The gold fields of the Southern States of North America have been known to be diamond-bearing for forty years or more, but as yet no earnest or well-directed search has been made for the gems. During this period of time more than thirty diamonds have been picked up by accident along the gold belt which extends from the central and eastern portion of Alabama, through Georgia, North and South Carolina, even to the interior of Virginia. All along this auriferous formation the itacolumite appears in the gravel beds or in ledges or even in large mountains in some localities. In Alabama, where the itacolumite is abundant, several fine diamonds of three or four karats weight have been found. The northeastern portion of Georgia has also yielded some beautiful stones to the miners while washing for gold. Some of these we have seen and found them to be of the purest water. The Glade mines, a few miles north of Gainesville, have yielded several fine diamonds, some of which have been cut in London. They were found by accident in the riffles of the gold-washing machines, and were preserved by the miners simply as curiosities. At the Horshaw gold mines, a few miles farther to the northeast, a large diamond was picked up, but unfortunately destroyed by the ignorance of the laborers, who unluckily reasoned like the ancients concerning its destructibility, and therefore tried the effects of a heavy sledge upon it while placed on an anvil. An examination of this last deposit in 1866 convinced the writer that it was a true diamond field; and search was rewarded with the finding of two small but well-crystallized diamonds. So far as we can ascertain, all the diamonds thus far discovered in these regions have been finely crystallized. North Carolina has also yielded some fine specimens of three and four karats weight; but the largest diamond thus far found in the United States and preserved was picked up in 1856 on the banks of the James River, opposite the city of Richmond in Virginia. The spring floods had probably washed it down from the gold fields which are situated a few miles above. The stone was a well-defined octahedral crystal. Its weight, while in the rough state, was about twenty-five karats, and its color was of a faint greenish white tinge. Its transparency was perfect, but its refractions were somewhat impaired by a flaw or a speck in the interior. The American diamond-cutting establishment of Morse, Crosby, & Foss, of Boston, cut this gem very successfully at the cost of about $1,300. The stone was purchased by a distinguished American athlete in New York, and worn by him in a breast-pin for many years.