but also in that of the stork. This idea was, however, entirely
erroneous in Bausch’s opinion, for though he had caused diligent search
to be made by all those who encountered such nests, no “eagle-stone”
could ever be found. To the supposed “stork-stones” had been given the
name _lychnites_, as they were believed to be luminous, their light
serving to frighten off any snakes which might be seeking the new-laid
eggs.[362]
Bausch enumerates and rejects a number of explanations to account for
the supposed presence of the _ætites_ in the nests of eagles. One theory
was that these stones served to give stability to the nest, and enabled
it better to resist the assaults of the wind; others asserted that the
coolness of the stones lowered the unduly high temperature of the eggs
and of the parent bird’s body; others again were inclined to attribute
to them a mysterious formative and vivifying power exerted on the eggs,
or else a talismanic power protecting these from injury. While rejecting
all these notions, as we have stated, and indeed denying the truth of
the assertion that such stones were ever found in eagles’ nests, Bausch
cites the authority of St. Jerome, in his commentary on Isaiah, chap.
lxvi, that the amethyst had been found with the young of the eagle,
being placed with them in the nest to protect them from venomous
creatures.[363]
That the “eagle-stones” were not always hollow is shown by a specimen
owned in the eighteenth century by the English family Postlethwayte.
This was solid, and had been cut into the shape of a heart, a hole being
pierced at the upper end so that the stone could be worn suspended. In a
curious letter written April 25, 1742, by Martha Postlethwayte, sister
of Sir Thomas Gooch, who successively presided over the episcopal sees
of Bristol, Norwich and Ely, to her daughter Barbara Kerrick, the writer
advises her correspondent, in order to avoid a repetition of former
misadventures, to “wear the eagle-stone and take Mrs. Stone’s receit,”
and adds: “I hope it may have good effect and make me a good
grandmother.” The result was favorable, and must naturally have affirmed
the faith in the powers of the stone.[364]
An inventory of the furniture, plate, jewels, etc., of Charles V of
France, made in 1379,[365] describes two stones preserved in a case of
cypress-wood which the king always carried about with him. One of these
was called the “holy stone” and aided women in childbirth. This was
probably an “eagle-stone.” It was set in gold and the setting was
adorned with four pearls, six emeralds and two balas-rubies. The other
stone, which cured the gout, was an engraved gem bearing the figure of a
king and an inscription in Hebrew characters. This description suggests
one of the Gnostic gems so common in the early Christian centuries. The
gem was suspended from a silver cord, so that it could be worn on the
neck, or perhaps attached to some other part of the body. We find in the
_comptes royaux_ of 1420 an electuary composed of powdered precious
stones, for the cure of the infirmities of Isabel of Bavaria, who was
fifty years old and had been for several years obese and a
valetudinarian.[366]
In some parts of the Orient the superstitious notion exists that the
_ætites_ occasionally emits a wailing sound during the night, and this
is said to be either an expression of the birth-pangs of the mother
stone, or else the cry of its new-born offspring, the small stones
enclosed within the geode, for the story goes that each night some of
these are generated.[367]
These “eagle-stones” still retain their repute in Italy, where they are
called _pietre gravide_, or “pregnant stones,” and are considered by
many of the peasants as almost indispensable aids to parturition. They
are in such demand that the lucky owners rent them for the nine months
during which they are worn. As soon as one case has been happily
concluded, the amulet is passed on to some other woman who is in need of
it. A fee of five lire, or one dollar, is paid in each case, and a
pledge worth a hundred lire ($20) is required before the stone is handed
over. Some amulets of this class bear Christian symbols.[368]
Geodes of this description consisting of limonite are to be found in
many places. Some of them are of relatively recent formation, and one of
these shows curiously enough that in addition to its other virtues the
_ætites_ can on occasion perform the functions of a savings-bank. This
strange specimen was found in 1846, at Périgueux, department Dordogne,
France. On opening the geode there appeared within some 200 silver coins
dated in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; all of these were
encrusted with the material forming the enclosing mass.[369]
Long, white, rough stones, calcareous shell growths, were sometimes
taken from snails and cockles. These were believed to have a marked
diuretic action, and were therefore strongly recommended for certain
diseases of the kidneys and the bladder. They were also believed to be
helpful in cases of difficult parturition. Although no details are
given, it seems most probable that the stones were reduced to a powder
from which some sort of potion was concocted,[370] this having no more
action than so much ground shell or marble dust.
