We have confined ourselves to the Tâoism of the _Tâo Teh King_ without
touching on the religion Tâoism now existing in China, but which did
not take shape until more than five hundred years after the death of
Lâo-tsze, though he now occupies the second place in its trinity of
"The three Pure or Holy Ones." There is hardly a word in his treatise
that savours either of superstition or religion. In the works of
Lieh-tsze and Chwang-tsze, his earliest followers of note, we find
abundance of grotesque superstitions; but their beliefs (if indeed we
can say that they had beliefs) had not become embodied in any
religious institutions. When we come to the Ch'in dynasty (221-206
B.C.), we meet with a Tâoism in the shape of a search for the fairy
islands of the eastern sea, where the herb of immortality might be
gathered. In the 1st century A.D. a magician, called Chang Tâo-ling,
comes before us as the chief professor and controller of this Tâoism,
preparing in retirement "the pill" which renewed his youth, supreme
over all spirits, and destroying millions of demons by a stroke of his
pencil. He left his books, talismans and charms, with his sword and
seal, to his descendants, and one of them, professing to be animated
by his soul, dwells on the Lung-hû mountain in Kiang-si, the
acknowledged head or pope of Tâoism. But even then the system was not
yet a religion, with temples or monasteries, liturgies and forms of
public worship. It borrowed all these from Buddhism, which first
obtained public recognition in China between A.D. 65 and 70, though at
least a couple of centuries passed before it could be said to have
free course in the country.
Even still, with the form of a religion, Tâoism is in reality a
conglomeration of base and dangerous superstitions. Alchemy, geomancy
and spiritualism have dwelt and dwell under its shadow. Each of its
"three Holy Ones" has the title of _Thien Tsun_, "the Heavenly and
Honoured," taken from Buddhism, and also of _Shang Ti_ or God, taken
from the old religion of the country. The most popular deity, however,
is not one of them, but has the title of _Yü Wang Shang Tî_, "God, the
Perfect King." But it would take long to tell of all its "celestial
gods," "great gods," "divine rulers" and others. It has been doubted
whether Lâo-tsze acknowledged the existence of God at all, but modern
Tâoism is a system of the wildest polytheism. The science and religion
of the West meet from it a most determined opposition. The "Venerable
Philosopher" himself would not have welcomed them; but he ought not to
bear the obloquy of being the founder of the Tâoist religion.
(J. Le.)
LA PAZ, a western department of Bolivia, bounded N. by the national
territories of Caupolican and El Beni, E. by El Beni and Cochabamba, S.
by Cochabamba and Oruro and W. by Chile and Peru. Pop. (1900) 445,616,
the majority of whom are Indians. Area 53,777 sq. m. The department
belongs to the great Bolivian plateau, and its greater part to the cold,
bleak, _puna_ climatic region. The Cordillera Real crosses it N.W. to
S.E. and culminates in the snow-crowned summits of Sorata and Illimani.
The west of the department includes a part of the Titicaca basin with
about half of the lake. This elevated plateau region is partially barren
and inhospitable, its short, cold summers permitting the production of
little besides potatoes, quinoa (_Chenopodium quinoa_) and barley, with
a little Indian corn and wheat in favoured localities. Some attention is
given to the rearing of llamas, and a few cattle, sheep and mules are to
be seen south of Lake Titicaca. There is a considerable Indian
population in this region, living chiefly in small hamlets on the
products of their own industry. In the lower valleys of the eastern
slopes, where climatic conditions range from temperate to tropical,
wheat, Indian corn, oats and the fruits and vegetables of the temperate
zone are cultivated. Farther down, coffee, cacao, coca, rice, sugar
cane, tobacco, oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits are grown, and
the forests yield cinchona bark and rubber. The mineral wealth of La Paz
includes gold, silver, tin, copper and bismuth. Tin and copper are the
most important of these, the principal tin mines being in the vicinity
of the capital and known under the names of Huayna-Potosi, Milluni and
Chocoltaga. The chief copper mines are the famous Corocoro group, about
75 m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca by the Desaguadero river, the principal
means of transport. The output of the Corocoro mines, which also
includes gold and silver, finds its way to market by boat and rail to
Mollendo, and by pack animals to Tacna and rail to Arica. There are no
roads in La Paz worthy of the name except the 5 m. between the capital
and the "Alto," though stagecoach communication with Oruro and Chililaya
has been maintained by the national government. The railway opened in
1905 between Guaqui and La Paz (54 m.) superseded the latter of these
stage lines, and a railway is planned from Viacha to Oruro to supersede
the other. The capital of the department is the national capital La Paz.
Corocoro, near the Desaguadero river, about 75 m. S.S.E. of Lake
Titicaca and 13,353 ft. above sea-level, has an estimated population
(1906) of 15,000, chiefly Aymará Indians.
LA PAZ (officially LA PAZ DE AYACUCHO), the capital of Bolivia since
1898, the see of a bishopric created in 1605 and capital of the
department of La Paz, on the Rio de la Paz or Rio Chuquiapo, 42 m. S.E.
of Lake Titicaca (port of Chililaya) in 16° 30´ S., 68° W. Pop. (1900)
54,713, (1906, estimate) 67,235. The city is built in a deeply-eroded
valley of the Cordillera Real which is believed to have formed an outlet
of Lake Titicaca, and at this point descends sharply to the S.E., the
river making a great bend southward and then flowing northward to the
Beni. The valley is about 10 m. long and 3 m. wide, and is singularly
barren and forbidding. Its precipitous sides, deeply gullied by
torrential rains and diversely coloured by mineral ores, rise 1500 ft.
above the city to the margin of the great plateau surrounding Lake
Titicaca, and above these are the snow-capped summits of Illimani and
other giants of the Bolivian Cordillera. Below, the valley is fertile
and covered with vegetation, first of the temperate and then of the
tropical zone. The elevation of La Paz is 12,120 ft. above sea-level,
which places it within the _puna_ climatic region, in which the summers
are short and cold. The mean annual temperature is a little above the
_puna_ average, which is 54° F., the extremes ranging from 19° to 75°.
