CHARACTER

age, from whom was procured a fine blade
of jade which he said his father had made.
This would date the blade at about the
period of the introduction of iron.

CHARACTER OF THE JADE

In density and structure the Fraser
mineral shows much variation, dependent
on its purity or admixture with serpentine
or other foreign substance, for serpentine
is found in great abundance with it. In
color, green prevails, with shades varying
from grass-green to almost black, showing
veins, splotches, mottled patches, and
specks generally of a darker, sometimes of
a lighter, color, partly the result of iron-
stains that have penetrated the minute
cracks, or of other impurities. Some pieces
are beautifully translucent, while others
are clouded and quite opaque. But all
take a high polish; even the bowlders
found in the streams have a smooth, bright
surface, and few exhibit decomposition.
Not all the greenish implements found
hereabouts are of jade or nephrite, for ser-
pentine and pectolite were likewise utilized.

AND MONOGRAPHS