the
praise bestowed upon it by Pliny and other classical writers was copied
and recopied in a more or less perfunctory way, we may cite the few
lines devoted to the stone by Psellus, who lived in Constantinople in
the eleventh century a.D. This
writer simply remarks of the diamond that it is hard and difficult to
pierce, adding, as its chief virtue, that it would quench the heat of
the "semi-tertian" fever.43 The belief in. this cooling
quality of the diamond was suggested by its lack of color coupled with
its extreme hardness, the latter quality being thought to augment the
refrigerant power supposed to be inherent in colorless crystals which
resembled ice.
The
emerald is especially commended for amulets to be suspended from the
necks of children ; it is believed to preserve them from epileptic
convulsions and to prevent the falling sickness; but if the violence of
the disease is such that it cannot be overcome by the stone, the latter
breaks up.. Bound to a woman's thigh it is said to hasten parturition;
hanging from the neck it drives off vain fears and evil spirits. It
strengthens the memory, restores the sight, reveals adultery and gives
a knowledge of the future, produces eloquence and increases wealth.44
Besides the usual designation marakata which Garbe believes to be derived from the Greek σμάραγδος, the Sanskrit has several distinguishing names for the emerald. One of these, açmagarbhaja, signifies "sprung from the rock," and well describes the emerald in its matrix. Another name is gar alari, "enemy of poison," indicating the great repute enjoyed by this stone in India as an antidote for all animal,
* See Pinder, " De adamante," Berolini, 1829, p. 66.
** Johannig Braunii, " De Vestitu Sacerdotum Hebraeorum," Amstelodami, 1680, p. 659.
