first view to be altogether imaginary; and as to the virtues of the
Gems in general, it is now the reigning Opinion, that they are nearly
all so, their greatest Friends allowing them no other than those of
the common alkaline Absorbents. However, whether the metalline
Particles, to which they owe their Colours, are, in either Quantity or
Quality, in Condition to have any effect in the Body, is a Matter
worthy of a strict and regular Tryal; and that would at once decide
the Question between us and the Antients, and shew whether we have
been too rash, or they too superstitious.
The so-called “doctrine of signatures” treated of the marks set by
nature upon certain objects to denote their usefulness in the cure of
diseases affecting different parts of the body, or their power to
neutralize the effects of the bites of certain animals or reptiles. Of
this theory Martius says that the “signatures” are not to be sought in a
fanciful resemblance to the form of the objects with the diseased parts
of the human body, but rather in the color, odor, taste, composition,
etc., of the objects.[225]
Medieval medical literature has no more interesting example than the
treatise entitled “Thesaurus Pauperum,” or the “Poor-man’s Treasury,”
written by Petrus Hispanus, who later reigned for a brief period as pope
under the name of John XXI (1276–1277). The birthplace of the author was
Lisbon in Portugal, and he studied for some time at the University of
Paris, where his learning earned him high praise. Prior to his election
as pope, he served for a time as first physician to Pope Gregory X
(1271–1276). Most of the remedies prescribed in this little treatise are
naturally such as had long been popular among the peasantry, and the
ingredients of which could easily be secured; vegetable growths, plants,
herbs and flowers, and certain parts of the more common animals, served
here, as in Pliny’s day and earlier still, as those most highly favored.
Of the comparatively few mineral substances whose use is recommended may
be noted the red variety of _chelidonius_ or “swallow-stone,” for the
cure of epilepsy; the powder of the “iris” (probably an iridescent
variety of quartz) was also a cure for epileptics. Then we find, strange
to say, a recommendation of such costly remedial agencies as emerald and
sapphire, either of which if touched on the eye would heal diseases of
that organ. Cold stones placed on the temples and tightly bound on were
said to arrest bleeding from the nose, and coral was a great help in
syncope. For stone in the bladder two mineral substances, “humus” and
“songie,” are warmly recommended (the former can scarcely be held to
signify mere “soil”), as are also “stones found in the gizzards of
cocks” (the _alectorius_) and those from the bladders of hogs. All these
were to be reduced to powder, dissolved in liquid, and taken in the form
of potions. The use of stones and coral rather as amulets or talismans
than as remedies is occasionally mentioned. Thus the loadstone, if worn,
is said to remove discord between man and woman; coral, if kept in the
house, destroyed all evil influences, and if a woman wore touching her
skin a concretion taken from the stomach of a she-goat that had not had
young, this woman would never bear a child.[226]
The curious old medical treatise in verse called the “Schola
Salernitana,” was translated into English by Sir James Harington in
1607. The following lines give advice that is as appropriate to the
conditions of our own age as to those of any other:[227]
Use three physitians still, first doctor Quiet,
Next doctor Merry-man and doctor Dyet.
Whether with or without intention, the translator has omitted to render
the qualification given in the original: “Si tibi deficiant medici” (if
other doctors are lacking).
The terrible plague known as the Black Death is said to have claimed
13,000,000 victims in Europe in the years 1347 and 1348. A contemporary,
Olivier de la Haye, in a poem describing this fearful visitation, gives
a number of recipes used, or to be used as remedies. In one of these
there appear as ingredients pearls, jargoons, emeralds and coral,
one-sixth of a drachm of each of these materials entering into the
composition of the prescription.[228] The symptoms of this form of the
plague, as described by the old writers, are said to resemble closely
those of the disease that was prevalent not long ago in some parts of
Asia, especially in northern China and Manchuria.
