The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-26
JADE OF THE ANCIENTS.
Specimens of the Prehistoric Mineral
from the Orient.

Specimens of the Prehistoric Mineral
from the Orient.
New York Mail and Express.
Should Heber r. Bishop, of this city,
carry out his reported intention of giving
his collection of prehistoric Oriental and
New Zealand jades to the Metropolitan
Museum OF Art that institution would ac-
quire unique assortment of treasures
Mr.. Bishops collection not only is the
best and most comprehensive OF its kind,
but is likely to remain so, since the golden
time of the gatherer of Chinese jades is
past. The treasures of the Summer Palace
were brought to the west by the French
and English in the sixties; the march on
Picking two years ago brought forth little IN
the way of new art works in the curious
old mineral which some thirty years ago
gave rise to one Of the most interesting
prehistoric discussions the world of science
has ever carried on.
Jade is a mineral-a stone, the material
used by the neolithic man for his imple-
ments, as distinct from the flint of the still
earlier paleolithic man. Flint was Clipped
into shape; jade was cut and polished with
sand and water. Often the water of
streams rolling the pebbles of the mineral
along sandy. rubbly river beds. performed
part of the laborious task for our early
ancestors. The shape of the find deter
mined its use; but often the block had to
be ground into hatchets and scrapers, avis
and needles. into ornamental beads, ham,
mers and battle axes.
This mineral has the useful quality of
being exceedingly hard without being brit
tie. Mineralogists know three kinds to
which they have given the names of
nephrite Jadeite and chloromelanite the
last of the three being the most interesting,
1T has never been found in the crude
state as part of the rock formation OF
any Of the continents. Where ii came
from none knows to this day. We have 1t
only in the form OF implements or OF rough
pieces of varying size.
The Kuen-Lun mountains of China con-
tain the CHIEF mines OF jade to-day. Siberia,
too, yields an excellent quality OF the min
eral. which has at present some vogue in
the form OF fob seals and seal ring stones.
peculiar kind is found in Polynesia, and
few years ago a European scientist sue
ceeded at last in discovering IL in the rock
in Europe-'in situ,' as the mineralogists
say. thus settling forever the great me
1t was late in the seventies when the
discovery Of thousands OF small and large
jade implements I'm the remains of the pre-
historic lake dwellings of Switzerland had
drawn attention 10 this mineral that Pro-
fessor Fischer. OF Freiburg published his
famous book on the "Nephrite Question
In this he reasoned as follows: The build
ers of the lake dwellings. the men OF the
later stone age, used by preference Jade in
the making Of their implements. Now, jade
Is mineral that is not found in Europe I'm
its natural state, whence IL follows that
there must have been in these prehistoric
days an intercontnental trade between
central Europe and China. which points TO
a higher state OF civilization than we have
been willing to ascribe to the men OF that
era.
Up rose another Teutonic pundit, in the
person OF DR.. Meyer. the curator OF a mu-
scum In Dresden, who asserted that Pro-
fessor Fischer's major premise had not
been proven The Iberian peninsula and
the mountains OF Norway, he said, have
not yet been thoroughly explored. Rather
than accept this theory of interconti-
mental prehistoric trade route. let US await
until the mineralogists chance upon the To-
cal mines whence the paleolithic inhabit
ants OF Europe drew their raw material