gems, jade, nephrite, nephrite axes, British museums,

After we had subjected the nephritoids of the Freiburg University Museum to a detailed examination and discussion in this journal (1885, Vol. XVII), it appeared appropriate to extend this study to other major museums as well. For, as has often been emphasized by others, only through the inclusion of all accessible material shall we finally be placed in a position to draw secure conclusions regarding this question, which since the appearance of the fundamental work of Heinrich Fischer has so vividly interested prehistorians. We directed our attention first to the British Museum because it was known to us that its prehistoric-ethnological treasures had now been made accessible in their entirety, whereas previously, owing to lack of space, a large part of them could not be inspected. Since the Department of British Antiquities has now acquired the halls formerly occupied by the natural history collections, it has been able to display appropriately its enormous wealth, particularly of ethnologically valuable objects. Especially the collection of stone axes, a large part of which had never yet passed through the hands of a mineralogist, is extraordinarily extensive. Valuable contributions concerning a great number of these objects have indeed already been made from various quarters, yet it would require a lifetime to investigate in every respect the mass of material accumulated here.