[Illustration:
Extracting an alectorius. From Johannis de Cuba’s “Ortus Sanitatis,”
Strassburg, 1483.
]
The _alectorius_ or “cock-stone” is one of the most famous of those real
or supposed animal concretions that were known in ancient times. From
the age of Pliny—and unquestionably long before his time—there was a
popular belief that this stone was only to be found in the gizzard of a
cock which had been caponed when three years old, and had lived seven
years longer. This was believed to allow the substance to acquire its
boasted virtue, for the longer it remained in the body of the capon, the
greater its power. Such a “cock-stone” never exceeded the size of a
bean. From its association with the pugnacious fowl, the _alectorius_
became a favorite stone with wrestlers, and the great and invincible
Milo of Croton is said to have owed many of his victories to the
possession of one, for if held in the mouth, it quenched the thirst and
thus refreshed the combatant.
Many other virtues of this stone are recorded; it rendered wives
agreeable to their husbands, dissolved enchantments, brought new honors
and powers in addition to those already enjoyed, and helped kings to
acquire new dominions. How persistent was the faith in the virtue of the
_alectorius_ is shown by the fact that the great astronomer Tycho Brahe
greatly valued a stone of this kind, not larger than a bean, and
believed that it brought him luck in gambling and in love. Thomas de
Cantimpré[371] says that the name signifies an allurer or enticer,
because the stone excites the love of husbands for their wives.[372] In
order to secure the due effect it should be held in the mouth, possibly
because this would render the wife less eloquent.
[Illustration:
ALECTORIVS
Alectorius. From Mercati’s “Metallotheca Vaticana,” Romæ, 1719.
]
A specimen of the _alectorius_ is listed in the inventories of Jean Duc
de Berry (1401–1416). It is called there a “capon-stone” and is
described as having red and white spots. Several other objects to which
talismanic virtues were ascribed are also noted, such, for instance, as
the “molar of a giant,” set in leather; probably the tooth of a
hippopotamus, or the fossil tooth of some antediluvian creature. There
is also what is termed a “tester,” composed of several “serpent’s teeth”
(_glossopetræ?_), horns of the “unicorn” (narwhal’s teeth) and stones
regarded as antidotes to poison. These were all suspended by golden
chains, and were valued at seventy-five livres tournois.[373]
As a companion piece to the “cock-stone,” the hen furnished a concretion
possessing special virtues. This came from the fowl’s gizzard and was of
a sky-blue color; its Arabic name was _hajar al-ḥattaf_. If it were worn
by an epileptic, the attacks of his malady would cease; it favored
procreation and also nullified the effects of the Evil Eye, and it kept
children from having bad dreams if placed beneath their heads when they
were sleeping. Thus the effects it was fancied to produce differed from
those ascribed to the _alectorius_.[374]
In medieval times bunches of dried “serpent’s tongues” were sometimes
hung around salt-cellars or attached to spits; but frequently, for royal
or princely use, such tongues, or the jawbones of snakes, were set with
valuable precious stones and constituted a peculiar jewel termed in old
French a _languier_, or _épreuve_ (tester); for these utensils, often
very rich and tasteful specimens of the goldsmith’s art, were believed
to show in some way the presence of the much-dreaded poison in any
viands with which they were brought in contact.[375]
The Indians and Spaniards in South America made remedial use of a stone
said to be obtained from the cayman or alligator, at Nombre de Dios,
Cartagena, etc. This was employed as a cure for various intermittent
fevers. Monardes writes that he applied two of these _lapides caymanum_
to the temples of a young girl suffering from an attack of fever, and
found that the fever was alleviated thereby; but he doubts that fevers
could be entirely cured by this treatment.[376]
From New Spain was also brought the _lapis manati_, taken from the
manatee, or sea-cow. This does not appear to have been a stone, but
rather the cochleæ of the animal, the small bones in the head which
transmit the auditory vibrations to the sensorium. They were highly
valued by the Indians for their remedial action in cramps and colic, and
the Spaniards collected them and brought them to Spain to enrich their
very miscellaneous pharmacopœia. Sometimes they were taken internally,
but often they were set in rings or worn suspended from the neck as
amulets. This stone, or bone, is described as oval in shape and of a hue
resembling that of ivory. When pulverized and dissolved, the solution
was odorless and tasteless. They are in size often as large as a woman’s
clinched fist.[377]
[Illustration:
Lapis manati. From Valentini’s “Museum Museorum, oder Vollständige
Schau-Bühne,” Frankfurt am Main, 1714.
