gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Fischer presents the first continuation of his critical microscopic-mineralogical studies, applying microscopic examination to the identification and differentiation of minerals and rocks whose true nature could be difficult to establish from external appearance alone. He compares microscopic structure, texture, inclusions, and other diagnostic characteristics with chemical and physical evidence and critically reassesses earlier mineral identifications. Of particular relevance to jade research are the discussions on pp. 9, 24–25, and 48, where nephrite and related or superficially similar materials are considered as part of Fischer’s continuing effort to distinguish true nephrite from “pseudonephrite” and other jade-like substances. The work illustrates the increasing importance Fischer attached to microscopy in resolving the nineteenth-century “jade question” and in establishing more reliable mineralogical identifications of archaeological stone artifacts.