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DIAMONDS. 73
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part
of the occupation very unhealthy, by reason of the lead-poisoning
produced. As each Diamond has sixty-four facets requiring to be
smoothed, it takes a workman about two weeks to polish one stone. The
Diamond has to be set, and reset, in the molten lead eighteen times.
A
Diamond which is perfectly free from colour is of " the first water,"
and is the most highly valued. Likewise Diamonds of a slight rose tint
are highly esteemed ; and next to these, green-tinted stones are
reckoned best.
Among
the Greeks a first mention of the Diamond is made about three centuries
before Christ, under this designation—" Adamas "—(the
unsubduable)—because of its extreme hardness, and its having the power
of resisting fire. Our name for this stone is from the old " diamas"
(as occurring in Albertus Magnus ; and other writers, of the thirteenth
century). Seneca said of it—"Non seeari, aut caedi, vel deteri potest." Formerly
the more highly coloured Rubies and Emeralds, and Sapphires, were often
preferred before the Diamond. Even in the sixteenth century Benvenuto
Cellini assigned it only the third rank in value. Solomon, as we well
know, appraised the Ruby as the gem of highest value. " Who can find a
virtuous woman \ for her price is far above rubies." In the East diamonds are showered on an infant at the christening by the sponsors.
The
most famous Diamonds are " The Premier," of three thousand and thirty
carats; " Excelsior," of nine hundred and seventy-one carats ; " Great
Mogul," of seven hundred and eighty carats ; " Regent," of four hundred
and ten carats ; " Koh-i-noor," of nine hundred carats (before cutting)
; and, quite recently
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