A famous class of medical remedies used in medieval times bore the
generic name _theriaca_, or theriac, this designation being derived from
the Greek _therion_, signifying a beast, more specifically a poisonous
animal and hence also a serpent. These preparations were primarily
antidotes for poison, but were also freely administered for any form of
“blood-poisoning,” for malarial infection, malignant fevers and the
like. Principal ingredients were the “Armenian stone” (a friable, blue
carbonate of copper), pearls, charred stag’s-horn, and coral. The
Veronese physician, Francesco India, confidently affirms that this
remedy not only cured the plague, but also protected those who had
partaken of it from contracting the disease; this was said to be more
especially true of the _theriaca Andromachi_, or Venice treacle as it
was popularly called, which purported to be the invention of a Roman or
Greek physician, Andromachus, who composed some medical poems dedicated
to Cæsar.[229]
In medieval Bohemia the knowledge of precious stones and their
employment for curative purposes is well attested. There exists a
Bohemian manuscript list of precious stones dated in 1391, in which no
less than 55 different gems are noted. Their medicinal use in Bohemia at
this time is vouched for by the Synonima Apothecariorum where precious
stones are listed among the materials of the apothecaries’ art.[230]
In the testaments of royal and princely personages, medical stones are
often bestowed as precious legacies. Thus in the will of the Hessian
prince, Henry VIII of Fürstenberg, the following stones are mentioned as
especially costly objects: a “crabstone” (Krebstein), a bloodstone, and
a gravel-stone, the latter being a piece of jade or nephrite.[231] The
crabstone, sometimes called crab’s-eye, is a chalky concretion which
forms on either side of the stomach of a crab or other crustacean during
the moulting period, and this was and is still used as an eye-stone for
the removing of foreign bodies that have entered the eye, the eye-stone
being introduced under the eyelid. This results in a rapid flow from the
tear-ducts which often washes away the foreign bodies, the passage of
the stone across the eyeball occasionally aiding in the work by rubbing
off the body.
[Illustration:
Interior of fifteenth century pharmacy. From Johannis de Cuba’s “Ortus
Sanitatis”, Strassburg, 1483.
]
[Illustration:
THE “ORTUS SANITATIS” OF JOHANNIS DE CUBA, PUBLISHED AT STRASSBURG IN
1483.
The woodcut depicts Adam and Eve beneath the “Tree of Knowledge.”
]
In the sixteenth century sapphires, emeralds, rubies, garnets, jacinths,
coral and sardonyxes were used in all tonics prescribed to protect the
heart against the effects of poison and of the plague. As it was noted
that these remedies were frequently ineffectual, an explanation was
sought in the fact that spurious stones were often used, the
apothecaries either not having the knowledge to recognize the genuine
stones, or being moved by a desire to profit by the substitution of some
inferior substance. Hence physicians were warned to be on their guard
against such deceptions, and only to employ thoroughly trustworthy
apothecaries for the compounding of their prescriptions. A substitution
frequently made was that of the so-called yellow chrysoprase (cerogate),
a stained chalcedony, for the jacinth, although the true jacinth of the
ancients was of the color of the amethyst. The grinding of coral in a
brass mortar, instead of in one of marble, was also regarded as a very
dangerous proceeding, which would have the worst possible results for
the unlucky patient who took the powder, for some particles of the brass
might be rubbed away and mix with the coral. This was said to have often
produced very serious illness.[232]
In a price-list of a firm of German druggists, printed in 1757, all the
precious stones still appear. Here the cost of a pound of rock-crystal
is six groschen ($.18); the same quantity of emerald was priced at eight
groschen ($.25), while the pound of sapphire was quoted at sixteen
groschen ($.50), of ruby at one thaler ($.75), and of lapis lazuli at
five thalers ($3.75). This indicates quite clearly the quality of the
emerald, sapphire and ruby offered for sale. A pound of Oriental bezoar
commanded the highest price, sixteen thalers ($12).[233]
Regarding the length of time during which various preparations retained
their strength, Braunfels[234] states that, according to the opinion of
the Arabian physicians, the solution of lapis Armenus lasted for ten
years, while that of lapis lazuli could be preserved only about three
years. A list of the indispensable materials which should be in every
