sufficiently
indicates that Plato understood nothing more than our Sapphire by his
Adamas, Tbeophrastus using the same term to designate the colour of the
Occidental Tur-quois.*
The
theory of the Oriental philosophers upon this subject is thus
elegantly condensed in the tetrastich of Akbar's poet laureate, Sheikh
Fizee, which formed the legend on the obverse of the chief gold piece :—
" The sun from whom the seven seas obtain pearls, The black stone from
his rays obtains the jewel : The mine from the correcting influence of
his beams obtains gold ; And the gold is ennobled by the impression of
Shah Akbar."
It
is interesting to confront the latest modern with this the mostancient
explanation of the method pursued by Nature in producing the Diamond.
Prof. Maskeleyne remarks : " Of the numerous solutions of this problem
one possesses peculiar interest, viz., that considering Diamonds as
deposits on the cooling of fused metals (or other substances)
surcharged with carbon.
"
Graphite, boron, and silicon are formed on the cooling of fused
aluminium surcharged with these elements ; and the same elements—in
other respects so closely grouped with carbon—separate in the
adamantine form seen under analogous circumstances. The latter are
crystallized indeed in différent systems from Diamond, but they
possess many of its characters in a remarkable degree."
