HE use of precious stones in early times as amulets and talismans is shown in many ancient records,
	and several scholars have assumed that the belief in the magic efficacy of stones gave rise to their use as objects of personal adornment.. It is, of course, very difficult either to prove or to disprove such a theory, for, even in the case of the oldest texts, we must bear in mind that they do not in the least represent primitive conditions, and that many thousands of years must have elapsed before a people could attain the grade of civilization necessary for the production of even the simplest litera­ture. For this reason, certain investigators have pre­ferred to seek for a solution of this problem in the cus­toms and habits of the so-called uncivilized peoples of our own time; but we must not forget that conditions which seem to us very rudimentary are, nevertheless, the result of a long process of development. Even if this development was arrested many centuries or millenniums ago, it must have required a very considerable period of time to evolve such usages and conventions as are found even among the lowest races. Indeed, many uncivilized peoples have very complicated rules and observances, testifying to considerable thought and reflection. Fetichism in all its forms depends upon an imperfect conception of what constitutes life and conscious being, so that will and thought are attributed to. inanimate