A.MBKR AMJ Jki IN ASCIKNT Bl RIALS. 117 



JKT. 



The Latin name for Jet is " Gagates," from (iages, a 

 river and town in Lycia. It is a resinous coal-black \ ariety 

 of Lignite, belonging chiefly to the Upper Lias, sufficiently 

 dense to be car\ecl into small ornaments. .According to 

 Professor Phillips, it is simply a coniferous wood, and still 

 shows its characteristic structure under the microscope. It 

 has been known since early British times on the shores of 

 Whitby, in \'orkshire. The largest piece found near there 

 Aveighcd 51 Ho lbs. The material is now regularly mined, 

 both in the cliffs and inland, and is one of the most \aluable 

 productions of the Yorkshire coast. ^^ Jet has been found 

 among the Paheolithic remains in the ca\ es of the " Kes- 

 serloch," near Thayngen, Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzer- 

 land, shaped by Hint chips. Quite possibly Jet, as well as 

 Amber, was already regarded as possessing a certain talis- 

 manic virtue. When worn as ornaments, they were believed 

 to become a part of the very body and soul of the wearer, 

 and were guarded with jealous care. In the Palaeolithic 

 cave deposits of Belgium Jet appears. The fragments had 

 been rounded and pierced through the centre. This indi- 

 cates their use as parts of a necklace or as pendants. Neck- 

 laces, bracelets, and rings have been especially formed for 

 the wearing of talismanic gems, since the stones could easily 

 be so set that they would come in direct contact with the 

 skin. 25 Sometimes impressions of Ammonites and other 

 fossils appear on surfaces of Jet, and prove that it had 

 passed through a condition of softness. The best Jet, a 

 hard, compressed mass, occurs near the base of Upper Lias, 

 and less plentifully in other parts of that rock. Soft Jet of 

 less firm texture is obtained from the sandstone and shales of 

 the Oolitic series. .Again, at Sandsend, on the A^orkshire 

 coast, below the proper .Alum shales, which arc about 70 feet 

 thick, the bold cliffs below present much the same series of 

 hard shales with sub-calcareous and ferruginous balls and Jet 

 beds with accompanying nodules as at Saltwick. 



24 Xi>n-M>'t<il}ir MiiiPiaJs, by George Merill. p. 348. 



25 Curious Loif nf Precious Stoitfs. Kuiiz. pp. 'i2-'24. 



