Milford chronicle., 1896-09-04
lEegNDs oF rAe olAMoND.
Many Curious superstitions Are Associ-
ated with the Beautiful Gem

Many CURIOUS cuPcNotAtAcho fA@o @A'o@N-
ated with the Beautiful Gem
Diamond was the name of beautiful
youth Of the island of Crete, one Of
the attendants of the infant Jupiter IN
his cradle. Diamond, not to be subject
to 1.-THE ills that flesh IS heir to, was
transformed into the hardest and most
brilliant substance in nature. In Arabic
and Persian works on natural history
Aristotle is generally quoted as the
chief authority for the story of the in
accessible valley of diamonds, where 1t
was the custom to throw down pieces OF
flesh as the only means of procuring
the gems. Vultures picked up these
with the precious stones attached to
them and dropped them in their fight
on various parts of the earth. Marco
Polo. who Travelled in India in the thir-
teenth century, gave much the same
account of the method of procuring daa'
monds. One of the adventures of Sinbao
the Sailor in 'The Arabian Nights" is
almost identical, and Epiphanius, in
the fourth century, writes to much the
same effect. The diamond was called
adamus, which means indOmitable. II
was never pounded and taken inter
nally like other stones, because It was
considered indigestible. The diamond
had the virtue of bestowing victory and
fortitude. II Gained anger and strength
ened welded love; hence it was called
the stone of reconciliation. The learned
De Boot takes occasion to discourse at
some length as to whether the power
Of discriminating between right and
wrong. legal and illegal love, is nat
ural quality of the stone or belongs to
n shirt residing in it, For the very
extraordinary arguments he uses the
reader is referred to his treatise (b.
H.. c. iv.). That diamonds preserved
their owners from the plague was con-
sidered fully proved by che fact that
the plague at first attacked only the
Doorer classes and that the rich. who
wore diamonds in profusion, usually es-
caped. Though the diamond was not
supposed to be fusible by fire, the splen-
dor of its luster and its properties were
thought to be affected by heat, for
which reason Wolfgangus Gabelschov-
erus advises all who wear these gems
TO take them off at night and place them
in cold water or on marble slab.
Among the aneients the diamond was
symbol of severe and memorable JUS
tice, and of the impassability of fate.
Hence the judges of Hades were de-
scribed as having hearts of adamant.
A Jewish legend relates of the gem.
supposed to have been diamond, worn
on the ephod of Aaron, that when a
man really guilty was charged with a
crime the jewel became dark and dim
If the accused were innocent 1t sparkled
with increased luster. But all these
wonderful virtues are eclipsed and
thrown in theshade by one most marvel
Gus and unique-for it was attributed
to no other gem-the faculty of multi
plying its species! Boetius De Boot,
quoting from another learned man, re-
lates that lady of good family had
two hereditary diamonds which pro
duced several others and thus left a
posterity The comments of the mar
rator are no less curious than the statev
ment itself but il does not inform us
whether these descendants were born
small and grew in size from infancy to
maturity.-London Society.