good pharmacy included the following precious stones:
Jacinth
Sapphire
Emerald
Topaz
Margaritha (pearl)
Magnes
Coral
Hematite
Ætites
Jasper
The supposed medicinal properties of precious stones are subjected to a
searching criticism by the Veronese physician, Francesco India, writing
in 1593.[235] After establishing the distinction between alimentary and
medicinal substances, he proceeds to exclude from the latter category
the jacinth, emerald, sapphire, etc., because although they could be
reduced to a powder, they could not be dissolved, so that when taken in
a potion they could be absorbed in the human system.[236] Hence no such
effects could properly be ascribed to them as were to be expected from
the regular and normal medicinal agencies. This writer ascribes the
original use of such stones as remedies for malignant fevers and other
dangerous diseases to the Arabs, adding that “had they not made this
mistake and thus led many physicians into error, they would have been
better worthy of praise.”[234] In fact he does not hesitate to pronounce
the emphatic opinion that these stones are not remedial agents fit to be
administered or used by any rational physician.[237] That powdered
hematite (red oxide of iron) possesses an astringent quality and may
really be looked upon as a medicine, he fully recognizes, more
particularly its efficacy for the cure of diseases of the eye, but
neither these nor similar qualities can be credited to sapphires,
emeralds, or jacinths. At the same time he is not disposed to deny that
these stones may have some subtle effect upon the body when worn, or
when held in the mouth for a time. Thus he agrees with Avicenna (Ben
Sina) that a jacinth worn over the heart may strengthen that organ, for
he knows of the power inherent in jasper to check a hemorrhage. In a
word his argument is principally directed against the internal use of
powders made from these hard and unassimilable stones.[238]
Robert Boyle, writing in 1663, attempts to show that the theory of the
therapeutic action of precious stones is not incompatible with observed
facts. In this connection he says:[239]
I am not altogether of their mind, that absolutely reject the internal
use of Leaf-Gold, Rubies, Saphyrs, Emeralds, and other Gems, as things
that are unconquerable by the heat of the stomach. For as there are
rich Patients that may, without much inconvenience, goe to the price
of the dearest Medicines; so I think the Stomach acts not on Medicines
barely upon the account of its heat, but is endowed with a subtle
dissolvent (whence never it hath it) by which it may perform divers
things not to be done by so languid a heat. And I have, with Liquors
of differing sorts, easily drawn from Vegetable Substances, and
perhaps unrectified, sometimes dissolved, and sometimes drawn
Tinctures from Gems, and that in the cold.... But that which I chiefly
consider on this occasion is, that ’tis one thing to make it
_probable_, that is, _possible_, Gold, Rubies, Saphyrs, etc., may be
wrought upon by humane Stomach; and another thing to shew both that
they _are wont_ to be so, and that they _are_ actually endowed with
those particular and specifick Virtues that are ascribed to them; nay
and (over and above) that these Virtues are such and so eminent, that
they considerably surpass those of cheaper Simples. And I think, that
in Prescriptions made for the poorer sort of Patients, a Physician may
well substitute cheaper Ingredients in the place of these precious
ones, whose Virtues are no half so unquestionable as their Dearnesse.
Whether the somewhat mysterious illness and death of the popes Leo IV
and Paul II could have been caused by the great quantity of pearls and
precious stones they were in the habit of wearing was a question
seriously discussed by Johann Wolff, the supposed lethal effect being
attributed to the coldness of such objects.[240] Indeed, the frigidity
of precious stones was adduced by certain writers as one of the chief
reasons for their remedial use in fevers.[241]
Not only to King Frederick III of Denmark himself, to whom on his
death-bed in 1670, a dose of pulverized bezoar was administered, but to
his queen and their children such remedies were given, there being
record that on September 19, 1663, a prescription containing red coral
and pearl-powder was compounded by the Court Pharmacy for the queen,
while a few years earlier the inevitable bezoar and also a tonic
pearl-milk were administered to some of the royal offspring.[242]
[Illustration:
FAMOUS PEARL NECKLACE OF THE UNFORTUNATE EMPRESS CARLOTTA, WIDOW OF
EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN OF MEXICO.
