sang_, or “blood-rosary,” since it was believed to check hemorrhages. An
anonymous author of an eighteenth century treatise on superstitions,
assuming that this effect could be produced only by thickening the
blood, asserts that such a rosary might do more harm than good, for if
it possessed this power at one time, it must possess it constantly, and
its action would be very injurious.[261] Pearls and corals were still
freely used as therapeutic agents in the last half of the seventeenth
century, for we are told that Louis XIV (1638–1715), in 1655, took
tablets containing gold and pearls, which had been prescribed for him by
his physician Vallot, and, in 1664, a remedy composed of pearls and
corals was recommended by the same authority.[262]
Corundum
A stone, which from the description seems to have been an almost
colorless variety of corundum with a faint reddish tint, is recommended
in the Syrian Aristotle for the alleviation of diseases of the breast.
To have the proper effect this stone was to be worn on the region
affected by the malady.[263]
Diamond
The Hindu physicians claimed that they had found that the diamond had
six flavors; it was sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and acrid.
Since the stone united all these apparently contradictory qualities, we
have no reason to be surprised that it should be supposed to cure all
diseases and lessen all ills. An elixir of great potency, stimulating
and strengthening all the bodily functions, was made from the
diamond.[264]
The author of the Jawâhir-nâmeh (Book of Jewels), written about a
century ago, gives some of the prevalent Hindu ideas regarding the
diamond. He asserts that the similarity of this stone and rock-crystal
led to the belief that the latter was only an incomplete or “unripe”
form of the diamond. For this reason rock-crystal was called _kacha_,
“unripe,” and the diamond, _pakka_, “ripe.” The same writer, after
noting the general belief that if a diamond were put in the mouth it
caused the teeth to fall out, states that some were not disposed to
admit this, as diamond dust had been used as a tooth-powder without any
bad effects.[265] It might certainly serve to whiten the teeth, but any
one who trusted to this very drastic dentifrice would soon be sadly in
need of the dentist’s help.
As a proof that the diamond was not much prized as an ornamental stone
in the Middle Ages, although some of the praise bestowed upon it by
Pliny and other classical writers was copied and recopied in a more or
less perfunctory way, we may cite the few lines devoted to the stone by
Psellus, who lived in Constantinople in the eleventh century A.D. This
writer simply remarks of the diamond that it is hard and difficult to
pierce, adding, as its chief virtue, that it would quench the heat of
the “semi-tertian” fever.[266] The belief in this cooling quality of the
diamond was suggested by its lack of color coupled with its extreme
hardness, the latter quality being thought to augment the refrigerant
power supposed to be inherent in colorless crystals which resembled ice.
Emerald
The emerald is especially commended for amulets to be suspended from the
necks of children; it is believed to preserve them from epileptic
convulsions and to prevent the falling sickness; but if the violence of
the disease is such that it cannot be overcome by the stone, the latter
breaks up. Bound to a woman’s thigh it is said to hasten parturition;
hanging from the neck it drives off vain fears and evil spirits. It
strengthens the memory, restores the sight, reveals adultery and gives a
knowledge of the future, produces eloquence and increases wealth.[267]
Besides the usual designation _marakata_ which Garbe believes to be
derived from the Greek σμάραγδος, the Sanskrit has several
distinguishing names for the emerald. One of these, _açmagarbhaja_,
signifies “sprung from the rock,” and well describes the emerald in its
matrix. Another name is _garalari_, “enemy of poison,” indicating the
great repute enjoyed by this stone in India as an antidote for all
animal, mineral and vegetable poisons.[268] In Mexico the emerald[269]
bore the name Quetzalitzli, “stone of the quetzal,” because its color
resembled the brilliant green of the plumes of the bird called in the
Mexican tongue _quetzal_. These plumes were worn as insignia of royalty
by the sovereigns of Mexico and Central America, and hence the emerald
was regarded as an essentially regal gem, although its use was not
confined to royalty.