Pneumonia and bronchial complaints are common, but consumption is said
to be rare. The surface of the valley is very uneven, rising sharply
from the river on both sides, and the transverse streets of the city are
steep and irregular. At its south-eastern extremity is the Alameda, a
handsome public promenade with parallel rows of exotic trees, shrubs and
flowers, which are maintained with no small effort in so inhospitable a
climate. The trees which seem to thrive best are the willow and
eucalyptus. The streets are generally narrow and roughly paved, and
there are numerous bridges across the river and its many small
tributaries. The dwellings of the poorer classes are commonly built with
mud walls and covered with tiles, but stone and brick are used for the
better structures. The cathedral, which was begun in the 17th century
when the mines of Potosi were at the height of their productiveness, was
never finished because of the revolutions and the comparative poverty of
the city under the republic. It faces the Plaza Mayor and is
distinguished for the finely-carved stonework of its façade. Facing the
same plaza are the government offices and legislative chambers. Other
notable edifices and institutions are the old university of San Andrés,
the San Francisco church, a national college, a seminary, a good public
library and a museum rich in relics of the Inca and colonial periods. La
Paz is an important commercial centre, being connected with the Pacific
coast by the Peruvian railway from Mollendo to Puno (via Arequipa), and
a Bolivian extension from Guaqui to the Alto de La Paz (Heights of La
Paz)--the two lines being connected by a steamship service across Lake
Titicaca. An electric railway 5 m. long connects the Alto de La Paz with
the city, 1493 ft. below. This route is 496 m. long, and is expensive
because of trans-shipments and the cost of handling cargo at Mollendo.
The vicinity of La Paz abounds with mineral wealth; most important are
the tin deposits of Huayna-Potosi, Milluni and Chocoltaga. The La Paz
valley is auriferous, and since the foundation of the city gold has been
taken from the soil washed down from the mountain sides.
La Paz was founded in 1548 by Alonzo de Mendoza on the site of an
Indian village called Chuquiapu. It was called the Pueblo Nuevo de
Nuestra Señora de la Paz in commemoration of the reconciliation
between Pizarro and Almagro, and soon became an important colony. At
the close of the war of independence (1825) it was rechristened La Paz
de Ayacucho, in honour of the last decisive battle of that protracted
struggle. It was made one of the four capitals of the republic, but
the revolution of 1898 permanently established the seat of government
here because of its accessibility, wealth, trade and political
influence.
LA PÉROUSE, JEAN-FRANÇOIS DE GALAUP, COMTE DE (1741-_c._ 1788), French
navigator, was born near Albi, on the 22nd of August 1741. His family
name was Galaup, and La Pérouse or La Peyrouse was an addition adopted
by himself from a small family estate near Albi. As a lad of eighteen he
was wounded and made prisoner on board the "Formidable" when it was
captured by Admiral Hawke in 1759; and during the war with England
between 1778 and 1783 he served with distinction in various parts of the
world, more particularly on the eastern coasts of Canada and in Hudson's
Bay, where he captured Forts Prince of Wales and York (August 8th and
21st, 1782). In 1785 (August 1st) he sailed from Brest in command of the
French government expedition of two vessels ("La Boussole" under La
Pérouse himself, and "L'Astrolabe," under de Langle) for the discovery
of the North-West Passage, vainly essayed by Cook on his last voyage,
from the Pacific side. He was also charged with the further exploration
of the north-west coasts of America, and the north-east coasts of Asia,
of the China and Japan seas, the Solomon Islands and Australia; and he
was ordered to collect information as to the whale fishery in the
southern oceans and as to the fur trade in North America. He reached
Mount St Elias, on the coast of Alaska, on the 23rd of June 1786. After
six weeks, marked by various small discoveries, he was driven from these
regions by bad weather; and after visiting the Hawaiian Islands, and
discovering Necker Island (November 5th, 1786), he crossed over to Asia
(Macao, January 3rd, 1787). Thence he passed to the Philippines, and so
to the coasts of Japan, Korea and "Chinese Tartary," where his best
results were gained. Touching at Quelpart, he reached De Castries Bay,
near the modern Vladivostok, on the 28th of July 1787; and on the 2nd of
August following discovered the strait, still named after him, between
Sakhalin and the Northern Island of Japan. On the 7th of September he
put in at Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, where he was well received by
special order of the Russian empress, Catherine II.; thence he sent home
Lesseps, overland, with the journals, notes, plans and maps recording
the work of the expedition. He left Avacha Bay on the 29th of September,
and arrived at Mauna in the Samoan group on the 8th of December; here de
Langle and ten of the crew of the "Astrolabe" were murdered. He quitted
Samoa on the 14th of December, touched at the Friendly Islands and
Norfolk Island and arrived in Botany Bay on the 26th of January 1788.
From this place, where he interchanged courtesies with some of the
English pioneers in Australia, he wrote his last letter to the French
Ministry of Marine (February 7th). After this no more was heard of him
and his squadron till in 1826 Captain Peter Dillon found the wreckage of
what must have been the "Boussole" and the "Astrolabe" on the reefs of
Vanikoro, an island to the north of the New Hebrides. In 1828 Dumont
d'Urville visited the scene of the disaster and erected a monument
(March 14th).
See Milet Mureau, _Voyage de la Pérouse autour du monde_ (Paris, 1797)
4 vols.; Gérard, _Vies ... des ... marins français_ (Paris, 1825),
197-200; Peter Dillon, _Narrative ... of a Voyage in the South Seas
for the Discovery of the Fate of La Pérouse_ (London, 1829), 2 vols.;
Dumont d'Urville, _Voyage pittoresque autour du monde_; Quoy and Paul
Gaimard, _Voyage de ... l'Astrolabe_; Domeny de Rienzi, _Océanie_; Van
Tenac, _Histoire général de la marine_, iv. 258-264; _Moniteur
universel_, 13th of February 1847.
