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VII
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WEIGHTS
The standard
of weight for diamonds is the " karat," or " carat." It is said to have
been derived from a bean, the fruit of an African tree called by the
natives " kuara" (sun), because both the fruit and the blossom are of a
golden color. This bean being always, when dried, of about the same
weight, it was used in Shangallas, the chief market of Africa, as a
standard of weight for gold. By commerce with the merchants of India it
came into use there, and, being found convenient, was adopted for the
weighing of diamonds. The name comes from a word (keration) taken from
the Greek by the Romans, which they described as the name of a very
small weight or measure. An old book treatÂing of it says, " Monardus
writeth that he saw diamonds in Bisnager (Visnapour) that weighed one
hundred and forty ceratia, and every ceratium weighed four grains."
The
weight of the carat varies in different countries. The international
carat is 205.5 milligrammes, which equals within a small fraction 3.17
grains troy, and the probability is that this will be universally
adopted. Mr. Edwin W. Streeter gives the weight of the carat in various
countries as follows:
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