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THE BOOK OF DIAMONDS
that
Eve passionately loved the many colored flowers that decked the Garden
of Eden; he therefore undertook to imitate their brightness and color
out of earth, and in this way produced colored precious stones and
diamonds. These in after time so strongly appealed to the greed and
covet-ness of mankind that they have been the cause of much crime and
wretchedness.1
In
olden days there was widespread belief in the significance of the
color of precious stones; the yellow stones were especially effective
in the case of jaundice; the red stones were endowed with the power of
checking the flow of blood, the so-called bloodstone was especially
prescribed for this use, and was supposed by its mere touch to stop the
most violent hemorrhage; and green was regarded the most beneficial
color for the sight. Diamond with its superior qualities was looked
upon as the gem of the sun.
The
poor natives of India believe to this day in the efficacy of sapphires
and ruby in purifying the blood, strengthening the body, quenching
thirst, dispelling melancholy, averting danger and assuring honor and
fortune.
The
influence exerted by precious stones was assumed in medieval times
without question, but when the spirit of investigation was aroused in
the Renaissance period, an effort was made to find a reason of some
sort for the traditional beliefs.
The
mystery which surrounds the diamond is emphasized even in the
etymology of the word itself already explained in the first chapter.
Although the word is found in
iKunz, G. F., Ibid., p. 25.
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