LAPIDARY, and GEM CUTTING (Lat. _lapidarius, lapis_, a stone). The
earliest examples of gem cutting and carving known (see also GEM) are
the ancient engraved seals, which are of two principal types, the
cylindrical or "rolling" seals of Babylonia and Assyria, suggested by a
joint of the bamboo or the central whorl of a conch-like shell, and the
peculiar scarabaeoid seals of Egypt. Recent researches make it appear
that both these types were in use as far back as 4500 B.C., though with
some variations. The jewels of Queen Zer, and other jewels consisting of
cut turquoise, lapis lazuli and amethyst, found by the French mission,
date from 4777 B.C. to 4515 B.C. Until about 2500 B.C., the cylinder
seals bore almost wholly animal designs; then cuneiform inscriptions
were added. In the 6th century B.C., the scarabaeoid type was introduced
from Egypt, while the rolling seals began to give place to a new form,
that of a tall cone. These, in a century or two, were gradually
shortened; the hole by which they were suspended was enlarged until it
could admit the finger, and in time they passed into the familiar form
of seal-rings. This later type, which prevailed for a long period,
usually bore Persian or Sassanian inscriptions. The scarabaeoid seals
were worn as rings in Egypt apparently from the earliest times.
The most ancient of the cylinder seals were cut at first from shell,
then largely from opaque stones such as diorite and serpentine. After
2500 B.C., varieties of chalcedony and milky quartz were employed,
translucent and richly coloured; sometimes even rock crystal, and also
frequently a beautiful compact haematite. Amazone stone, amethyst and
fossil coral were used, but no specimen is believed to be known of ruby,
sapphire, emerald, diamond, tourmaline or spinel.
The date of about 500 B.C. marks the beginning of a period of great
artistic taste and skill in gem carving, which extended throughout the
ancient civilized world, and lasted until the 3rd or 4th century A.D.
Prior to this period, all the work appears to have been done by hand
with a sapphire point, or else with a bow-drill; thenceforward the wheel
came to be largely employed. The Greek cutters, in their best period,
the 5th and 6th centuries B.C., knew the use of disks and drills, but
preferred the sapphire point for their finest work, and continued to use
it for two or three hundred years. Engraving by the bow-drill was
introduced in Assyrian and Babylonian work as early as perhaps 3000
B.C., the earlier carving being all done with the sapphire point, which
was secured in a handle for convenient application. This handwork
demanded the utmost skill and delicacy of touch in the artist. The
bow-drill consisted of a similar point fastened in the end of a stick,
which could be rotated by means of a horizontal cross-bar attached at
each end to a string wound around the stick; as the cross-bar was moved
up and down, the stick was made to rotate alternately in opposite
directions. This has been a frequent device for such purposes among many
peoples, both ancient and modern, civilized and uncivilized. The point
used by hand, and the bow-drill, were afterwards variously combined in
executing such work. Another modification was the substitution for the
point, in either process, of a hollow tube or drill, probably in most
cases the joint of a hollow reed, whereby very accurate circles could be
made, as also crescent figures and the like. This process, used with
fine hard sand, has also been widely employed among many peoples. It may
perhaps have been suggested by the boring of other shells by carnivorous
molluscs of the _Murex_ type, examples of which may be picked up on any
sea-beach. It is possible that the cylinder seals were drilled in this
way out of larger pieces by means of a hollow reed or bamboo, the
cylinder being left as the core.
The Egyptian scarabs were an early and very characteristic type of seal
cutting. The Greek gem cutters modified them by adding Greek and
Etruscan symbols and talismanic signs; many of them also worked in Egypt
and for Egyptians. Phoenician work shows a mixture of Assyrian and
Egyptian designs; and Cypriote seals, principally on the agate gems, are
known that are referred to the 9th century B.C.
Scarabs are sometimes found that have been sliced in two, and the new
flat faces thus produced carved with later inscriptions and set in
rings. This secondary work is of many kinds. An Assyrian cylinder in the
Metropolitan Museum, New York, referred to 3000 B.C., bears such a
cutting of Mediterranean character, of the 2nd or 3rd century B.C. In
the early Christian era, also, many Greek and Roman gems were recut with
Gnostic and other peculiar and obscure devices.
In the later Roman period, the 3rd and 4th centuries, a great decline in
the art is seen--so great that Castellani terms it "the idiotic age."
Numbers of gems of this kind have been found together, as though they
were the product of a single manufacturer, carved in the crudest manner,
both in design and execution. Yet remarkable results are sometimes
produced in these by a few touches of the drill, which under the glass
appear very crude but nevertheless yield strong effects. The same thing
may be seen now in many of the Japanese sketches and lacquer designs,
where a whole landscape is depicted, or rather suggested, by a few
simple but powerful strokes. It is now thought that some of these seals
may be of earlier origin than has been supposed, and also that they may
have been worn by the poorer classes, who could not afford the more
finished work. They must have been made by the hundred thousand. The
decline of the art went on until in the Byzantine period, especially the
6th century, it had reached a very low point. Most of the gems of this
period show drill-work of poor quality, although hand-work is
occasionally seen.
With the Renaissance, the art of gem carving revived, and the engravers
from that time and onward have produced results that equal the best
Greek and Roman work; copies of ancient gem carvings made by some of the
18th-century masters are only distinguishable from true antiques by
experts of great proficiency. It is in fact extremely difficult to judge
positively as to the age of engraved gems. The materials of which they
are made are hard and resistant to any change through time, and there
are many ingenious devices for producing the appearances usually
believed to indicate great age, such as slightly dulled or scratched
surfaces and the like. There are also the gems with secondary carving,
already alluded to, and the ancient gems that have been partially recut
by modern engravers for the purpose of fraudulently enhancing their
price. All these elements enter into the problem and make it an almost
hopeless one for any but a person of great experience in the study of
such objects; and even he may not be able in all cases to decide.
