Jade 



bottom which accompany coral forma- 

 tions. 



ALASKA 



In Alaska, Cross Sound and Icy Straits 

 have been surveyed and much work has 

 been accomplished in Prince William 

 Sound, which promises to become one of 

 the most important regions commer- 

 cially in Alaska. During the last sea- 

 son two survey vessels were at work in 

 that Sound. A chart of Fox Island 

 Passes and the dangerous region of the 

 Sannak Islands has been published. 

 One of the surveying vessels was em- 

 ployed in a chronometric longitude ex- 

 pedition to determine respectively the 

 geographical positions of the eastern 

 end of St Lawrence and the western 

 end of Nunivak Islands, and a success- 

 ful termination of the expedition has 

 been announced. 



IN THE PHILIPPINES 

 In the Philippines most gratifying pro- 



gress has been made under the direction 

 of Mr. George R. Putnam, a gifted and 

 energetic officer of the Survey. An 

 office was established at Manila, and it 

 was organized to publish the prelimin- 

 ary results of the work accomplished 

 with the least possible delay. 



The sub-office at Manila has published 

 over thirty charts, many of them orig- 

 inal surveys. It has availed itself of 

 the facilities afforded by the cable and 

 telegraph lines recently established and 

 has determined the telegraphic longi- 

 tude of the principal ports of the archi- 

 pelago. Tidal and magnetic observa- 

 tions have been made and sailing direc- 

 tions have been printed in pamphlet 

 form in addition to the continued issue 

 of Notices to Mariners which were given 

 to the public with great expedition. A 

 small ship called the Research was pro- 

 vided by the island authorities for the 

 use of the survey, and a larger vessel 

 has been actively engaged there for over 

 a year. 



JADE 



By S. E. Easter 



JADE, which has been found in 

 every part of the world — China, 

 Burma, New Zealand, Alaska, 

 Mexico, and central Europe — is 

 the best illustration of the universal 

 passion of all primitive peoples for the 

 possession of green stones. From pre- 

 historic times to the last looting of 

 Peking, jade has been a treasure most 

 highly prized and eagerly sought. The 

 most famous quarries of jade are those 

 of the Karakash Valley, in Chinese 

 Turkestan, from which the chief sup- 

 plies of the Chinese Emperors were 

 drawn. 



Much confusion has arisen from the 

 too general application of the term 



" jade " to kindred mineral substances, 

 such as saussurite, chloromelanite, pec- 

 tolite, serpentine, and fibrolite or silli- 

 manite, and Dr Fischer has collected 

 one hundred and fifty specimens of 

 stones carelessly called jade. Properly 

 speaking, jade only includes nephrite, a 

 variety of amphibole, and jadeite, one of 

 the pyroxene group. 



Nephrite, which occurs more fre- 

 quently than jadeite, and the best-known 

 quarries of which are those of Chinese 

 Turkestan, is, according to Dana, a 

 tough, compact, fine-grained tremolite 

 (or, in green specimens, actinolite), 

 breaking with a splintery fracture and 

 glistening luster. Its specific gravity is 



