Plato's Idea of the Origin of Precious Stones

Plato, whose vast intelligence has made him so illustrious, gives a romantic idea of the origin of precious stones. He admits that, real animated substances, they were produced by a species of fermentation determined by the action of a vivifying intelligence descending from the stars. He describes the diamond as being a kernel formed in the gold, and supposed it was the part the most noble and the purest that was condensed in a transparent mass.