Until the 14th century, almost all the gems were cut _en cabochon_--that
is, smoothly rounded, as carbuncles and opals are still--or else in the
form of beads drilled from both sides for suspension or attachment, the
two perforations often meeting but imperfectly. These latter may be of
Asiatic origin, brought into Europe by commerce during the Crusades.
Some of the finest gems in the Austrian, Russian and German crowns are
stones of this perforated or bead type. An approach, or transition, to
the modern facetting is seen in a style of cutting often used for
rock-crystal in the 10th and 11th centuries: an oval cabochon was
polished flat, and the sides of the dome were also trimmed flat, with a
rounded back, and the upper side with a ridge in the centre, tapering
off to the girdle of the stone below.
The plane facetted cutting is altogether modern; and hence the pictures
which represent the breastplate of the ancient Jewish high-priest as set
with facetted stones are wholly imaginary and probably incorrect, as we
have no exact knowledge of the forms of the gems. The Orientals polish
gems in all sorts of irregular, rounded shapes, according to the form of
the piece as found, and with the one object of preserving as much of its
original size and colour as possible. The greatest ingenuity is used to
make a speck of colour, as in a sapphire, tone up an entire gem, by
cutting it so that there is a point of high colour at the lower side of
the gem.
In later times a few facets are sometimes cut upon a generally rounded
stone. The _cabochon_ method is still used for opaque or translucent
stones, as opal, moonstone, turquoise, carbuncle, &c.; but for
transparent gems the facetted cutting is almost always employed, on
account of its fine effect in producing brilliancy, by reflection or
refraction of light from the under side of the gem. Occasionally the
ancients used natural crystals with polished faces, or perhaps at times
polished these to some extent artificially. This use of crystals was
frequent with prisms of emerald, which were drilled and suspended as
drops. Those the French call "primes d'émeraudes." These were often
natural crystals from Zaborah, Egypt or the Tirol Mountains, drilled
through the height of the prism, and with little or no polishing. In
rare instances perfect and brilliant crystals may now be seen mounted as
gems.
The modern method is that of numerous facets, geometrically disposed to
bring out the beauty of light and colour to the best advantage. This is
done at the sacrifice of material, often to the extent of half the stone
or even more--the opposite of the Oriental idea. There are various forms
of such cutting, but three are specially employed, known as the
brilliant, the rose and the table-cut. The last, generally made from
cleavage pieces, usually square or oblong, with a single facet or edge
on each side, and occasionally four or more facets on the lower side of
the stone, is used chiefly for emeralds, rubies and sapphires; the two
former for diamonds in particular. The brilliant is essentially a low,
double cone, its top truncated to form a large flat eight-sided face
called the table, and its basal apex also truncated by a very small face
known as the _culette_ or _cullet_. The upper and lower slopes are cut
into a series of triangular facets, 32 above the girdle, in four rows of
eight, and 24 below, in three rows, making 56 facets in all. The rose
form is used for diamonds not thick enough to cut as brilliants; it is
flat below and has 12 to 24, or sometimes 32, triangular facets above,
in three rows, meeting in a point. Stones thus cut are also known as
"roses couronnées"; others with fewer facets, twelve or even six, are
called "roses d'Anvers," and are a specialty, as their name implies, at
Antwerp. These, however, are only cut from very thin or shallow stones.
None of the rose-cut diamonds is equal in beauty to the brilliants.
There are several other forms, among which are the "briolette,"
"marquise," oval and pear-shaped stones, &c., but they are of minor
importance. The pear-shaped brilliant is a facetted ball or drop, being
a brilliant in style of cutting, although the form of the gem is
elongated or drop-shaped. The "marquise" or "navette" form is an
elliptical brilliant of varying width in proportion to its length. The
"rondelle" form consists of flat, circular gems with smooth sides
pierced, like shallow beads, with facetted edges, and is sometimes used
between pearls, or gem beads, and in the coloured gems, such as rubies,
sapphires, emeralds, &c. The mitred gems fitted to a gauge are much used
and are closely set together, forming a continuous line of colour.
Modern gem cutting and engraving are done by means of the lathe, which
can be made to revolve with extreme rapidity, carrying a point or small
disk of soft iron, with diamond-dust and oil. The disks vary in diameter
from that of a pin-head to a quarter of an inch. Better than the lathe,
also, is the S. S. White dental engine, which the present writer was the
first to suggest for this use. The flexibility and sensitiveness of this
machine enables it to respond to the touch of the artist and to impart a
personal quality to his work not possible with the mechanical action of
the lathe, and more like the hand-work with the sapphire point. The
diamond-dust and oil, thus applied, will carve any stone softer than the
diamond itself with comparative ease.
We may now review some of the special forms of cutting and working gems
and ornamental stones that have been developed in Europe since the
period of the Renaissance.
