220 



past has thrown out no flames, are favourable* 

 to the opinion, that volcanic vitrifications, where- 

 ever they are found, are to be considered as of 

 very ancient formation. 



Obsidian, jade, and touchstone *, are three 

 minerals, which nations ignorant of the use of 

 brass or iron, in all ages, employed to make 

 keen-edged weapons. In the most distant parts 

 of the Globe, necessity fixed their choice on the 

 same substance. We see wandering hordes have 

 dragged with them, in their distant excursions, 

 stones, the natural position of which the mine- 

 ralogist has not yet been able to discover. Hat- 

 chets of jade, covered with Azteck hieroglyphics, 

 which I brought from Mexico, resemble both in 

 their form and nature those made use of by the 

 Gauls, and those we find among the islanders 

 of the Pacific Ocean. The Mexicans dug obsi- 

 dian in mines, which took up a vast extent of 

 ground ; and of it made knives, sword-blades, 

 and razors. In like manner the Guanches, who 

 called obsidian by the name of tabona, fixed 

 splinters of this mineral to the ends of their 

 lances. They carried on a considerable trade 

 in it with the neighbouring islands ; and from 

 the consumption thus occasioned, and the quan- 

 tity of obsidian which must have been broken 

 in the fabrication, we may presume, that this mi- 

 neral is become scarce from the lapse of ages. 



* Lydischerstein. 



