asthma and stilled thirst. Taken regularly for a long period it acted as a powerful general tonic, and had the special effects of strengthening the voice and rendering the hair glossy; but all these good effects could only be secured by the use of unwrought jade.54

The lapis nephriticus (jade) was held to be a remedy for ædematous affections of the feet. As this stone was so highly in favor in Europe for a century or two after it had first been brought from America by the Spaniards, many were of the opinion that it should be constantly worn to exert its full curative power. There were some, however, who argued that with this as with other remedies, constant and unremitting use weakened the effect, so that when the wearer was suddenly attacked by some disorder for which jade was a cure, his system would have become so habituated to its action that it would no longer work as a remedy." 55

Of the lapis nephriticus the old Danish writer, Caspar Bertholin, relates in 1628 that four prominent citizens of Copenhagen, whom he had recommended to wear it to break up the calculi with which they were afflicted, could testify to its worth, adding, somewhat naïvely, "at least two of them can, for the two others are dead-but not of the stone." He himself, however, although he had sent for specimens at great expense, to Venice, Nuremberg and Batavia, could not gain any relief from his trouble, but nevertheless, firm in his conviction of the special curative power of jade, he asserts that the calculi which tormented him must have been exceptionally hard and flint-like, so that they could not be broken up. The vogue enjoyed by this supposed remedy in the Denmark of the time is illustrated in the case of the reign

"T'ang Jung-tso, "Yü-shuo" (a discourse on jade), trans. by Stephen W. Bushell; Investigations and Studies in Jade, The Bishop Collection, New York, 1900, pp. 329, 330.

"Jacobi Wolff, "Curiosus amuletorum scrutator," Francofurti et Lipsiæ, 1692, pp. 218, 219; citing principally, Bartholini, "De lapide nephritico."

ing sovereign, Christian IV, who wore on his person a green nephrite until the day of his death. This stone is still preserved in the Rosenborg Museum collection among the relics of this king.56

Johannes de Laet was much impressed with the virtues of the lapis nephriticus as were most of his learned contemporaries, since he assures his readers that an oblong, smooth, moderately thick stone in his possession, having the color of honey and a very oily surface, had given his wife great relief from the severe pains caused by renal calculus, when the stone was bound upon her wrist. This particular specimen he sent a few years later to his Danish friend, Ole Worms, for the latter's cabinet of natural history. De Laet writes that all the virtues claimed for nephrite by Monardes in 1574, were observable in his specimen.57

As late as 1726, there were some who retained faith in the curative power of jade, for a record of that date informs us that the traveller Paul Lucas had just come back to Paris from the Orient, and had brought with him a specimen of the lapis nephriticus which he intended to have cut up into thin slabs to bestow upon such of his friends as were suffering from gravel or calculus, or similar troubles.58

After relating that a specimen of American jadeite had been sent to him prior to 1602, Cleandro Arnobio states that when he showed it to a Signor Michele Mercato, "a man well versed in medicine and in the knowledge of minerals and herbs," the latter immediately recognized it and called it "nephite," from its virtues, saying also that he had found it useful in aiding parturition. A pharmacist, to whom it

Axel Garboe, "Kulturhistoriske Studier over Ædelstene, med særligt Henblik paa det 17. Aarhundrede," Kobenhavn og Kristiania, 1915, pp. 204, 205; citing Caspari Bertholini, "De lapide nephritico opusculum," 1628.

"Johannes de Laet, "De gemmis et lapidibus libri duo," Lugduni Batavorum [1647], p. 84.

""Sammlung von Natur und Medicin-wie auch hierzu gehörigen Kunstund Literatur-Geschichten," Breslau, 1726, p. 262.

was shown in turn, declared that he had used the stone in this way but did not know its name. This is perhaps the earliest use of the name nephrite, the form occurring in the Italian text being either due to a typographical error, or to Arnobio's ignorance of the correct spelling.

Proceeding to dilate upon the many virtues of this stone, Cleandro quotes Aldobrando, "a physician, physicist and philosopher of Bologna," who described it as having usually a purple shade, almost like porphyry, with various figures of herbs, flowers, knots and Arabic characters in a yellow color. There were, however, according to the same authority, some of a darker hue, with protuberances and bands of yellow and also black spots, as though the stone were a section of the spleen. This kind was recommended and used in diseases of the spleen. In another variety, in the midst of the purple color might be seen a yellow stain with pittings and hollows; this was thought to figure a section of the liver, spattered with bile, and such stones were employed with good effect to cure those suffering from bilious disorders. To discharge the bile a dose of four grains was administered, the powdered stone being thoroughly dissolved in wine. Still another kind, of a reddish hue, "like coagulated blood," full of pittings and veinings, was thought to be more especially valuable as a remedy for disorders of the blood and for checking hemorrhages.59

The learned Ko Kei asserts that the body of a man who had taken nearly five pounds of jade did not change color after his death and states that the body having been exhumed several years later did not show the slightest alteration. Besides this, it was observed that there were gold and jade around the tomb. Since then (in China), in the Kan period, the custom was followed of embalming the dead bodies of the emperors, and of preserving them in a gar"Cleandro Arnobio, "Tesoro delle Gioie," Venetia, 1602, pp. 139–141.