Garnets (q.v.) have been used and worked from remote antiquity; but in
modern times the cutting of them has been carried on chiefly in
Bohemia, in the region around Merowitz and Dlaskowitch. The stones
occur in a trap rock, and are weathered out by its decomposition and
gathered from gravels and beds of streams. They are of the rich red
variety known as pyrope (q.v.), or Bohemian garnet; it is generally
valued as a gem-stone. Such are the so-called "Cape rubies," of South
Africa, found in considerable quantity in German East Africa, and the
beautiful garnets known as the "Arizona rubies." Garnets are so
abundant in Bohemia as to constitute an important industry, employing
some five hundred miners, an equal number of cutters and as many as
three thousand dealers. Extensive garnet cutting is also done in
India, especially at Jeypore, where there are large works employing
natives who have been taught by Europeans. The Indian garnets,
however, are mostly of another variety, the almandine (q.v.); it is
equally rich in colour, though inclining more to a violet cast than
the pyrope, and can be obtained in larger pieces. The ancient garnets,
from Etruscan and Byzantine remains, some of which are flat plates set
in gold, or carved with mythological designs, were probably obtained
from India or perhaps from the remarkable locality for large masses of
garnet in German East Africa. Many are cut with the portraits of
Sassanian kings with their characteristic pearl earrings. The East
Indians carve small dishes out of a single garnet.
The carving of elegant objects from transparent quartz, or rock
crystal, has been carried on since the 16th century, first in Italy,
by the greatest masters of the time, and afterwards in Prague, under
Rudolph II., until the Thirty Years' War, when the industry was wiped
out. Splendid examples of this work are in the important museums of
Europe. Many of these are reproduced now in Vienna, and fine examples
are included in some American museums. Among them are rock-crystal
dishes several inches across, beautifully engraved in intaglio and
mounted in silver with gems. Other varieties of quartz minerals, such
as agate, jasper, &c., and other ornamental stones of similar
hardness, are likewise wrought into all manner of art objects.
Caskets, vases, ewers, coupés and animal and other fanciful forms, are
familiar in these opaque and semi-transparent stones, either carved
out of single masses or made of separate pieces united with gold,
silver or enamel in the most artistic manner. Cellini, and other
masters in the 16th and 17th centuries, vied with each other in such
work.
The greatest development of agate (q.v.), however, has been seen in
Germany, at Waldkirch in Breisgau, and especially at Idar and
Oberstein on the Nahe, in Oldenburg. The industry began in the 14th
century, at the neighbouring town of Freiburg, but was transferred to
Waldkirch, where it is still carried on, employing about 120 men and
women, the number of workmen having increased nearly threefold since
the middle of the 19th century. The Idar and Oberstein industry was
founded somewhat later, but is much more extensive. Mills run by
water-power line the Nahe river for over 30 m., from above Kreuznach
to below Idar, and gave employment in 1908 to some 5000 people--1625
lapidaries, 160 drillers, 100 engravers, 2900 cutters, &c., besides
300 jewellers and 300 dealers. The industry began here in consequence
of the abundance of agates in the amygdaloid rocks of the vicinity;
and it is probable that many of the Cinque Cento gems, and perhaps
even some of the Roman ones, were obtained in this region. By the
middle of the 18th century the best material was about exhausted, but
the industry had become so firmly established that it has been kept up
and increased by importing agates. In 1540 there were only three
mills; in 1740, twenty-five; in 1840, fifty; in 1870, one hundred and
eighty-four. Agents and prospectors are sent all over the world to
procure agates and other ornamental stones, and enormous quantities
are brought there and stored. The chief source of agate supply has
been in Uruguay, but much has been brought from other distant lands.
It was estimated that fifty thousand tons were stored at Salto in
Uruguay at one time.
The grinding is done on large, horizontal wheels like grindstones,
some 6 ft. in diameter and one-fourth as thick, run by water-wheels.
The faces of some of these grindstones are made with grooves of
different sizes so that round objects or convex surfaces can be ground
very easily and rapidly. An agate ball or marble, for instance, is
made from a piece broken to about the right size and held in one of
these semicircular grooves until one-half of it is shaped, and then
turned over and the other half ground in the same way. The polishing
is done on wooden wheels, with tripoli found in the vicinity; any
carving or ornamentation is then put on with a wheel-edge or a drill
by skilled workmen.
In the United States the Drake Company at Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
has done cutting and polishing in hard materials on a grand scale. It
is here, and here only, that the agatized wood from Chalcedony Park,
Arizona, has been cut and polished, large sections of tree-trunks
having been made into table-tops and columns of wonderful beauty, with
a polish like that of a mirror.
Much of the finest lapidary work, both on a large and a small scale,
is done in Russia. Catherine II. sought to develop the precious stone
resources of the Ural region, and sent thither two Italian lapidaries.
This led to the founding of an industry which now employs at least a
thousand people. The work is done either at the great imperial
lapidary establishment at Ekaterinburg, or in the vicinity of the
mines by lapidary masters, as they are called, each of whom has his
peculiar style. The products are sold to dealers at the great Russian
fairs at Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. The imperial works
at the last-named place have command of an immense water-power, and
are on such a scale that great masses of hard stones can be worked as
marble is in other countries. Much of the machinery is primitive, but
the applications are ingenious and the results unsurpassed anywhere.
The work done is of several classes, ranging from the largest and most
massive to the smallest and most delicate. There is (1) the cutting of
facetted gems, as topaz, aquamarine, amethyst, &c., from the mines of
the Ural, and of other gem-stones also; this is largely done by means
of the cadrans, a small machine held in the hand, by which the angle
of the facets can be adjusted readily when once the stone has been
set, and which produces work of great beauty and accuracy. Then there
is (2) a vast variety of ornamental objects, large and small, some
weighing 2000 lb. and over, and requiring years to complete; they are
made from the opaque minerals of the Ural and Siberia--malachite,
rhodonite, lapis-lazuli, aventurine and jasper. A peculiar type of
work is (3) the production of beautiful groups of fruit, flowers and
leaves, in stones selected to match exactly the colour of each object
represented. These are chosen with great care and skill, somewhat as
in the Florentine mosaics, not to produce a flat inlaid picture,
however, but a perfect reproduction of form, size and colour. These
groups are carved and polished from hard stones, whereas the
Florentine mosaic work includes many substances that are much softer,
as glass, shell, &c.
