236 THE AUSTRIAN YELLOW.
instance
in which it signally failed to render this useful service. One is at a
loss to imagine how such a belief became common, seeing the number of
diamonds which belonged to royal personages, and the state of affairs
prevalent in their domestic life. In England, at the same period,
diamonds were looked upon as deadly poisons. The murder of Sir Thomas
Overbury in the Tower of London during the reign of James 1. was said
to have been attempted by means of these gems ground to powder.
Overbury certainly died, and presumably by foul means, but modern
science has acquitted diamonds of having any share in the crime.
There
is a certain rule for estimating the price of a diamond, and singular
to say it is the old Indian rule by which Tavernier was guided in his
purchases, and which modern commerce has been content to let stand. The
current market price of a good cut diamond, one carat in weight being
ascertained, the square of the weight of the diamond to be valued is
multiplied