The tincture of emerald is recommended by the Arab physician Abenzoar as
an internal remedy for the cure of dysentery, the dose prescribed being
six grains. He also claims to have cured one of his patients suffering
from this disease by making him wear an emerald.[270] This illustrates
the use of the stone in Moorish Spain in the early part of the eleventh
century, the period of the highest development of Moorish civilization,
for Abenzoar, or Abû Meruân, as he is sometimes called, was born in
Seville about 1091 A.D. and died in 1161 or 1162.
Hematite
The curative properties of the hematite were generally recognized by the
early writers, and in this case they were not so much at fault, as this
substance possesses considerable astringent properties. Galen recommends
its use for inflamed eyelids, following in this the teachings of the
Egyptian schools of medicine. If there were tumors on the eyelids, the
hematite was to be dissolved in white of egg, and if the tumors were
very large it was to be boiled with fenugreek (fœnum græcum); if,
however, there were no tumors, but simply a general inflammation of the
eyelids, a solution in water sufficed. At the outset a few drops of a
weak solution were to be poured into the eye through a glass tube;
should this treatment not prove effective, the solution was to be made
thicker and thicker, until at last it had to be dipped out on the point
of the tube. If ground to a fine powder in a mortar, hematite cured
spitting of blood and all ulcers. Galen advises great care in judging of
the quality and strength of the powder, which was to be poured on or
spread over the sore, but in his own case he admits that he trusted to
his sense of taste to determine its quality.[271]
Sotacus as quoted by Pliny distinguishes five kinds of hematite, each
one of which possessed special medicinal virtues. The best was the
Ethiopic, which was a valuable ingredient in lotions for the eyes, and
for burns. The second kind was called androdamus and came from Africa;
this was very black, and was exceedingly hard and heavy, whence its name
“conqueror of man”; it was reputed to attract silver, brass and iron. If
rubbed with a moistened whetstone it gave forth a red juice, and was
considered to be a specific for bilious disorders. The third kind was
brought by the Arabs; this gave scarcely any juice when rubbed with the
whetstone, but occasionally a little of a yellowish hue, and was useful
for burns and for all bilious disorders. The fourth kind was called
elatite in its natural state and melitite when burned; and the fifth
appears to have contained an admixture of schist. These shared in the
general virtues of the hematite, three grains of whose powder, when
taken in oil, would cure all blood diseases.[272]
That the cause of the friendship between Hector and Dolon was the
latter’s ownership of a hematite is asserted in the Greek Orphic poem
“Lithica.” This statement must be derived from some annotation to the
Iliad made in the Alexandrine schools, for Homer himself knows nothing
of it. In the fateful encounter of Hector with Achilles, the form and
aspect of Dolon are assumed by Athena to deceive Hector into the belief
that his friend was at his side to aid him in the unequal struggle. The
blood of Uranus when wounded by Kronos is stated in “Lithica” as the
generating cause of hematite, and the stone is recommended as a cure for
eye-diseases.[273]
Jacinth
A peculiarly stimulant and tonic effect exercised by the jacinth was
noted by Ben Sina (Avicenna), and to this is attributed its value as an
antidote for poisons. Not, however, to the material composition of the
stone was this effect to be attributed, for it proceeded from the mass
in the same way as did the virtue of the magnet. Hence Ben Sina is
opposed to the theory that the natural warmth of the body acted upon the
jacinth, when taken internally, producing a transmutation, dissolution
and mingling of its substance with the volatile spiritual essence.[274]
In Constantinople, at a time when the plague was exceptionally
prevalent, the citizens used to wear jacinths, because of the special
virtues these stones were supposed to possess as guardians against the
plague. That jacinth amulets intended for therapeutic use were
occasionally to be found in pharmacies, is attested by Ambrosianus, who
states that a jacinth the size of a human nail, and set in silver, was
kept in a “pharmacy in Poland.” This stone, if held to a wound, was said
to prevent mortification.[275]
[Illustration:
JADE TONGUE AMULETS FOR THE DEAD. CHINESE
Figs. 1–4, plain types; Fig. 5, carved in shape of realistic cicada
(a. upper, b. lower face); Figs. 6–9, conventionalized forms of
cicada. From “Jade,” by Berthold Laufer.
By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of National History,
Chicago.