Enormous masses of material are brought to these works; the supply of
rhodonite, jade, jaspers of various colours, &c., sometimes amounting
to hundreds of tons. One mass of Kalkansky jasper weighed nearly 9
tons, and a mass of rhodonite above 50 tons; the latter required a
week of sledging, with ninety horses, to bring it from the quarry,
only 14 m. from the works. About seventy-five men are employed, at
twenty-five roubles a month (£2, 11s. 6d.), and ten boys, who earn
from two to ten roubles (4s. to £1). A training school is connected
with the works, where over fifty boys are pupils; on graduating they
may remain as government lapidaries or set up on their own account.
There are two other great Russian imperial establishments of the same
kind. One of these, founded by Catherine II., is at Peterhof, a short
distance from the capital; it is a large building fitted up with
imperial elegance. Here are made all the designs and models for the
work done at Ekaterinburg; these are returned and strictly preserved.
In the Peterhof works are to be seen the largest and most remarkable
achievements of the lapidarian art, vases and pedestals and columns of
immense size, made from the hardest and most elegant stones, often
requiring the labour of years for their completion. The third great
establishment is at Kolyvan, in Siberia, bearing a like relation to
the minerals and gem-stones of the Altai region that the works of
Ekaterinburg do to the Ural. The three establishments are conducted at
large expense, from the private revenue of the tsar. The Russian
emperors have always taken special interest in lapidary work, and the
products of these establishments have made that country famous
throughout the world. The immense monolithic columns of the Hermitage
and of St Isaac's Cathedral, of polished granite and other hard and
elegant stones, are among the triumphs of modern architectural work;
and the Alexander column at St Petersburg is a single polished shaft,
13 ft. in diameter and 82 ft. in height, of the red Finland granite.
The finest lapidary work of modern France is done at Moulin la
Vacherie Saint Simon, Seine-et-Marne, where some seventy-five of the
most skilful artisans are engaged. The products are all manner of
ornamental objects of every variety of beautiful stone, all finished
with absolute perfection of detail. Columns and other ornaments of
porphyry and the like, of ancient workmanship, are brought hither from
Egypt and elsewhere, and recut into smaller objects for modern
artistic tastes. Here, too, are made spheres of transparent
quartz--"crystal balls"--up to 6 in. in diameter, the material for
which is obtained in Madagascar.
A few words may be said, by way of comparison and contrast, about the
lapidary art of Japan and China, especially in relation to the crystal
balls, now reproduced in France and elsewhere. The tools are the
simplest, and there is no machinery; but the lack of it is made up by
time and patience, and by hereditary pride, as a Japanese artisan can
often trace back his art through many generations continuously. To
make a quartz ball, a large crystal or mass is chipped or broken into
available shape, and then the piece is trimmed into a spherical form
with a small steel hammer. The polishing is effected by grinding with
emery and garnet-powder and plenty of water, in semi-cylindrical
pieces of cast iron, of sizes varying with that of the ball to be
ground, which is kept constantly turning as it is rubbed. Small balls
are fixed in the end of a bamboo tube, which the worker continually
revolves. The final brilliant polish is given by the hand, with
rouge-powder (haematite). This process is evidently very slow, and
only the cheapness of labour prevents the cost from being too great.
The spheres are now made quite freely but very differently in France,
Germany and the United States. They are ground in semicircular grooves
in a large horizontal wheel of hard stone, such as is used for
grinding garnets at Oberstein and Idar, or else by gradually revolving
them on a lathe and fitting them into hollow cylinders. Plenty of
water must be used, to prevent heating and cracking. The polishing is
effected on a wooden wheel with tripoli. Work of this kind is now done
in the United States, in the production of the spheres and carved
ornaments of rock-crystal, that is equal to any in the world. But most
of the material for these supposed Japanese balls now comes from
Brazil or Madagascar, and the work is done in Germany or France.
The cutting of amber is a special branch of lapidary work developed
along the Baltic coast of Germany, where amber is chiefly obtained.
The amber traffic dates back to prehistoric times; but the cutting
industry in northern Europe cannot be definitely traced further back
than the 14th century, when gilds of amber-workers were known at
Bruges and Lübeck. Fine carving was also done at Königsberg as early
as 1399. The latter city and Danzig have become the chief seats of the
amber industry, and the business has increased immensely within a
recent period. Articles are made there, not only for all the civilized
world, but for exportation to half-civilized and even barbarous
nations, in great variety of shapes, styles and colours.
DIAMOND CUTTING.--On account of its extreme hardness, the treatment of
the diamond in preparation for use in jewelry constitutes a separate and
special branch of the lapidary's art. Any valuable gem must first be
trimmed, cleaved or sawed into suitable shape and size, then cut into
the desired form, and finally polished upon the faces which have been
cut. The stages in diamond working are, therefore, (1) cleavage or
division; (2) cutting; (3) polishing; but in point of fact there are
four processes, as the setting of the stone for cutting is a somewhat
distinct branch, and the workers are classed in four groups--cleavers,
setters, cutters and polishers.
1. _Cleaving or Dividing._--Diamonds are always found as crystals,
usually octahedral in form, though often irregular or distorted. The
problem involved in each case is twofold: (1) to obtain the largest
perfect stone possible, and (2) to remove any portions containing flaws
or defects. These ends are generally met by cleaving the crystal, i.e.
causing it to split along certain natural planes of structural weakness,
which are parallel with the faces of the octahedron. This process
requires the utmost judgment, care and skill on the part of the
operator, as any error would cause great loss of valuable material;
hence expert cleavers command very high wages. The stone is first
examined closely, to determine the directions of the cleavage planes,
which are recognizable only by an expert. The cleaver then cuts a narrow
notch at the place selected, with another diamond having a sharp point;
a rather dull iron or steel edge is then laid on this line, and a smart
blow struck upon it. If all has been skilfully done, the diamond divides
at once in the direction desired. De Boot in 1609 mentions knowing some
one who could part a diamond like mica or talc. In this process, each of
the diamonds is fixed in cement on the end of a stick or handle, so that
they can be held firmly while one is applied to the other.
