PART III.
"
Le Diamant! c'est l'art de choses idéales, Et ces rayons d'argent,
d'or, de pourpre et d'azur Ne cessent de lancer les deux lueurs égales
De pensers les plus beaux, de l'amour le plus dure,"
The diamond, which for a long time has been considered the most precious of gems, has been known from early antiquity.
Its name adamant, a name that can be recognized in nearly all its modern appellations, was given by the Greeks, and signifies "the indomitable."
The
excessive hardness of the diamond quite justifies this designation; but
we find from the authors of antiquity that the ancients attributed to
this stone certain other properties that it can by no means lay claim
to, such as that of not becoming warm when heat was applied to it, and
above all, that of resisting, without breaking, the blow of a hammer.
The latter property is mentioned both by Lucretius and Pliny, not to go
farther back.
......." Adamantina saxa
Prima acie constant, ictus contemnere sueta."
"The
test of all these diamonds," says Pliny, "is made upon an anvil by
blows of the hammer, and their repulsion for iron is such that they
make the