]
Jade
The first mention of this material is made by Monardes, who says:[276]
The so-called nephritic stone is a species of stone, the finest of
which resemble the emerald crystal, and are green with a milky hue. It
is worn in various forms, made in ancient times, such as the Indians
had; some like fish, some like the heads of birds, others like the
beaks of parrots and others again round as balls; all, however, are
perforated, since the Indians used to wear them attached for nephritic
or gastric pains, for they had marvellous efficacy in both these
infirmities. Their principal virtue regards the nephritic pain, and
the passing of gravel and stone, in such sort that a gentleman who
owns one, the best I have ever seen, wearing it bound on his arm,
passed so much gravel that he often takes it off, thinking that it may
be injurious for him to pass such a quantity; and, indeed, when he
removes the stone he passes much less.... This stone has an occult
property, by means of which it exercises a wonderful prophylactic
effect, preventing the occurrence of nephritic pain, and should it
nevertheless ensue, removing or alleviating it. The duchess my lady,
having suffered three attacks of this malady during a short period,
had one of these stones set in a bracelet and wore it on her arm, and
from the time she put it on, she has never felt any pain, although ten
years have past. In the same way it has served many, who have realized
the same benefit. Therefore, it is highly prized and it cannot now be
worn so easily as in former times, as only caciques and noblemen own
it, and rightly, since it has such wonderful effects.
The Chinese Taoist adept T’ao Hung Ching, who flourished A.D. 500,
directs that when powdered jade is prescribed by a physician, carved
jade must not be used, nor unwrought jade that has been buried in tombs.
While sometimes a very fine powder was recommended, the usual plan was
to reduce the jade by pounding it into pieces the size of small pulse.
When administered in this form the Chinese physicians asserted that the
powder passed unchanged through the system, but that the essential
principle, the innate virtue, was absorbed by the patient. It relieved
heart-burn and asthma and stilled thirst. Taken regularly for a long
period it acted as a powerful general tonic, and had the special effects
of strengthening the voice and rendering the hair glossy; but all these
good effects could only be secured by the use of unwrought jade.[277]
The _lapis nephriticus_ (jade) was held to be a remedy for œdematous
affections of the feet. As this stone was so highly in favor in Europe
for a century or two after it had first been brought from America by the
Spaniards, many were of the opinion that it should be constantly worn to
exert its full curative power. There were some, however, who argued that
with this as with other remedies, constant and unremitting use weakened
the effect, so that when the wearer was suddenly attacked by some
disorder for which jade was a cure, his system would have become so
habituated to its action that it would no longer work as a remedy.[278]
Of the _lapis nephriticus_ the old Danish writer, Caspar Bertholin,
relates in 1628 that four prominent citizens of Copenhagen, whom he had
recommended to wear it to break up the calculi with which they were
afflicted, could testify to its worth, adding, somewhat naïvely, “at
least two of them can, for the two others are dead—but not of the
stone.” He himself, however, although he had sent for specimens at great
expense, to Venice, Nuremberg and Batavia, could not gain any relief
from his trouble, but nevertheless, firm in his conviction of the
special curative power of jade, he asserts that the calculi which
tormented him must have been exceptionally hard and flint-like, so that
they could not be broken up. The vogue enjoyed by this supposed remedy
in the Denmark of the time is illustrated in the case of the reigning
sovereign, Christian IV, who wore on his person a green nephrite until
the day of his death. This stone is still preserved in the Rosenborg
Museum collection among the relics of this king.[279]
[Illustration:
FRONTISPIECE OF MUSEUM WORMIANUM
Printed in Leyden in 1655, showing a part of the remarkable collection
of specimens illustrating natural history owned
by Olaus Wormius of Copenhagen.