When the stone is large and very valuable, the cleaving is a most
critical process. Wollaston in 1790 made many favourable transactions by
buying very poor-looking flawed stones and cleaving off the good parts.
In the case of the immense Excelsior diamond of 971 carats, which was
divided at Amsterdam in 1904, and made into ten splendid stones, the
most elaborate study extending over two months was given to the work
beforehand, and many models were made of the very irregular stone and
divided in different ways to determine those most advantageous. This
process was in 1908 applied to the most remarkable piece of work of the
kind ever undertaken--the cutting of the gigantic Cullinan diamond of
3025¾ English carats. The stone was taken to Amsterdam to be treated by
the old-fashioned hand method, with innumerable precautions of every
kind at every step, and the cutting was successfully accomplished after
nine months' work (see _The Times_, Nov. 10, 1908). The two principal
stones obtained (see DIAMOND), one a pendeloque or drop brilliant, and
the other a square brilliant, were given 72 and 64 facets respectively
(exclusive of the table and cullet) instead of the normal 56.
This process of cleavage is the old-established one, still used to a
large extent, especially at Amsterdam. But a different method has
recently been introduced, that of sawing,[1] which is now generally
employed in Antwerp. The stone is placed in a small metal receptacle
which is filled with melted aluminium; thus embedded securely, with only
the part to be cut exposed, it is pressed firmly against the edge of a
metallic disk or thin wheel, 4 or 5 in. in diameter, made of copper,
iron or phosphor bronze, which is charged with diamond dust and oil, and
made to revolve with great velocity. This machine was announced as an
American invention, but the form now principally employed at Antwerp was
invented by a Belgian diamond cutter in the United States, and is
similar to slitting wheels used by gem cutters for centuries. Two
patents were taken out, however, by different parties, with some
distinctions of method. The process is much slower than hand-cleavage,
but greatly diminishes the loss of material involved. It is claimed that
not only can flaws or defective portions be thus easily taken off, but
that any well-formed crystal of the usual octahedral shape (known in the
trade as "six-point") can be divided in half very perfectly at the
"girdle," making two stones, in each of which the sawed face can be used
with advantage to form the "table" of a brilliant. By another method the
stone is sawed at a tangent with the octahedron, and then each half into
three pieces; for this Wood method a total saving of 5% is claimed.
Occasionally the finest material is only a small spot in a large mass of
impure material, and this is taken out by most skilful cleaving.
After the cleaving or sawing, however, the diamond is rarely yet in a
form for cutting the facets, and requires considerable shaping. This
rough "blocking-out" of the final form it is to assume, by removing
irregularities and making it symmetrical, is called "brutage."
Well-shaped and flawless crystals, indeed may not require to be cleaved,
and then the brutage is the first process. Here again, the old hand
methods are beginning to give place to mechanism. In either case two
diamonds are taken, each fixed in cement on the end of a handle or
support, and are rubbed one against the other until the irregularities
are ground away and the general shape desired is attained. The old
method was to do this by hand--an extremely tedious and laborious
process. The machine method, invented about 1885 and first used by Field
and Morse of Boston, is now used at Antwerp exclusively. In this, one
diamond is fixed at the centre of a rotating apparatus, and the other,
on an arm or handle, is placed so as to press steadily against the other
stone at the proper angle. The rotating diamond thus becomes rounded and
smoothed; the other one is then put in its place at the centre and their
mutual action reversed.
At Amsterdam a hand-process is employed, which lies between the cleavage
and the brutage. This consists in cutting or trimming away angles and
irregularities all over the stone by means of a sharp-edged or pointed
diamond, both being mounted in cement on pear-shaped handles for firm
holding. This work is largely done by women. In all these processes the
dust and fragments are caught and carefully saved.
2. _Cutting and Setting._--The next process is that of cutting the
facets; but an intervening step is the fixing or "setting" of the stone
for that purpose. This is done by embedding it in a fusible alloy,
melting at 440° Fahr., in a little cup-shaped depression on the end of a
handle, the whole being called a "dop." Only the portion to be ground
off is left exposed; and two such mounted diamonds are then rubbed
against each other until a face is produced. This is the work of the
cutter; it is very laborious, and requires great care and skill. The
hands must be protected with leather gloves. The powder produced is
carefully saved, as in the former processes, for use in the final
polishing. When one face has been produced, the alloy is softened by
heating, and the stone re-set for grinding another surface; and as this
process is necessary for every face cut, it must be repeated many times
for each stone. An improved dop has lately been devised in which the
diamond is held by a system of claws so that all this heating and
resetting can, it is claimed, be obviated, and the cutting completed
with only two changes.
3. _Polishing._--The faces having thus been cut, the last stage is the
polishing. This is done upon horizontal iron wheels called "skaifs,"
made to rotate up to 2500 revolutions per minute. The diamond-powder
saved in the former operations, and also made by crushing very inferior
diamonds, here comes into use as the only material for polishing. It is
applied with oil, and the stones are fixed in a "dop" in much the same
way as in the cutting process. Again, the utmost skill and watchfulness
are necessary, as the angles of the faces must be mathematically exact,
in order to yield the best effects by refraction and reflection of
light, and their sizes must be accurately regulated to preserve the
symmetry of the stone. In this process, also, the old hand method is
already replaced in part by an improved device whereby the diamond is
held by adjustable claws, on a base that can be rotated, so as to apply
it in any desired position. By this means the time and trouble of
repeated re-setting in the dop are saved, as well as the liability to
injury from the heating and cooling; the services of special "setters"
are also made needless.
