gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Lapis nephriticus, von dem edlen Griesstein seiner wunderbaren Art, Kraft, Würkung und Gebrauch is a seventeenth-century German treatise devoted to the nephritic or “kidney stone,” describing its nature, remarkable properties, effects, and use. The work concerns the stone known in early modern Europe as lapis nephriticus, valued principally for its supposed ability to prevent or relieve kidney stones and other disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract, often through being worn against the body rather than administered internally. It belongs to the medical and lapidary tradition that associated particular stones with specific organs and diseases. The treatise is of particular importance to the history of jade because lapis nephriticus became closely associated with the material later mineralogically defined as nephrite, and its reputed action on the kidneys ultimately gave nephrite its modern name.