6	PRECIOUS STONES.
	an apothecary to place powdered Diamond in his salad, but was saved by the apothecary substituting some powdered Beryl. Truth is probably with both sides: an unbroken Diamond can be swallowed by a Kaffir with intent to steal without harm to his system, but sharp frag­ments of Diamond would be as much an irritant poison as powdered glass in the same quantity. Diamond, again, dispels unfounded fear, and is a protection against insanity; and Boyle (op. cit.) instances a quaint belief in the follow­ing words: " If it happen that the Mineral Corpuscles, that are wont to impart a certain Virtue to the stony matter of one Gem, should, by some lucky hit, be so united with that of another sort of Gems (of which case I formerly gave an Instance in green Diamonds,) though the quantity of this unusual Ingredient may be but very small, yet, if it's efficacy be great, it may innoble the Stone with a notable degree of some such Virtue as is supposed not to belong to that Species, but to an other."