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GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES IN THE
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should penetrate if he would discover the locality of the large pieces of Mexican jadeite l or perhaps the mineral in situ.
Bernardino de Sahagun" gives the following description of chalchihuitl:
The
nahuatl (Mexican) name for jadeite is chalchihuitl. This appears to
have been applied to any greenish, partially transparent stone capable
of receiving a handsome polish. All such were highly esteemed. Specific
distinctions were established between such precious minerals by
descriptive adjectives, as follows:
Iztac chalchihuitl, white chalchihuitl; of a fine green, quite transparent, without stripes or stains.
Quetzal chalchihuitl, precious chalchihuitl; white, much transparency, with a slight greenish tinge, somewhat like jasper.
Tlilayotic, literally "of a blackish watery color"; with mingled shades of green and black, partially transparent.
Tolteca-iztli, literally " Toltec knife " or " Toltec obsidian " ; of a clear, translucent green, and very beautiful.
It
is very evident that this is the so-called Mexican onyx, or Tecali
marble or onyx, which exists in Tecali in veins, and is in reality an
aragonite stalagmite. Great quantities of it were made into Mexican
figures, ornaments, and beads, which are found all the way from
northern Mexico down to Oaxaca. This so-called onyx is extensively
quarried to this day, forming one of our richest ornamental stones.
(See Mexican Onyx.)
Quetzal
chalchihuitl is precious chalchihuitl, white, with much transparency,
and with a slight greenish tinge, something like jasper. Various green
stones exist at present, and were used in considerable abundance in
ancient Mexico. Among eight green stone objects, sent to the writer at
one time as jadeite, four were jadeite, one was laminated serpentine,
another a greenish quartz, and two a mixture of white feldspar and
green hornblende. In a string of beads were four pieces of jadeite;
but all the others were, as are the jadeite beads, in the form of
rounded pebbles, drilled from both sides, and there were nearly a dozen
different substances in this string. The question is, are these pebbles
a part of the tribute mentioned in the Codex Mendoza ?
1 Science, Vol. 12, p. 168, Oct. 5, 1888.
8 Historia cje.la Nueva Espana, Book 11, chap. 8.
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