460 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



present. In rare cases iron is completely absent and the mineral practically coloui'less. 

 A'arious tints of green are met with, including grey-green, sea-green, leek-gi-een, grass- 

 green, &c. ; moreover, yellow and brown nephrite is known, as well as grey nephrite showing 

 a bluish, reddish, or greenish tinge. Nephrite of a colour which is compared with that of 

 whey is often much esteemed. The mineral is usually coloured quite uniformly, but 

 occasionally a s[)ecimen is met with which is streaked, spotted, veined, or mai-bled with 

 several colours or shades of colour. Nephrite from different localities usually differs in 

 colour; thus at one locality nephrite of a certain colour predominates, while at another 

 that of another colour is more abundant. This feature, therefore, taken in conjunction 

 with the microscopic structure and the chemical com})osition serves to determine the locality 

 from whence any particular specimen has come. 



With regard to the occurrence of nephrite in uatui-e it may be stated that the mother- 

 rock is in all cases a crystalline schist, the mineral being found with especial frequency in 

 hornblende-schist. It forms also more or less extensive bands in pyroxene-rock, serpentine,, 

 and other rocks of this class. Nephrite occurs hi .situ, principally in Eastern Tuikestan and 

 the regions cast of this in China, in Transbaikalia, and in New Zealand. A few years agO' 

 a small amount was found in Silesia, but elsewhere the occurrence of nephrite in situ is very 

 sparing. In regions where the mineral occurs in its primary situation, loose boulders are 

 often found in alluvial deposits ; boulders are also met with, among other places, in the 

 lowlands of north Germany. 



We will now consider the occurrence and distributicju of nephrite, both in the worked 

 and the unworked condition, in some detail. Most of the nephrite found in Europe is in 

 the form of axes, chisels, and other objects, dating back to prehistoric times, and the most 

 famous and best known localities for these interesting remains are the ancient lake-dwelling.s- 

 in Lakes Constance, Zurich, Bienne, and Neuchatel in Switzerland. Similar objects are 

 found in the neighbouring districts of southern Baden (on the Uebcrlinger See) and Bavaria. 

 The microscopic structure of the stones found at these places differs from that of all other 

 known nephrites. It is very probable, therefore, that the rough material was obtained from 

 some deposit in the neighbourhood, perhaps from the Swiss Alps. A few rounded pebbles- 

 of nephrite have been found on the shores of Lake Neuchatel, and these are probably from 

 some primary deposit in the neighbourhood, but in spite of systematic search no nephrite 

 in situ has yet been discovered. 



A few nephrite pebbles have also been found further to the cast in the Sannthal abovc^ 

 Cilli, and in the Murthal in Styria, the original deposit being doubtless somewhere in the 

 neighbourhood, but at present undiscovered. It is certain that nephrite has a wide- 

 distribution in the Alps, and as the geological investigation of these mountains proceeds- 

 occurrences of nephrite in -situ will no doubt be met with. A few worked specimens of 

 nephrite have been found bet^veen Switzerland and Styria, but no rough material. 



Outside Switzerland and the neighbouring countries mentioned above, only a few- 

 prehistoric articles of nephrite have been met with in Europe. Tools of jadeite, on the 

 other hand, are comparatively common in Europe, and these also accompany the nephrite 

 objects in Switzerland. Many prehistoric axes have been found in France ; all, however, are 

 of jadeite, and not a single specimen has been conclusively proved to be nephrite. In Italy 

 worked articles of nephrite seem to be confined to Calabria and Sicily, but jadeite objects 

 are distributed over the ^^•hole country. A few discoveries have been made also in Greece,, 

 but in none of these countries has the rough material yet been found. 



In Germany, leaving southern Baden and Bavaria out of consideration, only a few 

 small nephrite axes have been found, most of them in the neighbourhood of Weimar, and 