]
Johannes de Laet was much impressed with the virtues of the _lapis
nephriticus_ as were most of his learned contemporaries, since he
assures his readers that an oblong, smooth, moderately thick stone in
his possession, having the color of honey and a very oily surface, had
given his wife great relief from the severe pains caused by renal
calculus, when the stone was bound upon her wrist. This particular
specimen he sent a few years later to his Danish friend, Ole Worms, for
the latter’s cabinet of natural history. De Laet writes that all the
virtues claimed for nephrite by Monardes in 1574, were observable in his
specimen.[280]
As late as 1726, there were some who retained faith in the curative
power of jade, for a record of that date informs us that the traveller
Paul Lucas had just come back to Paris from the Orient, and had brought
with him a specimen of the lapis nephriticus which he intended to have
cut up into thin slabs to bestow upon such of his friends as were
suffering from gravel or calculus, or similar troubles.[281]
After relating that a specimen of American jadeite had been sent to him
prior to 1602, Cleandro Arnobio states that when he showed it to a
Signor Michele Mercato, “a man well versed in medicine and in the
knowledge of minerals and herbs,” the latter immediately recognized it
and called it “nephite,” from its virtues, saying also that he had found
it useful in aiding parturition. A pharmacist, to whom it was shown in
turn, declared that he had used the stone in this way but did not know
its name. This is perhaps the earliest use of the name nephrite, the
form occurring in the Italian text being either due to a typographical
error, or to Arnobio’s ignorance of the correct spelling.
Proceeding to dilate upon the many virtues of this stone, Cleandro
quotes Aldobrando, “a physician, physicist and philosopher of Bologna,”
who described it as having usually a purple shade, almost like porphyry,
with various figures of herbs, flowers, knots and Arabic characters in a
yellow color. There were, however, according to the same authority, some
of a darker hue, with protuberances and bands of yellow and also black
spots, as though the stone were a section of the spleen. This kind was
recommended and used in diseases of the spleen. In another variety, in
the midst of the purple color might be seen a yellow stain with pittings
and hollows; this was thought to figure a section of the liver,
spattered with bile, and such stones were employed with good effect to
cure those suffering from bilious disorders. To discharge the bile a
dose of four grains was administered, the powdered stone being
thoroughly dissolved in wine. Still another kind, of a reddish hue,
“like coagulated blood,” full of pittings and veinings, was thought to
be more especially valuable as a remedy for disorders of the blood and
for checking hemorrhages.[282]
The learned Ko Kei asserts that the body of a man who had taken nearly
five pounds of jade did not change color after his death and states that
the body having been exhumed several years later did not show the
slightest alteration. Besides this, it was observed that there were gold
and jade around the tomb. Since then (in China), in the Kan period, the
custom was followed of embalming the dead bodies of the emperors, and of
preserving them in a garment ornamented with pearls and enclosed in a
case of jade.[283]
[Illustration:
JADE BELL OF THE KIEN-LUNG PERIOD: 1731–1795.
Carved out of a single piece of jade. Dimensions: height, 20 cm.;
width 14.6 cm.; thickness, from 1 cm. to
3.8 cm. From Berthold Lauter, “Jade, a Study in Chinese Archæology and
Religion,” Chicago, 1912.
By courtesy of the author and Field Museum of Natural History,
Chicago.
]
The Indians of Brazil prize the so-called Amazon stones (jade) more
highly than any other of the ornaments they wear. This is not chiefly
because of their ornamental quality, but rather because these _ita
ybymbae_ (green stones) have in many cases been handed down from
generation to generation for many centuries. They are of cylindrical,
tabular or other regular form and polished, and are believed to be
amulets affording protection against many diseases as well as against
snake bites. They are worn suspended from the neck and are regarded as
valuable aids in difficult parturition. Because of their remedial
virtues they are sometimes called _ita poçanga_, or “medicine stones.”