]
Some interesting details as to the use of precious stone remedies for
the cure of illness appear in the manuscript notes of lectures given at
the Leyden Hospital by the seventeenth century physician, Lucas Schacht,
in 1674 and 1675.[243] This shows that these remedial agents were there
and at that time only used as a last resort, when the patient’s
condition had become desperate, and the physician is usually obliged to
record the fact that death ensued shortly afterwards. Thus we are told
of the case of a certain Ludovicus Carels who was suffering from
difficulty of breathing and purulent expectoration; his body was so
distended that he could scarcely move his limbs, and he also had a
severe diarrhœa. This was his condition on November 12, 1674, and the
symptoms steadily grew worse under a treatment of herb decoctions, until
a few days later, on November 21, it is noted that “he only thinks of
death.” Still the doctors waited until November 24 before they decided
to administer a compound remedy consisting in part of the elixirs of
jacinth and pearl; three days later the patient died. In general the
chief symptoms which justified the use of such remedies were those of
high fever or great weakness.
Although by the middle of the eighteenth century the belief in the
special curative powers of precious-stone material had almost entirely
disappeared, giving place to a more scientific conception of the
chemical composition of these bodies, still, we find, even in so capable
a writer as the German mineralogist, U. F. B. Brückmann, a lingering
trace of the old idea, for while he declares that all intelligent
physicians have abandoned their use, he adds, “if, however, any stone of
this kind has more effect than an ordinary earthy substance, it is the
lapis lazuli, but we have a hundred other remedies equally efficacious
and much cheaper.” He also testifies to the fact that very little
genuine material was to be had from the apothecaries, he himself having
often seen a yellow feldspar offered instead of a jacinth, and poor
garnets as substitutes for rubies.[244]
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a famous cordial medicine,
called “Gascoign’s Powder,” after the physician who compounded it, had
an immense vogue in England. This man is said to have got more than
£50,000 ($250,000) from the sale of this single remedy. It is stated to
have contained Oriental bezoar (the most important ingredient), white
amber, red coral, crab’s eyes, powdered hartshorn, pearl and black
crab’s claws; certainly a most incongruous mixture and one well
calculated to test the resisting powers of the person to whom it was
administered.[245]
A modern writer finds in the homeopathic theory of medicine an
explanation of the apparent therapeutic effects of precious stones.[246]
For if the smaller the dose the greater the effect, then such
super-subtle emanations as are thought to proceed from precious stones
must have effects still more powerful than those of the most highly
diluted tinctures administered by homeopathists of the old school.
Christian Science, however, with its bold denial of the existence of
disease, and with its purely spiritual treatment of the “mental error”
that is supposed to be at the root of all morbid symptoms, could even
more easily account for the apparent cures wrought by merely wearing
precious stones. The belief in their remedial virtue would serve to
remove the morbid impression, and would restore the mind to its normal
and healthy state.
An instance from our own day of the application of a mineral substance
externally for the cure of disease, appears in the use of the uranium
pitchblende occurring in Joachimsthal, Bohemia. This is enclosed in
leather bags and applied to the head for the cure of headache. The most
violent pains are said to be relieved in a short time by this treatment,
the effect being produced by the radium contained in the
pitchblende.[247]
Agate
Treating of the medicinal virtues of agates, Pliny distinguishes between
the Indian agates, which were a remedy for diseases of the eyes, and
those from Egypt and Crete, which were especially adapted for curing the
bites of spiders or scorpions.[248] This latter quality was probably
attributed to the agate because it was believed to have a cooling
influence upon the body. Damigeron directs that when used to cure the
bites of venomous creatures the stone should be reduced to a powder,
which was to be strewn over the wound; sometimes, however, this powder
was dissolved in wine and administered internally.[249] As an agate, if
held in the mouth, was supposed to quench thirst, it was recommended at
an early period for the cure of fevers and inflammatory diseases.[250]
In Byzantine times the use of agate for inflamed eyes and for headaches
is still advised by Psellus (eleventh century), who adds that it checks
menstruation and prevents the accumulation of water in cases of dropsy.
This he attributes to the wonderful absorbent power of the stone.[251]
It seems most probable that here some kind of hydrophane has been
confounded with the agate. The other use, that of checking hemorrhages,
presupposes the use of a red variety of agate.
