whose establishment has been described in another chapter,
and by Mr. H. D. Morse of Boston, whose genius, says Mr.
Hamlin, led him to invent a machine for cutting and polishing
gems so that American jewellers could have their work done
at home. He also succeeded in educating a corps of native
workmen, thus avoiding the necessity of importing cutters from
Amsterdam. Mr. Morse has cut and polished many large
gems, including one from the South African mines weighing
one hundred and twenty carats, reduced by the operation, !
which required between three and four months' labor, to a
beautiful gem of seventy-seven carats.
Some interesting facts about diamond-cutting were given at
a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences, April, 18S5,
by Mr. G. F. Kunz, when he stated that an experiment was
made by Messrs. Tiffany and Company upon a diamond from
Brazil, a variety composed of numerous twinnings, showing its
extreme hardness. The stone was placed on a polishing-wheel,
with a circumference of two and one-half feet, the wheel making 2800 revolutions per minute. Besides the weight of the
holder, usually less than three pounds, additional weights were
added from time to time, varying from four to forty pounds,
causing scintillations to be thrown off, and ploughing the
wheel, rendering it unfit for use. This process was repeated for
one hundred days, yet such was the intense hardness of the
diamond that it had received scarcely any perceptible polish.
It may be of some interest to the amateur or the owner of
diamonds to have a general idea of the method of cutting and
mounting them, as their beauty and commercial value are
more or less affected by the manner in which they are dressed.
The skilful lapidary will observe certain proportions between
the several parts of the stone ; otherwise there will be a sacrifice of brilliancy. This fact is illustrated by the Pitt or Regent
