He had prepared himself for the work with the assistance of a surgeon, who shared with him the proceeds of the enterprise. The surgeon placed a ball, somewhat larger than a pea, in the fleshy part of the man’s thigh; kept down the irritation as much as possible, and allowed the flesh to grow over the wound, or nearly so. The ball was then taken out, leaving a comfortable cavity a quarter of an inch below the skin. A small opening was made, and the skin at the opening was allowed to grow around a steel rod about half as large as the diameter of the cavity. In this way a very fine receptacle was formed for the deposit of the diamond. It took some time to get it up, but when finished it was entirely satisfactory, and the man was sure of having his pocket always about him. When he found a diamond that could be crowded into this cavity, he would manage to stow it away; and then, at the earliest opportunity, he repaired to the office of the surgeon, where the diamond was removed with the aid of a pair of forceps. They did not strike for the largest diamonds, and were doubtless more successful in this mode of working than if they had planned their enterprise on a grander scale. It is a general principle in chemistry, that when the component parts of an article are well known, a counterfeit can be produced, provided the component parts are attainable. But it is not so with the diamond. For hundreds of years chemists have labored to produce this stone. They know perfectly well of what it is composed, but they cannot repeat it. The diamond is nothing more than pure crystallized carbon, and placed under a great heat it boils and disappears. It is not acted upon by acids or alkalies, and when kept in the open air, it may be heated to a high degree without damage. Exposed to the intense heat produced by a Bunsen burner, it is converted into coke; and if it is heated in the open air, it boils at the temperature of melting silver, and disappears in the form of carbonic acid gas. If the sun’s rays are converged to a focus by means of a lens, and directed upon a diamond under a bell-glass filled with oxygen gas, the diamond will burn; and when it is consumed, carbonic acid will be found beneath the glass. Thus the most precious substance in the known world can be made to disappear. [Sidenote: HOW TO KNOW THE VALUE OF DIAMONDS.]