76 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
time
to time in order to rest, and while the pieces of flesh lay on the
rock, some of the corundums became lightly attached to them, so that
when the eagles resumed their flight the stones dropped off and rolled
down the mountain side.53
These
oft-repeated tales are explained by Dr. Valentine Ball as originating
in the Hindu custom of sacrificing cattle when new mines were opened,
and leaving on the spot a certain part of the meat as an offering to
the guardian deities. As these pieces of meat were soon carried away by
birds of prey, the legend arose that the diamonds were obtained in this
way. This custom still prevailed in some parts of India when Dr. Ball
wrote.54
The
effect exercised by Hindu superstition on even the most enlightened
Europeans of our day may be recognized in the fact that the gifted
prima donna, Mme. Maeterlinck, the wife of the foremost living European
poet, has confessed that she wears a diamond suspended on her forehead
because her husband believes that this brings good fortune to the
wearer. This forehead-jewel is characteristically Hindu and enjoys in
India the reputation of being especially auspicious.
The emerald was believed to foreshow future events,55 but
we do not learn whether visions were actually seen in the stone, as
they were in spheres of rock-crystal or beryl, or whether the emerald
endowed the wearer with a supernatural fore-knowledge of what was to
come. As
53 Teif ashi, " Fior di pensieri sulle pietre preziose," Firenzi, 1818, p. 13.
" Proc. of the Royal Irish Academy, 2d Ser., Polite Literature and Antiquities, vol. ii, Dublin, 1879-1888, p. 303.
" Epiphanii, " De XII gemmis," Tiguri, 1565, fol. 5.
