Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

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Bialthaea Atticus he was himself so affected with that discourse,
II that when he reviewed it, he sometimes fancied they were
Diamond. not ^ own wor(js, but Cato’s. There are some other dia-
logues of Cicero written in the same way ; and both Plato
and Lucian generally chose this method.
DIALTHiEA, in Pharmacy, an unguent formerly much
used as a resolvent, and so called from Althcca, or marsh¬
mallows, which is the principal ingredient in it.
DIALYSIS, in Grammar, a mark or character, consist¬
ing of two points placed over two vowels of a word, in
order to separate them, because otherwise they would make
them a diphthong, as Mosaic, &c.
DIAMASTIGOSIS, a festival at Sparta in honour of
Diana Orthia, which received that name anro ro-j yaanyouv,
from whipping, because boys were whipped before the
altar of the goddess. These boys, called Bomonicae, were
originally free-born Spartans, but in the more delicate ages
they were of mean birth, and generally of a servile origin.
This operation was performed by an officer, in a severe
and unfeeling manner; and, that no compassion should be
raised, the priest stood near the altar with a small light
statue of the goddess, which suddenly became heavy and
insupportable if the lash of the whip was more lenient or
less rigorous than necessary. The parents of the children
attended the solemnity, and exhorted them not to commit
any thing, either by fear or groans, that might be unwor¬
thy of Laconian education. These flagellations were so
severe that the blood gushed profusely, and many expired
under the lash, without uttering a groan or betraying any
marks of fear. Such a death was reckoned very honour¬
able; and the corpse was buried with much solemnity, with
a garland of flowers on its head. The origin of this festi¬
val is unknown. Some suppose that Lycurgus first insti¬
tuted it in order to inure the youth of Lacedaemon to bear
labour and fatigue, and to render them insensible to pain
and wounds. Others maintain that it is a mitigation of
an oracle, which ordered that human blood should be
shed on Diana’s altar; and, according to their opinion,
Orestes first introduced this barbarous custom, after he
had brought the statue of Diana Taurica into Greece.
There is/another tradition which mentions that Pausanias,
as he was offering up prayers and sacrifices to the gods
before he engaged with Mardonius, was suddenly attack¬
ed by a number of Lydians, who disturbed the sacrifice,
and were at last repelled with staves and stones, the only
weapons with which the Lacedaemonians were provided
at that moment. In commemoration of this, therefore,
the whipping of boys was instituted at Sparta, and there¬
after the Lydian procession.
DIAMETER, in Geometry, a right line passing through
the centre of a circle, and terminated at each side by the
circumference. See Geometry.
DIAMOND, adamas of the ancients, almas of Persia,
and heera of Hindustan, is the most brilliant of gems ; and
although known from the remotest times, if we may judge
by the casual notice made of it in Scripture, it had in the
earlier periods of history obtained little more than a name.
Pliny states that it bore a price above all things in the world,
and was known to very few except princes and crowned
heads. His meagre remarks on this gem are even less
satisfactory than those upon almost any other; which
affords another reason to conclude that the diamond still
remained in his time an object of great rarity. The loca¬
lities quoted by Pliny appear to be quite erroneous, at least
subsequent observations give us reason to think so.
Up to the commencement of the eighteenth century dia¬
monds were wholly derived from India, where they were
found in detached crystals, accompanied with grains of
gold, amongst metallic sand washed down from surround¬
ing mountains. In 1728 a similar territory, loaded with
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the two most valuable substances in nature, was discover- Diamond,
ed on the southern continent of the New World. When
in pursuit of gold, crystals of diamond were often found;
but the labourers being ignorant of their value, laid them
aside as curiosities. A miner, who is said to have ar¬
rived in Brazil at this time, first directed attention to¬
wards them; and, without attempting to appropriate his
discovery to his own aggrandisement, he led his comrades
to turn their pursuit to the more engaging object. It
soon, therefore, attracted the notice of the government,
and was shortly afterwards taken possession of in name
of the sovereign.
Hitherto the supply of diamonds was entirely confined
to Hindustan and the island of Borneo; and, as might
reasonably be expected, the opening of a new field, the
extent of which was as yet wholly unknown, could not
fail to affect the market. The discredit which was at
first thrown upon the accounts from Brazil, as also on the
purity and perfection of the stones, repressed the fears
of the Asiatic dealers, and the increased demand after
the purchase of the Pitt diamond, a circumstance which
no doubt rendered that gem far more recherche at the gay
and luxurious court of France, all tended to increase the
demand, and keep it more upon an equilibrium with the
increased supply than could possibly have been expected.
At a subsequent period, no doubt, the revolution of France
interfered with the value of jewels; but the surplus thus
produced was soon absorbed by the wealth of Britain, and
diamonds of the first water for a long time maintained
their ground.
At the present day this perhaps cannot be said to hold
good. As a commercial commodity, diamonds must have
suffered depression like all others, and may perhaps be
valued at from twenty-five to thirty per cent, particu¬
larly those beyond the smallest sizes, under the prices
which they bore in the times of Tavernier; although Mawe
appears to have been anxious to inculcate a different doc¬
trine. After his examination of the Brazilian district, he
says there would be no difficulty in calculating the period
requisite to work out the whole of the diamond ground in
that country ; and as many of the mines of Hindustan are
considered as exhausted, the period must come sooner or
later when diamonds will be no longer to be had.
In both countries the gem is confined within the limits
of the tropics. In India, Golconda has always been cit¬
ed as one of its principal repositories, although none was
ever found in the immediate vicinity of that fortress, from
the circumstance perhaps of the geological character of
the neighbourhood, which is entirely syenitic. It may
have arisen, however, from the fact, that the diamond mines
of Raolconda and Ganee Purteeal were situated in the
territory of the Kootub Shahee kings of Golconda. When
that dynasty was overthrown, and their country occupied
by the officers of the Mogul emperors, Golconda ceased to
be the capital, and Hyderabad, which is only a few miles
distant, became the occasional seat of the new government.
The territory in which the mines are situated has since
been ceded to the East India Company. It lies near Con-
dapilly, on the northern bank of the Kistna, about fifty
miles from the sea, and near the Pass of Bezoara, where
the river appears at some period to have forced its way
through a chain of hills, and to have emptied an extensive
lake which had existed to the westward of them. All at¬
tempts to work them have been abandoned, as the pro¬
duce has ceased to refund the expense of labour. The
localities of the diamond in Hindustan are so various that
it would be almost endless to enumerate them. Those on
the Mahanuddy, with those on the Kistna and at Malla-
villy, north-west of Ellore, may be mentioned as probably
the most productive of this beautiful gem. The island of