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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
And what, after all, was this extraordinary stone — so won- 
drously endowed and so highly prized? This is a question 
which, in spite of all that has been written on the subject, has 
not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered with scientific 
accuracy. Some have described the chalchihuitl as a coarse 
emerald, others as a turquoise, others again as a jasper, and 
some finally as jade. Probably the term comprised a number 
of distinct minerals, having in common a green or greenish-blue 
colour, and including the jade-stone. Such at least seems to 
be the opinion of Mr. E. Gr. Squier, whose researches have 
thrown so much light upon American archaeology.* That jade, 
or some kindred stone, was used by the ancient Mexicans seems 
certain from the specimens which have come down to us. Mr. 
Pumpelly, an American geologist, after describing a jade-like 
mineral from China, to which the name of jadeite is now given, 
goes on to say; “The chalchihuitl, a precious stone of the 
ancient Mexicans, as I have seen it in a mask preserved in 
the Museum of Practical Geology in London, and in several 
ornaments in the collection of Mr. Squier of New York, is 
apparently the same mineral.” f The mask to which Mr. 
Pumpelly refers is figured in Plate VIII. fig. 1. 
Since we are not aware that any jade, or jade-like mineral, 
occurs in Mexico, or as said before throughout America, it 
becomes an extremely interesting question to enquire whence 
the ancient inhabitants of Anahuac obtained their supply of the 
precious mineral. Did they procure it from the old world? 
If so, here is another link in the chain of evidence which points 
to early intercourse, at any rate to pre-Columbian communica- 
tion, between the eastern and the western hemispheres. The 
home of the jade, so far as we know, is in the east rather than 
in the west ; and the country in which it seems to have been 
longest used and most highly venerated is China. 
By the Chinese, jade is generally known as yu ; but it has 
been said that this is a generic name for a number of orna- 
mental stones. Sometimes the word chi (or stone) is attached, 
and the jade is then referred to as yu-chi. Remusat, whose 
History of Khotan was published in 1820,J discusses with 
great erudition the meaning of the word, and refers it to a 
very high antiquity. In the province of Yunnan, a particular 
kind of jade, to be hereafter noticed, is known as fei-tsui ; while 
in Turkestan the jade-stone is called yaschm , a word which is 
* “ Observations on the Chalchihuitl of Mexico and Central America.” 
By E. G. Squier, M.A. New York, 1869. 
t “Geological Researches in China,” etc. Smithsonian Contributions, 
1866, p. 118. • 
t “ Histoire de la Ville de Khotan, tir^e des Annales de la Chine et 
traduite du Chinois.” 
