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THE BOOK OF DIAMONDS
chlorate—kept
warm but not above 60 ° C. to prevent explosion. By repeating this
process six or eight times all of the graphite will disappear.
An
article that appeared in Nature (London), May 19, 1928, treats the
problem of the making of artificial diamonds. The author, who is known
as C. H. D., refers to the experiments and results of various
experimenters, among whom are Crookes, Parsons, and others. His general
conclusion, drawn from the experiments of these men, is that no
artificial diamonds have been produced in the laboratory as yet.
In
the Philosophical Magazine, March, 1929, in an article written by
Sesta, the thesis that no synthetic diamonds were ever made in the
laboratory is discussed. Dr. Sesta argues that the work of Professor La
Rosa has undoubtedly escaped the attention of the above mentioned
author. Dr. Sesta claims that these objections raised against the
method of Moissan and his followers are groundless so far as the case
has been examined. He further states that the results of the
experiments and the accuracy of method are sure proofs which lead him
to withdraw from the ultimate conclusion arrived at by C. H. D.
In
1923 an article appeared in a McPherson, Kansas, newspaper to the
effect that diamonds had never been manufactured and, in the opinion
of its writer, a noted scientist, never would be. We read the article
with interest because, secretly, for years, it had been our belief
that some day science would succeed in what then seemed to the best
trained minds in the field an impossible task. It was deter-
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