C'ATALOCilE OK GEMS. 573 



The Brahniiii diamond is useful in chemical opei'ations. and t>rino-s 

 about the acquisition of power, friends, wealth, position, and good luck 

 to one's family. A Kshatri^a diamond wards oit old age and prema- 

 ture deatii; a Vais^a one crowns every endeavor with success; while 

 a Sudra one is a panacea. 



The Hindu held that the diamond was masculine, feminine, or neuter 

 according to its marking and appearance. The masculine kinds were 

 considered the best, and were useful in medicine. The feminine 

 diamond was auspicious to women; but the neuter diamond was 

 destructive of vigor and brought weakness and disappointment; as a 

 medicine it was administered for impotency. 



According to the views of Arabian and Persian authorities the 

 diamond, if worn, imparted health and dispelled fear. Tied around 

 the thighs of a woman about to be confined it brought on a safe and 

 speedy delivery and assuaged the pain of labor. Cut into a hexagon 

 and worn on the arm it cured epilepsy. Combined with other ingre- 

 dients and used as a dentifrice it rendered the teeth bright and hard; 

 its use in this manner was attended with risks, for on too long a 

 contact with the teeth it caused them to fall out; while the presence of 

 a single particle in the stomach Avas liable to produce death. It was 

 a fatal poison if taken internally without electuaries; and — 



if ])y accident one takes a quantity of it his life should not be considered safe until 

 he is made to vomit it out by means of drinking a (luantity of fnsh cow's milk or 

 some heated clarified butter, or b}' any other jneans, such as applying the fingers to 

 the inside of the throat. The soup of some fatty fiesh is then to be given to the 

 patient to complete the recovery. (Tagore, Treatise on Gems.) 



The Burmese call the diamond and arsenic by the same name, eJtein^ 

 on the ground that they are ])oth fatal poisons. 



This idea was not unknown in Europe, for we find the diamond 

 listed as one of the poisons given to Sir Thomas Overbury when a 

 prisoner in the Tower; while Benvenuto Cellini, the famous gold- 

 smith, writing about 1560, relates how his life was preserved b}- the 

 roguery of an apothecary, who, being .emploA'ed to pulverize a dia- 

 mond intended to ])e mixed in a salad for Cellini with the intention of 

 poisoning him. substituted a beryl as cheaper, thus saving the life of 

 Cellini. 



According to Sanskrit medicine the diamond combined all the six 

 tastes, cured every disease, brought health and strength, and was very 

 useful in chemical operations. (Mani-Mahi.) 



In Egypt the diamond, when set in gold, gives health and wealth to 

 its wearer. 



According to Porta, in his Magiae Naturalis, the diamond contends 

 against sleeplessne.ss, enchantments, and turns awa}^ wrath. 



Rabbi Benoni, a fourteenth century mystic, held that the diamond 

 was capable of producing somnambulism, and when used as a talisman 