They are also found with the natives of the Caribbean islands and are
there called “the smooth stones from the far-off continent.”[284]
As in all superstitions, so in those concerning jade in China, the fact
that ill luck instead of good luck fortuitously resulted from the use of
the material was explained in a way that did not do violence to the
fundamental idea. We are told that on the road near Kneha, in Turkestan,
there lies a block of jade from the quarries of Raskam-Darya, in Eastern
Turkestan. This block was on its way to Peking, when orders came from
the imperial court not to forward any more jade from this quarry. The
reason was that the heir apparent had been taken ill after having slept
on a couch made of Raskam jade.[285]
Jasper
In the collection of the Biblioteca di Ravenna there is a red jasper
amulet engraved with a device representing Hercules strangling the
Nemæan Lion. Amulets of this type are recommended for the cure of the
colic by the Greek physician Alexander Trallianus, who flourished in the
first half of the sixth century A.D. He directs that this design be
engraved on a “Median stone,” which is then to be set in a gold ring and
worn by the patient.[286] The fact that the constellation Leo was
believed to rule over the stomach, and possibly over the liver also,
probably determined the selection of the design. On the reverse of the
Ravenna amulet are inscribed the letters K K K, which are believed to
stand for Κωλική, “colic.”[287]
After noting the power of the jasper (probably the red variety) to check
hemorrhages from any part, and its general effect upon the circulation
of the blood in reducing the pulse, thus calming desire and quieting the
restless mind, Cardano turns to another of the reputed virtues of this
stone, that of rendering the wearer victorious in battle. The true
reason for this he finds in the stone’s tendency to diminish passion,
and hence to render the wearer timid and cautious, for “the timid
usually conquer, since they avoid a doubtful contest if possible.”
Gesner states that he saw “in the possession of a writer of Lausanne,” a
green jasper, bearing the image of a dragon with rays, similar to the
gem described by Galen.[288]
Of the jasper, De Boot relates,[289] from his own experience, that for
checking hemorrhages the red variety is the most effective, and, in this
connection, he describes the case of a young woman in Prague, who had
suffered for six years from hemorrhages. Many different remedies had
been tried without avail, and when De Boot was called in to attend the
case, he advised the woman to wear a red jasper. As soon as this stone
was attached to her person the hemorrhage ceased. After wearing the
jasper for some time, the woman thought she could safely lay it aside,
but whenever she did so the hemorrhage returned after a longer or
shorter interval, while it always ceased immediately she resumed wearing
the stone. This seemed to prove conclusively that it checked the flow of
blood. Eventually the woman was so effectively cured that she was able
to give up wearing the stone. Green jasper, if worn attached to the neck
so as to touch the gastric region, was, according to De Boot, a cure for
all diseases of the stomach. The same writer alludes to the belief that
the virtue of this stone was enhanced if it were engraved with the image
of a scorpion while the sun was entering the constellation Scorpio, but
he rejects this belief as entirely superstitious and futile, while
admitting that, to obtain the best results, the jasper should always be
set in silver.
Pear-shaped pieces of red jasper seem to have been more especially
favored for use as amulets. Italian amulets of to-day show this, and
Bellucci finds that the form is chosen as representing a drop of blood,
and thus aiding, by sympathetic magic, in the cure of hemorrhages or
wounds, and preventing the infliction of the latter. Sometimes such
amulets of red jasper are attached to the bed-post by a red ribbon. In
the case of a particularly valued amulet of this type, Bellucci was
informed by the peasant owner that it owed its great virtue to having
been blessed by the parish priest. Thus the traditional power of a pagan
amulet received the sanction of the church and the object was associated
with purely Christian amulets.[290]
Jet
Jet, the _gagates_ of the ancients, was said to have been first found in
the river Gagates in Lycia, whence its name was derived. Galen, the
greatest physician of ancient times, reports, however, that he searched
in vain for this river, although he sailed in a small vessel along the
whole coast of Lycia, so that he might closely observe it. Still, he did
not give up his search for the material, even when he failed to find its
reputed source, and in Cælo-Syria, on a hill on the eastern shore of the
Dead Sea, he came across certain black, crustaceous stones, which
emitted a slender flame when placed in the fire. These must have been
small masses of bitumen, and, according to Galen, they were used for
chronic swellings of the knee-joint “which are difficult to cure.”[291]
The fumes of jet are mentioned as a remedy for the pest in one of the
earliest Greek medical treatises, written by Nicander, who flourished in
the second century B.C. He declares that the most virulent pestilence
could be driven away if the bedrooms were fumigated with the smoke of
the slow-burning jet.[292] The plague was called the black plague and
naturally the aid of a black substance was sought to cure it.