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SUPERSTITIONS AND RELIGIOUS USES
effects when swallowed has very little, if any, confirmation, since many miners in the South African Gelds have, without ill
effects, swallowed diamonds with the hope of escaping with them. A
Mohammedan legend represents the different heavens as composed of
precious stones of different types, and in the Middle Ages the
religious ideas became interwoven with a host of astrological,
alchemistic and medical superstition.
Of
the many medicinal virtues attributed to the diamond, one of the most
noteworthy is that of an antidote for poisons. The diamond was also
believed to afford protection from plague or pestilence, and a proof
of its powers in this direction was found in the fact that the plague
first attacked the poorer classes, sparing the rich who could afford to
adorn themselves with diamonds; in other words, it was thought that
diamonds would be a protection to keep the plagues away.
During
the Middle Ages and even down to the seventeenth century, the virtues
of the precious stones were believed in by high and low, by princes
and peasants, by the learned as well as by the ignorant.
A
Persian legend of the origin of diamonds and precious stones shows that
in the East these beautiful objects were looked upon as the source of
much sin and sorrow. We are told that when God created the world he
made no useless things such as gold, silver, diamonds and other
precious stones; but Satan, who is always eager to bring evil among
men, kept a close watch to spy out the appetites and passions of the
human mind. To his great satisfaction he noted
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