If any one is bewitched by phantoms or by magical spells, so that he has lost his wits, take a hot loaf of pure wheaten bread and cut the upper crust in the form of a cross,—not, however, cutting it quite through,—and then pass the stone along the cutting, reciting these words: “May God, who cast away all precious stones from the devil ... cast away from thee, N., all phantoms and all magic spells, and free thee from the pain of this madness.” The patient is then to eat of the bread; if, however, his stomach should be too feeble, unleavened bread may be used. All other solid food given to the sick person should be treated in the same manner. We are also told that if any one has a pain in his heart, the pain will be relieved provided the sign of the cross be made over the heart while the above mentioned words are recited. The wearer of a jacinth was believed to be proof against the lightning, and it was even asserted that wax that had been impressed by an image graven on this stone averted the lightning from one who bore the seal. That the stone really possessed this power was a matter of common report, it being confidently declared that in regions where many were struck by lightning, none who wore a jacinth were ever harmed. By a like miracle it preserved the wearer from all danger of pestilence even though he lived in an air charged with the disease. A third virtue was to induce sleep. Of this, Cardano states that he was in the habit of wearing rather a large jacinth, and had found that the stone “seemed to dispose somewhat to sleep, but not much.” He adds, in explanation of its slight efficacy, that his stone was not bright red, nor of the best sort, but of a golden hue, differing much from the best.[102] Jade The name jade includes two distinct minerals, nephrite and jadeite. The former is a silicate of magnesia, of exceedingly tough structure, and ranks 6.5 in the scale of hardness, while jadeite, a silicate of alumina, is more crystalline and not as tough as nephrite and has a hardness of 7. A variety having a rich emerald-green hue is called by the Chinese _fei ts’ui_, “Kingfisher plumes”; it is also denominated Imperial jade. The original form of the Chinese character _pao_, signifying “precious,” consists of the outline of a house, within which are the symbols of jade beads, shell, and an earthen jar. This shows that at the very early time when these characters were first used, the Chinese already collected jade and employed it for personal adornment.[103] The oldest form of the ideograph for “king”, [3 “beads” on a vertical string], appears to be the symbol for a string of jade beads, which are even now used in China as insignia for high rank and authority.[104]