haps minute scales of other minerals, thus increasing the
peculiar play of brilliant colors seen in this beautiful substance. A variety of labradorite has been incorrectly called
saussurite, and jade or nephrite. As an instance of one of
the curious freaks of nature, it is mentioned that a slab of
labradorite found in Russia bore an image of Louis XIV.,
of France, wearing a crown of pomegranate, with a border displaying all the prismatic colors, and a plume of bluish
tint. This marvel of natural painting was owned by a Russian noble, who refused to part with it for two hundred and
fifty thousand francs.
Jade. — This is a generic term, including various mineral
substances, as nephrite, saussurite, and others. The names jade
and nephrite have the same origin, from words signifying
" kidney," given to these minerals from the opinion that they
were efficacious in diseases of the kidneys. Some mineralogists consider jade distinct from jadeite, while others class it as
a translucent variety of zoisite, the tenos of Pliny. King
thinks it doubtful whether jade was known to ancient classic
writers at all, since it was imported, with its oriental name,
into Europe from the East, by the Portuguese.
Its composition includes a variety of substances, silica and
alumina being the principal. The color passes from dark green
to cream-white. The Chinese variety is generally of a light
green or bluish white, while that from New Zealand is a rich,
dark green.
This mineral is also found in Egypt, Australia, Switzerland,
and, it is thought, in Alaska, east of Point Barrow, since implements made of dark green jade were found in this vicinity by
the members of the Alaska Expedition. Ornaments made of
this material, obtained from burial mounds in Nicaragua and
Costa Rica, agreeing in color, hardness, and specific gravity
