“...In ancient times the minerals comprising or included in this important group were commonly
known by the name Lapis Nephriticus or Kidney Stone, and from this name in the 18th century
Dr. A. G. Werner suggested the term Nephrite. To the Nephrite varieties the general term Jade is
universally applied. The name occurs in old writings as jad and jadde, and is derived from the
Spanish Hijada, kidney. Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595 wrote of this “kinde of stones which the
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