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Ch. 3: Diamond

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COMPOSITION OF DIAMOND.                 79
mena of combustion being established—it was noticed that the diamond had always disappeared when it had been heated in the presence of air, while it had undergone no modification when re­moved from the action of the air by means of sub­stances such as powdered charcoal, lime, &c.
Arrived at this stage, the question could not long remain unsolved; and the solution was soon fur­nished by two of the creators of the science of chemistry—Humphry Davy in England, and La­voisier in France.
"And what is the diamond?" asks Babinet, who has such a quick eye to the poetry of science. "The most precious thing in the whole world. And what is carbon? The most common material that is known; one that not only exists in vast quantities in the bowels of the earth, but that plants and trees of every kind contain, in an inconceivable quantity. Silver can hardly pay for the diamond; for if we imagine a diamond of the weight of a twenty-five franc piece, it would weigh about 125 carats, and cost at least four millions of francs; while an equal weight of carbon, even having recourse to the smallest copper pieces, would have no appreciable value. And yet the diamond and carbon are iden­tical. Diamond is crystallized carbon."
Everyone knows the pungent gas that escapes from fermented liquors—cider, beer, wine, &c.—and
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