Note 293 — Chapter IV · OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CARDS AND THE MARKS OF THE SUITS.

There is every reason to believe that the suit of cards which we call Diamonds was not so named in consequence of the mark being mistaken for the symbol of a precious stone, but merely on account of its form. The Dutch call the same suit Ruyt, in consequence of its form being like a lozenge-shaped pane of glass. The Diamonds on cards are, in Northumberland, more especially amongst the colliers, frequently termed Picks, in consequence of the acute angular points being something like the Picks used in hewing coals. The Spanish name Oros appears to have been originally applied to the suit called by the Italians Denari or Danari, without the least reference to the French Carreaux.—The mistakes on this subject appear to be exclusively Mons. Leber's own.