134 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
this stone was to be worn on the region affected by the malady.40
The
Hindu physicians claimed that they had found that the diamond had six
flavors ; it was sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and acrid. Since
the stone united all these apparently contradictory qualities, we have
no reason to be surprised that it should be supposed to cure all
diseases and lessen all ills. An elixir of great potency, stimulating
and strengthening all the bodily functions, was made from the diamond.41
The
author of the Jawâhir-nâmeh (Book of Jewels), written about a century
ago, gives some of the prevalent Hindu ideas regarding the diamond. He
asserts that the similarity of this stone and rock-crystal led to the
belief that the latter was only an incomplete or "unripe" form of the
diamond. For this reason rock crystal was called hacha, "unripe," and the diamond, pakka, "ripe."
The same writer, after noting the general belief that if a diamond
were put in the mouth it caused the teeth to fall out, states that some
were not disposed to admit this, as diamond-dust had been used as a
tooth-powder without any bad effects.42 It might certainly
serve to whiten the teeth, but any one who trusted to this very drastic
dentifrice would soon be sadly in need of the dentist's help.
As a proof that the diamond was not much prized as an ornamental stone in the Middle Ages, although some of
"Hose, "Aristoteles De lapiditms und Arnoldus Saxo," in Zeitsch. für D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, pp. 378, 379.
"Garbe, "Die indische Mineralien"; Naharari's "Rajanighantu," Varga ΧΙΠ, Leipzig, 1882, p. 80.
β
" Oriental Accounts of the Precious Minerals," trans, by Raja
Kalikishan, with remarks by James Prinsep; Journ. Asiat. Soc. of
Bengal, vol. i, Calcutta, p. 354.
