460 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



It is not inteuded in tliis paper to pursue the question of jade from 

 a niineralogic or an arch;eologic point of view. Anyone desiring- to do 

 so is referred to the works of Professors Meyer, of Dresden; Fischer, 

 of Freiburg; Damour, of Paris; "Nephrite and Jadeite," by Profes- 

 sors Clarke and Merrill;' "The Occurrence of Jade in British Colum- 

 bia,"' by Ur. Dawson, and to "Gems and Precious Stones,"' by Mr. 

 George F. Kunz, it being the intention of the author to confine his 

 discussion to the art side of the question; and from this side he refers 

 with approbation to the forthcoming edition de luxe of the volume on 

 jade by Mr. H. 11. Bishop, of New York City. 



Mr. Kunz, the gem expert with Tiffany & Co., in his work, "Gems 

 and Precious Stones,"^ speaks of the ancient lapidary work as follows: 



Tbe chipping of an arrow point, tlie grinding and polishing of a groove in an ax 

 head, tlie drilling of a bead or tube or an ear ornament, all are done by the applica- 

 tion of the same lapidarian methods that are prarticed to-day by cutters of agates 

 or precious stones. The cutter of to-day, with a hammer, chips into shape the crys- 

 tal or piece of agate before it is ground; and there is little difference between the 

 ancient method of drilling and that of the present. The stone bead of ancient time 

 was drilled from both ends, the drill holes often overlapping or not meeting as neatly 

 as by the modern method of drilling from one end. 



The old way of drilling is still practiced in the east, where the primitive bow drill 

 is used by lapidaries to day precisely as it has been used by savage tribes in all 

 quarters of the globe, though producing at different periods different (jualities of 

 work. Nowhere was its use better uiiderstood than in ancient Greece and Rome, 

 where, by its means, were engraved the wonderful intaglio and cameos which now 

 grace our museuuis, and which have never been surpassed in any period of the world's 

 history. For the special use of gem engraving, the bow drill has been replaced by 

 a horizontal lathe, which, however, does not allow the freedom of touch or deftness 

 of feeling which artists attained by use of the bow drill. The instrument known as 

 the dental drill is really an luiproved form of bow drill, working much more rapidly. 

 An S. S. White dental engine, provided with a suitable series of drill points, auswers 

 every purpose, aud has been found especially useful in exposing fossils and minerals 

 when covered with I'ock, the objects being opened with great rapidity, with little 

 danger of injury. . As shown by the author in a paper on a new method of engraving 

 cameos aud intaglios,"' an artist could be so trained to the use of this improved bow 

 drill as to attain the same softness and feeling developed by the old lapidarian 

 masters. 



In the ancient specimens of work, tubes from which a core has been drilled out by 

 means of a reed and sand, revolved by the hand, were done as neatly as anything 

 can be done, the reason being that the object was entirely drilled from end to end. 

 This method of drilling is still practiced, except that the hollow reed is replaced 

 by the diamond or steel drill. When a valuable stone is being drilled, a sheet of 

 steel or thin iron tube is substituted for it. The polishing and grinding now is 

 done on rapidly revolving disks, horizontal or lay wheels, as they are called, whereas 

 formerlj the slow j)rocess of rubbing with the band or board or leather was perhaps 

 resorted to. No lapidary can do finer work than that shown by the obsidian objects 



' Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1888, p. 115. 

 2 Canadian Record of Science, II, No. 6, April, 1887. 

 « Pages 266-277 to 284. 

 ■"Pages 303-30.5. 



•"^Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Ill, p. 105, June, 1884; also Jewelers' Circular, Jane, 

 1884. 



