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UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO
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River,
about 150 miles above its mouth; and after several attempts the spot
was visited in 1882 by Lieut. G. M. Stoney, U. S. N. "He collected
specimens of jade in situ, and a number of samples were examined. They
may be described as follows : A. Greenish gray, splintery, lamellar in
structure; B, like A, but more granular; C, paler, nearly white,
closer grained ; D, brownish, highly foliated. All four were analyzed
with the following results:
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The
foregoing evidence is sufficient to show the essential identity of all
the Alaskan jades, and to dispose of the theory that their presence in
Alaska is to be accounted for upon the basis of trade with Siberia.
That theory is also negatived by the discovery, announced by George M.
Dawson, of small nephrite boulders on the upper part of the Lewis
River, not far from the eastern boundary of Alaska. But these nephrites
are also strikingly like those from many other localities, and two of
the latter have been included in our comparisons. First, a water-worn,
dark-green boulder from New Zealand, sent to the Museum by Sir Julius
Haast; and second, a small implement from Roben-hausen, Lake Pfaffikon,
Switzerland, out of the collection of Thomas Wilson. The latter
specimen, also green, had a specific gravity of 3*015, as determined by
Dr. William Hallock, and a more weighty distinction is based upon the
presence of inclosures of foreign matter in the Siberian nephrite,
which are quite lacking in the specimens from Alaska.
True jade or nephrite has not been observed in the United States, although early mineralogists referred the bowenite of
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