JADE
J
ADE is a verdant
mineral known to man for ages, and used for personal ornaments,
weapons, implements, art objects, and applied to interior decoration.
The word emerald, so frequently appearing in ancient writings, is
believed to have sometimes meant jade—an opaque to translucent
mineral—and unlike the emerald in anything, excepting a slight
resemblance in colour. The word " jade" is now a generic term applied
to various mineral substances, as chloro-melanite, or jadeite,
nephrite, saussurite, pseudo-nephrite; these minerals are
characterised by toughness, compactness of texture, and a colour range
from cream white to dark green and nearly black. Although appearing in
the trade in precious stones and jewelry, in the art objects of every
land, and although extensively imitated—sometimes in a fashion,
however, that could deceive no one—" jade" is
nowhere prized and appreciated so much as in
143