The rapid development of mechanical devices for the several stages of
diamond cutting has already greatly influenced the art. A very
interesting comparison was brought out in the thirteenth report of the
American Commissioner of Labour, as to the aspects and relations of
hand-work and machinery in this branch of industry. It appeared from the
data gathered that the advantage lay with machinery as to time and with
hand-work as to cost, in the ratios respectively of 1 to 3.38 and 1.76
to 1. In other words, about half the gain in time is lost by increased
expense in the use of machine methods. A great many devices and
applications have been developed within the last few years, owing to the
immense increase in the production of diamonds from the South African
mines, and their consequent widespread use.
_History of Diamond Cutting._--The East Indian diamonds, many of which
are doubtless very ancient, were polished in the usual Oriental
fashion by merely rounding off the angles. Among church jewels in
Europe are a few diamonds of unknown age and source, cut four-sided,
with a table above and a pyramid below. Several cut diamonds are
recorded among the treasures of Louis of Anjou in the third quarter of
the 14th century. But the first definite accounts of diamond polishing
are early in the century following, when one Hermann became noted for
such work in Paris. The modern method of "brilliant" cutting, however,
is generally ascribed to Louis de Berquem, of Bruges, who in 1475 cut
several celebrated diamonds sent to him by Charles the Bold, duke of
Burgundy. He taught this process to many pupils, who afterwards
settled in Antwerp and Amsterdam, which have been the chief centres of
diamond cutting ever since. Peruzzi was the artist who worked out the
theory of the well-proportioned brilliant of 58 facets. Some very fine
work was done early in London also, but most of the workmen were Jews,
who, being objectionable in England, finally betook themselves to
Amsterdam and Antwerp. Efforts have been lately made to re-establish
the art in London, where, as the great diamond mart of the world, it
should peculiarly belong.
The same unwise policy was even more marked in Portugal. That nation
had its colonial possessions in India, following the voyages and
discoveries of Da Gama, and thus became the chief importer of diamonds
into Europe. Early in the 18th century, also, the diamond-mines were
discovered in Brazil, which was then likewise a Portuguese possession;
thus the whole diamond product of the world came to Portugal, and
there was naturally developed in Lisbon an active industry of cutting
and polishing diamonds. But in time the Jews were forced away, and
went to Holland and Belgium, where diamond cutting has been
concentrated since the middle of the 18th century.
It is of interest to trace the recent endeavours to establish diamond
cutting in the United States. The pioneer in this movement was Henry
D. Morse of Boston, associated with James W. Yerrington of New York.
He opened a diamond-cutting establishment about 1860 and carried it on
for some years, training a number of young men and women, who became
the best cutters in the country. But the chief importance of his work
lay in its superior quality. So long had it been a monopoly of the
Dutch and Belgians that it was declining into a mere mechanical trade.
Morse studied the diamond scientifically and taught his pupils how
important mathematical exactitude in cutting was to the beauty and
value of the gem. He thus attained a perfection rarely seen before,
and gave a great stimulus to the art. Shops were opened in London as
well, in consequence of Morse's success; and many valuable diamonds
were recut in the United States after his work became known. This fact
in turn reacted upon the cutter abroad, especially in France and
Switzerland; and thus the general standard of the art was greatly
advanced.
Diamond cutting in the United States is now a well-established
industry. From 1882 to 1885 a number of American jewelers undertook
such work, but for various reasons it was not found practicable then.
Ten years later, however, there were fifteen firms engaged in diamond
cutting, giving employment to nearly 150 men in the various processes
involved. In the year 1894 a number of European diamond workers came
over; some foreign capital became engaged; and a rapid development of
diamond cutting took place. This movement was caused by the low tariff
on uncut diamonds as compared with that on cut stones. It went so far
as to be felt seriously abroad; but in a year or two it declined,
owing partly to strikes and partly to legal questions as to the
application of some of the tariff provisions. At the close of 1895,
however, there were still some fourteen establishments in and near New
York, employing about 500 men. Since then the industry has gradually
developed. Many of the European diamond workers who came over to
America remained and carried on their art; and the movement then begun
has become permanent. New York is now recognized as one of the chief
diamond-cutting centres; there are some 500 cutters, and the quality
of work done is fully equal, if not superior, to any in the Old World.
So well is this fact established that American-cut diamonds are
exported and sold in Europe to a considerable and an increasing
extent.
In the Brazilian diamond region of Minas Geraes an industry of cutting
has grown up since 1875. Small mills are run by water power, and the
machinery, as well as the methods, are from Holland. This Brazilian
diamond work is done both well and cheaply, and supplies the local
market.
The leading position in diamond working still belongs to Amsterdam,
where the number of persons engaged in the industry has trebled since
about 1875, in consequence of the enormous increase in the world's
supply of diamonds. The number now amounts to 15,000, about one-third
of whom are actual cleavers, cutters, polishers, &c. The number of
cutting establishments in Amsterdam is about seventy, containing some
7000 mills.
Antwerp comes next with about half as many mills and a total of some
4500 persons engaged in all departments, including about seventy
women. These are distributed among thirty-five or forty
establishments. A majority of the workers are Belgians, but there are
many Dutch, Poles and Austro-Hungarians, principally Jews. Among these
numerous employees there is much opportunity for dishonesty, and but
little surveillance, actual or possible; yet losses from this cause
are almost unknown. The wages paid are good, averaging from £2, 9s.
6d. to £2, 17s. 6d. a week. Sorters receive from 28s. to £2; cutters
from £2, 9s. 6d to £3, 6s., and cleavers from £3, 14s. upwards.
With the recent introduction of electricity in diamond cutting there
has been a revolution in that industry. Whereas formerly wheels were
made to revolve by steam, they are now placed in direct connexion with
electric motors, although there is not a motor to each machine. The
saws for slitting the diamond can thus be made to revolve much more
rapidly, and there is a cleanliness and a speed about the work never
before attained. (G. F. K.)