STONES OF HEALING 143
ment ornamented with pearls and enclosed in a case of jade.80
The
Indians of Brazil prize the so-called Amazon-stones (jade) more highly
than any other of the ornaments they wear. This is not chiefly because
of their ornamental quality, but rather because these ita ybymbae (green
stones) have in many cases been handed down from generation to
generation for many centuries. They are of cylindrical, tabular or
other regular form and polished, and are believed to be amulets
affording protection against many diseases as well as against snake
bites. They are worn suspended from the neck and are regarded as
valuable aids in difficult parturition. Because of their remedial
virtues they are sometimes called ita poçanga, or "medicine
stones." They are also found with the natives of the Caribbean islands
and are there called "the smooth stones from the far-off continent."61
As
in all superstitions, so in those concerning jade in China, the fact
that ill luck instead of good luck fortuitously resulted from the use
of the material was explained in a way that did not do violence to the
fundamental idea. We are told that on the road near Kneha, in
Turkestan, there lies a block of jade from the quarries of
Easkam-Darya, in Eastern Turkestan. This block was on its way to Pekin,
when orders came from the imperial court not to forward any more jade
from this quarry. The reason was that the heir apparent had been taken
ill after having slept on a couch made of Raskam jade.62
m " Les Lapidaires," etc., F. de Mély, vol. i, Les lapidaires chinois, Paris, 1896, p. 178.
Martius, " Beiträge zur Ethnographie und Sprachkunde Amerika's zumal Braziliens," Leipzig, 1867, vol. i, p. 729.
a Grombtchewski, Berichte der Geog. Gesellschaft zu St. Petersburg, vol. xv, p. 454 (1889).
