Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ... CONTENTS PAGE Introductory 5 Legend Of The Diamond Valley 6 Indestructibility Of The Diamond 21 Diamond And Lead 26 The Diamond-point 28 Diamond And Gold 35 The Term "kun-wu" 38 Toxicology Of The Diamond 40 Imitation Diamonds 41 Acquaintance Of The Ancients With The Diamond ... 42 Cut Diamonds 46 Acquaintance Of The Chinese With The Diamond ... 50 Stones Of Nocturnal Luminosity 55 Phosphorescence Of Precious Stones 63 Index 72 THE DIAMOND A Study in Chinese and Hellenistic Folk-Lore Introductory.-- Of all the wonders and treasures of the HellenisticRoman Orient, it was the large variety of beautiful precious stones that created the most profound and lasting impression on the minds of the Chinese. During the time of their early antiquity the number of gems known to them was exceedingly limited, and mainly restricted to certain untransparent, colored stones fit for carving; while the transparent jewel with its qualities of lustre, cut, polished, and set ready for wearing, was a matter wholly unknown to them. Only contact with Hellenistic civilization and with India opened their eyes to this new world, and together with the new commodities a stream of Occidental folk-lore poured into the valleys of China. That a chapter from a series of discussions devoted to Chinese-Hellenistic relations1 is taken up by a detailed study of the history of the diamond, is chiefly because this very subject affords a most instructive example of the diffusion of classical ideas to the Farthest East. The mind of the Chinese offered a complete blank in this respect, being unacquainted with the diamond, and was therefore easily susceptible to the reception of foreign notions along this line.* India was the distributing-centre of diamonds to western Asia, Hellas...
