stated, diamonds are only occasionally found in the United States.

The importation of rough and uncut diamonds in 1880 amounted to
$129,207, in 1889 to $250,187, and the total for the decade was
$3,133,529, while in 1883 there were imported $443,996 worth, showing
that there was 94 per cent. more cutting done in 1889 than 1880, but
markedly more in 1882 and 1883. This large increase of importation is
due to the fact that in the years 1882 to 1885 a number of our
jewelers opened diamond cutting establishments, but the cutting has
not been profitably carried on in this country on a scale large enough
to justify branch houses in London, the great market for rough
diamonds, where advantage can be taken of every fluctuation in the
market and large parcels purchased, which can be cut immediately and
converted into cash; for nothing is bought and sold on a closer margin
than rough diamonds.

There has been a remarkable increase in the importation of precious
stones in this country in the last ten years. The imports from 1870 to
1879, inclusive, amounted to $26,698,203, whereas from 1880 to 1889,
inclusive, the imports amounted to $87,198,114, more than three times
as much as were imported the previous decade.

* * * * *




SOME EXPERIMENTS ON THE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE IN VACUUM TUBES.[1]

[Footnote 1: From a recent communication made to the Physical