Jet seems to have been known to the Romans,
their word for it being " gagat," of which jet is probably a
corruption. The Greeks also prized the mineral, and considered it when
powdered and mixed with wine a preventive of toothache. When mixed with
beeswax they believed it to be a remedy for tumors, and burned as an
incense it was supposed to drive away devils.
Relics of the early Saxons also disclose numbers of jet ornaments, which show that it was in use among them.
Jet
is sometimes known as " black amber," a name not inappropriate when the
similarity in origin of the two minerals is considered.
i
211
