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FACTS AND FANCIES ABOUT PRECIOUS STONES 399
The
most regular quartz crystals are selected, and these are chipped off
and roughly shaped by blows struck with a hard substance ; the quartz
is then set in a wooden handle, and the final shaping and polishing are
accomplished by friction upon a round slab of quartzite or sandstone.
These slabs show grooves along which the crystals have been rubbed. On
an average the time required is four or five days of five hours. The
completed ornament is valued at nine pounds of red wood worth about
$1.20; sometimes one can be secured for three chickens, worth sixty
cents.38 Those who cannot afford quartz labrets substitute
wood, glass, or pewter. M. Lacroix draws our attention to the fact that
a study of the processes employed in shaping and polishing these pieces
of quartz is of great importance for the elucidation of the methods in
use during the Stone Age.39
A
nose-jewel from the New Hebrides consists of a crystal of hyaline
quartz reduced to a cylindrical form, one extremity having been
pointed, while the other retains the natural faces of the crystal. This
was passed through the septum of the nose, and was most likely worn as
an amulet.40
Bock-crystal
has been used extensively in the past year with ornaments of
ribbon-like or plaque-like effects. Sometimes all the parts are made
into the exact shape of a bow-knot, with a bordering of platinum and
diamonds, or of platinum and diamonds with a calibre-cut onyx ; that
is, the rock-crystal material is cut into minute square or oblong
stones, which are run into double triangular edges that hold them. The
crystals are dulled, and frequently have the appearance
"Lacroix,
"Sur le travail de la pierre polie dans le Haut-Oubangi"; La
Géographie, bulletin of the Société de Géographie, Paris, Oct. 15,
1909, pp. 201-206; figures.
" " Sur le travail de la pierre polie dans le Haut-Oubanghi," Comptes Rendue de l'Acad. d. Se, vol. cxlviii, 1909, p. 1725.
*
Giglioli, " Materiale per lo studio della Età della Pietra," Archivio
per l'Antropologia e l'Etnologia, voi. xxxi, p. 85, Firenze, 1901.
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