THE AMAZON-STONE.
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T h e present inhabitants o f t h o s e countries, particularly i n the h o t region, so little c o m p r e h e n d t h e possibility o f c u t t i n g hard stones, ( t h e emerald, j a d e , c o m p a c t feldspar and rock-crystal,) that they imagine the g r e e n stone is soft w h e n taken out o f the earth, and that it hardens after having b e e n moulded b y t h e h a n d . T h e natural soil o f t h e A m a z o n - s t o n e is n o t i n t h e valley o f the river A m a z o n . I t does n o t derive its n a m e from t h e river, b u t like t h e river itself, t h e stone has been n a m e d after a n a t i o n o f warlike w o m e n , w h o m F a t h e r A c u n h a , a n d O v i e d o , i n his letter t o cardinal B e m b o , c o m p a r e t o t h e A m a z o n s o f the ancient w o r l d . W h a t w e see in o u r cabinets under t h e false d e n o m i n a t i o n o f A m a z o n - s t o n e , is neither j a d e , n o r c o m p a c t feldspar, b u t a c o m m o n feldspar o f an apple-green c o l o u r , that c o m e s from t h e U r a l m o u n t a i n s and on lake O n e g a i n R u s s i a , b u t w h i c h I never s a w i n t h e granitic m o u n t a i n s o f G u i a n a . S o m e t i m e s also this very rare and hard A m a z o n - s t o n e is c o n f o u n d e d with t h e hatchetnephrite ( b e i l s t e i n ) * o f W e r n e r , w h i c h has m u c h less t e n a T h e substance which I o b t a i n e d from t h e hands o f city. the Indians, b e l o n g s t o t h e saussurite,† t o t h e real j a d e , which resembles c o m p a c t feldspar, a n d w h i c h f o r m s o n e of the c o n s t i t u e n t parts of the verde de Corsica, o r gabbro.‡ I t takes a tine polish, and passes from apple-green t o emeraldg r e e n ; it is translucent at t h e e d g e s , extremely t e n a c i o u s , a n d in a high degree s o n o r o u s . T h e s e A m a z o n stones w e r e formerly c u t b y t h e natives into very thin plates, perforated at t h e c e n t r e , and suspended b y a thread, a n d these plates yield an almost metallic s o u n d i f struck b y anothe r hard b o d y . | | This fact confirms t h e c o n n e c t i o n w h i c h w e find, n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e difference o f fracture and o f specific gravity b e t w e e n t h e saussurite and t h e siliceous basis o f t h e porphyrschiefer, which is the phonolite ( k l i n g s t e i n ) . I have * Punamustein (jade axinien).
The stone hatchets found in America,
for instance in Mexico, are not of beilstein,butof compact feldspar. † Jade of Saussure, according to the system of Brongniart; tenacious jade, and compact tenacious feldspar of Haüy ; some varieties of the variolithe of Werner. ‡ Euphotide ofHauy,or schillerfels of Raumer. || M . Brongniart, to whom I showed these plates on my return to Europe, very justly compared these jades of Parime to the sonorous stones employed by the Chinese in their musical instruments called king.