Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/65

 possibly be the case, a stone of the latter description was shewn toa person who had never seen a Diamond, although he might not be able to decide what it was, yet after examination he would pronounce it to be very unlike, and very different from any pebble he had met with before.

most common form of rough Diamonds is the octahedron, variously modified on the edges with planes, and low pyramids on each face of the triangles. The next is the dodecahedron, which occurs also variously modified, both on its edges and planes: others are flat and triangular (heliotrope),these are termed veiny, and being thin, are generally split and cut into roses. The rarest form is the cube. No substance in the Mineral Kingdom displays in miniature such beautiful variety of regular solids as the Diamond, which are as captivating to the connoisseur, as the finest brilliant can be to the wearer.