correspond­ing power of dispersion, consequently the dispersive power of the diamond is much greater than that of most mediums. It is as .058 to .021 in glass. In the re­fraction of a ray of white light, it is really broken into its constituent color rays, which are spread out spec-troscopically. The index of refraction given is the mean of the color band. To this high power of disper­sion is due the effect of color coming to the eye with the emission of flashlights of white light which has traversed the stone and been split up into its constituent colors, by refraction. Many expect to see this color play from the diamond under any light but sunlight and some artificial lights only are the source of it. Nor is the eye always sufficiently quick to catch it, though an illustration can be made, by holding a diamond to receive the sun's rays, and a sheet of paper at the proper angle to catch them as they are reflected by the stone. Then the brilliant rainbow colors will appear.
As the diamond crystallizes in the isometric system, in which the axes are equal, the refraction is normally single, though occasional stones, from extraordinary
Ch. 6: Inherent Diamond Qualities & Cutting Page of 448 Ch. 6: Inherent Diamond Qualities & Cutting
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