THE DIAMOND AND OTHER PRECIOUS STONES. 345 



any brilliant evening assembly has remarked tliat the sapphire, spark- 

 ling as it may be by day, becomes dull and lusterless in the light of 

 lamps, wax candles, or gas. It would be curious to kuow whether the 

 same loss of brilliance happens to the blue diamond of Mr. Hope, which 

 I do not hesitate to place beside the sovereigns in. value, because, though 

 less heavy than they, it surpasses them in rarity. The term stone of 

 affection is scarcely an inappropriate name for this precious object, 

 though it is sometimes applied with more questionable propriety. I once 

 saw a stoue at M. Bapst's, known as a Made diamond^ which had the 

 color of a tobacco-leaf, and was only admirable on account of its singu- 

 larity. Louis XVIII, however, selected it for the crown of France, at 

 'Z4,000 francs, but it was never placed there. Such diamonds are always 

 cut very thin; for what is the use of thickness in a stoue which is not 

 transparent, and of which the superficial brilliance is quite vivid ? If 

 to an amateur such a stone should become one of affection, he certainly 

 would run no risk of having his taste di.sputed. It is curious to remark 

 that Pliny says almost the same thing of Nonius, who, owning a 

 beautiful opal, preferred to quit Rome as a proscribed traitor, rather 

 than yield to Antony his stone of affection. " It was," says Pliny, "■ an 

 astonishing instance of tyranny on the part of Antony to proscribe a 

 citizen for the sake of a gem ; but we can none the less wonder at the 

 obstinacy of Xonius, who, rather than give up his beloved opal, suffered 

 himself to be exiled from his country. In reading the interminable list 

 of marvelous qualities attributed before the seventeenth century to gems, 

 we may understand something of the extreme value set by the possessors 

 of precious stones on these treasures. The native Indian princes are great 

 amateurs of diamonds, and seek for them vrith great assiduity. In one 

 of their collections I have seen a small natural diamond, with brilliant 

 points, encased in the red cement which ordinarily envelopes the stone 

 in the mine. This specimen, which was about the size of a small hazel- 

 nut, and in which the little diamond was enshrined within the cement, 

 formed an object well adapted to excite the wonder and admiration of 

 the mineralogist, as well as tUe superstitious regard of the princely, 

 though unscientific, owner. 



Mawe states that of all values the least variable is that of the diamond. 

 He cit€S various crises which have occurred in England in the quantity of 

 diamonds received, and shows that, with regard to price, these crises have 

 been generally very light and of short duration. There have been two 

 great panics in the diamond market since 1840. The first was on the dis- 

 covery of the new mines in Brazil, about 1843 or 1844. The second was 

 in France, and followed the commercial shock caused by the revolution 

 of 1848. The price of diamonds then rose and fell with other securities, 

 and in preciselj- the same proportions. The price is now about 200 irancs 

 the carat, a i)iice indicated by Jeflries reaching to about 250 francs. 

 M. Oastelnau, in his Voyage across South America, hints that the fall 

 in the price of diamonds came from a diminution in the taste of society 