Beryl
Thomas de Cantimpré[252] tells us that the beryl cures quinsy and
swollen glands in the neck if the affected part be rubbed with the
stone. It is also useful as a remedy for diseases of the eye, and if
water in which it has been steeped be given to anyone suffering from an
attack of hiccoughs, relief will be afforded.
The beryl was warmly recommended as a cure for injuries to the eyeball,
even of the most serious kind. For use in such cases the stone was to be
pulverized in a mortar, and this powder then passed through a fine
sieve. Of the minute particles thus secured, a small quantity was to be
introduced each morning into the injured eye, the patient being in a
recumbent posture. He was then to keep properly quiet with his eyes shut
for a considerable length of time after this operation. Although it was
not indeed claimed that where the power of sight had been destroyed it
could thus be restored, still even in case of such severe injury the
eyeball was healed sooner and assumed a better appearance. In less
serious cases a cure was considered to be assured.[253]
Carbuncle
Many virtues are attributed to carbuncles. It is related that those who
wear them can resist poisons and are preserved from the pest. They
dissipate sadness, control incontinence, avert evil thoughts and dreams,
exhilarate the soul and foretell misfortunes to man by losing their
native splendor.[254]
Chalcedony
Perforated, spherical beads of milky white chalcedony are worn at the
present day by Italian peasant women to increase the supply of milk.
Hence the Italian name for such a bead, _pietra lattea_. Perforated
beads of white steatite, belonging to the early Iron Age, have been
found near Perugia, where the chalcedony beads are worn, and it is
believed that these steatite beads were borne for the same purpose.[255]
Coral
Coral and safran, if wrapped in the skin of a cat, were believed to have
marvellous powers; and when emeralds were added to the coral the
talisman would drive off a mortal fever. To have the proper effect,
however, it must be attached to the neck of the patient.[256] As a cure
for hydrophobia, dog-collars set with flint and Maltese coral were
recommended in Roman times; “sacred shells” and herbs over which magic
incantations had been pronounced were also attached to, or enclosed in
these collars. The use of coral in this case appears to have been due to
the belief in its power to dissolve the spell cast by the Evil Eye, for
Gratius, who flourished in the first century A.D. and was a contemporary
of the poet Ovid, asserts that if such collars were put on dogs
suffering from hydrophobia, the gods were appeased, and the charm cast
by “an envious eye” was broken.[257]
The Hindu physicians found that coral tasted both sweet and sour, and
they asserted that its principal action was on the secretions of the
mucous membrane, on the bile and on certain morbid secretions.[258]
Although the chemical constituents of coral have but slight medicinal
value, it is quite possible that some effects upon the secretions may
have been observed experimentally after the administration of a dose of
powdered coral.
An old pharmacopœia gives elaborate directions for the preparation of
the “Tincture of Coral.” A branch of very red coral was to be buried in
melted wax, and allowed to remain over a fire for the space of two days,
“after which time you will see that the coral has become white, while
the wax has assumed a red hue.” A fresh branch of coral is then to be
put into the partially colored wax, and the above operation repeated;
the wax will then be “redder than before.” It is now to be broken into
crusts, which are to be steeped in alcohol until the liquid has
extracted the coloring matter from the wax and has become reddish. In
this way, after the removal of the wax by filtration, etc., a tincture
was obtained which is represented to have been an excellent tonic, and
to have had the power to expel “bad humors,” by inducing perspiration,
or by its diuretic action.[259] We strongly suspect that in this, as in
many modern “tonics,” the contents of spirit was the active principle.
An apparent confirmation of the widespread belief of former centuries
that red coral changed its hue in sympathy with the state of the
wearer’s health, caused perhaps by the exudations or sweats arising from
fevers or other ailments, is given from personal experience by the
German physician, Johann Wittich. Writing toward the end of the
sixteenth century, this author relates that he was called in to attend a
youth named Bernard Erasmus, son of the burgomaster of Arnstadt. As the
youth sickened unto death a red coral which he was wearing turned first
whitish, then of a dirty yellow, and finally became covered with black
spots. To the anxious questions of the youth’s sister, Wittich could
only give a mournful answer, telling her to take away the coral, for
death was surely approaching, and this prognostication proved to be only
too true, as in a few hours young Erasmus was dead.[260]