than design. Itacolumite, a formation in which this gem is
found, occurring along this belt, has yielded some good specimens in Alabama, weighing from three to four carats. Goldminers in the northeastern part of Georgia have occasionally
found diamonds in the gravel, and from an examination of one
of their mines, this writer is persuaded that the region is a
true diamond-field. All the stones from this section of the
state are finely crystallized.
Mr. Kunz mentions several localities where these precious
stones are found, — in Idaho, Colorado, California, and other
gold-bearing regions, but generally of small size and not in
sufficient numbers to warrant any extensive mining for them ;
the garnet districts of Arizona and New Mexico are considered
favorable for their production.
Several diamonds of some value have been discovered in
North Carolina, while California has yielded this gem in isolated specimens, in nearly twenty different localities, one stone
having been known to weigh between seven and eight carats.
But the largest native diamond yet known was found in
Manchester, Virginia, in 1855. It has been described as
octahedral in form, of perfect transparency, and delicate
greenish tinge, but with a slight flaw ; it weighed before cutting
nearly twenty-four carats, and was valued at four thousand
dollars. It was cut by Mr. H. D. Morse of Boston, an operation which reduced its weight to eleven and eleven-sixteenths
carats, and was considered at one time worth six thousand
dollars, but as the color is defective, its commercial value is
estimated greatly below that price. Regarded as the largest
diamond this country has yielded, it has something above a
money value, and should be placed in the National Museum,
at Washington.
The Arizona Swindle.—A few years ago, it was reported
