Gems Notes and Extracts Augusto Castellani, Mrs. John Brogden 1871

118 GEMS.has not been possible for us hitherto to determine itsnature ;it is however suspected that its extreme hardnessis communicated to it artificially by its beingexposed to a strong fire. Nevertheless, we see jades inmany burial-places with engravings or sculptures ofGreek or ancient Italian work on them.Did this stone, then, come in a rough state from theEast, to be worked here, or was it found in our country ?In the middle ages it was believed that amulets injade possessed the virtue of warding off kidney complaints,and from this came the name of Jiijada, whichsignifies " kidneys " in Spanish. Such, moreover, is theorigin of the scientific name of nephrite, which has thesame meaning in Greek. In the East, handles ofdaggersand of scimitars made of this substance arevery much valued. The Hindoos make vases andshapeless statuettes of it. The inhabitants of New-Zealand make it into axes and arms. The indigenousAmericans made great use of it, especially for amulets,and they even knew how to pierce and carve it.XLIV.JABGOON.A SPECIES of siliceous zirconite, which was so named inCeylon. It is a vitreous substance, almost alwaystransparent; generally either red, bluish, or evencolourless, and of a particularly resinous brightness,which somewhat resembles that of the diamond.