Jade
The first mention of this material is made by Monardes, who says:[[276]]
The so-called nephritic stone is a species of stone, the finest of which resemble the emerald crystal, and are green with a milky hue. It is worn in various forms, made in ancient times, such as the Indians had; some like fish, some like the heads of birds, others like the beaks of parrots and others again round as balls; all, however, are perforated, since the Indians used to wear them attached for nephritic or gastric pains, for they had marvellous efficacy in both these infirmities. Their principal virtue regards the nephritic pain, and the passing of gravel and stone, in such sort that a gentleman who owns one, the best I have ever seen, wearing it bound on his arm, passed so much gravel that he often takes it off, thinking that it may be injurious for him to pass such a quantity; and, indeed, when he removes the stone he passes much less.... This stone has an occult property, by means of which it exercises a wonderful prophylactic effect, preventing the occurrence of nephritic pain, and should it nevertheless ensue, removing or alleviating it. The duchess my lady, having suffered three attacks of this malady during a short period, had one of these stones set in a bracelet and wore it on her arm, and from the time she put it on, she has never felt any pain, although ten years have past. In the same way it has served many, who have realized the same benefit. Therefore, it is highly prized and it cannot now be worn so easily as in former times, as only caciques and noblemen own it, and rightly, since it has such wonderful effects.
The Chinese Taoist adept T’ao Hung Ching, who flourished A.D. 500, directs that when powdered jade is prescribed by a physician, carved jade must not be used, nor unwrought jade that has been buried in tombs. While sometimes a very fine powder was recommended, the usual plan was to reduce the jade by pounding it into pieces the size of small pulse. When administered in this form the Chinese physicians asserted that the powder passed unchanged through the system, but that the essential principle, the innate virtue, was absorbed by the patient. It relieved heart-burn and 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.[[277]]
The lapis nephriticus (jade) was held to be a remedy for œdematous 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.[[278]]
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 reigning 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.[[279]]
FRONTISPIECE OF MUSEUM WORMIANUM
Printed in Leyden in 1655, showing a part of the remarkable collection of specimens illustrating natural history owned
by Olaus Wormius of Copenhagen.
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.[[280]]
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.[[281]]