Coming
now to the subject of making real stones artificially, it is one of
great interest, not only to scientists and dealers in precious stones,
but to the jewel-loving public. It is a subject almost as fascinating
and interesting to the experimental chemist of to-day as the search for
the mythical "philosopher's stone" was in the days of the early
alchemists. Commercially speaking, it is a remarkable fact that in
these days of progressive scientific research very little headway has
been made in the synthesis of real stones of saleable quality.
Certainly, the Diamond, one of the most difficult to produce, has been
artificially prepared in the laboratory. The experiments and their
results from a scientific point of view are interesting, but at a great
outlay for such results, the time and money expended being
considerable. The stones, after laborious and tedious extraction from
the matrix in which they were formed, could only be well seen with a
lens; they were hardly fit to grace the movement of a watch, far less
adorn a lady's finger.
Many
of the most talented chemists of the world have given the matter their
consideration, and the production of a large number of minerals and
rocks with a few of the so-called precious stones is now an
accomplished fact, although, as already stated, not a commercial
success. Our present knowledge of the subject has grown considerably by
the investigations of such men as Gustav Rose, Mitscherlich, Credner,
Deville, Debray, Kuplmann, Heintz, Manross, Daubree, Senarmont,
Hautefeuille, Berthier, Forchammer, Wohler, Becquerel, Wibel, Moissan,
Ebelman, Fraube, Crookes, Noble, Fouque, Sorby and Levy, and many other
noted experimentalists.