]
The ear-bones of fish, almost invariably in pairs, are still used as
amulets in Spain and Italy. One of their chief virtues is to protect
children from the Evil Eye, as well as from accidents of any kind. They
are also believed to preserve the wearer from deafness or diseases of
the ear.[378] This is quite in accord with the primitive fancy that the
different parts of the animal body had prophylactic or curative powers
in relation to any disease of that portion of the human body.
[Illustration:
Lapis malacensis, stone of the hedgehog or porcupine. From Mercati’s
“Metallotheca Vaticana,” Romæ, 1719.
]
Even the spider was supposed to produce a stone having remedial power,
especially that variety called by the Germans Kreuzspinne
(“cross-spider”). The belief was general in Germany, in the sixteenth
century, that it was very unlucky to injure one of these spiders;
indeed, Encelius writes that although he had never seen a
“spider-stone,” he had never dared to dissect one of the spiders to seek
for the stone. He also remarks that it was in no wise strange this
should have such power, since spider-webs were used as remedies for many
diseases. Naturally enough the “spider-stone” was an antidote against
poisons, and a belief was current that in a year when the plague was
raging no Kreuzspinne was to be seen.[379]
An attempt to induce one of these spiders to secrete or produce its
stone or calculus is told by Simon Paulli. On his return from France in
1630, he stopped for the summer with his revered master, Sennart, at
Wittenberg, in order to pursue his studies. One day they found by chance
that an enormous spider had wandered into the rain-water holder, and the
extraordinary size of the creature—it was as big as a muscat
nut—suggested the idea of making it the subject of experiment. It was
therefore put into a glass jar with a quantity of powdered valerian
root, this material (or salt) being reputed to have a favorable
influence in the production of the stone. However, the experimenters
were doomed to disappointment, for the poor spider was unable to live up
to its reputation. Tired of waiting for nothing, recourse was finally
had to the drastic measure of dissection, but no stone of any kind could
be found. This convinced the observers that all the talk about spiders’
stones was mere foolishness or deception. In a note in the Miscellanea
Curiosa, under date of 1686, the statement is made that such stones
could indeed be found, but only in the autumn season and in no other
part of the year.[380]
A small golden amulet, having the form of a heart and set with various
stones, was strongly recommended to ward off the plague by Oswald Croll,
a writer of the early part of the seventeenth century. On the upper side
of the heart-amulet should be set a fair blue sapphire; above, beneath,
and at either side of this should be put a toad-stone, or a
“spider-stone,” so as to give a cross effect. The “spider-stones” were
asserted to be powerful enemies of the plague. On the under side of the
heart a good-sized jacinth was to be set, the jacinth also being
credited with great virtue against plague or pestilence. The gold heart
was to be hollow within. To give a finishing touch to the efficacy of
the amulet it was necessary to take a living toad and keep the creature
suspended by its hind-legs until it died and dried up so that the body
could be reduced to a powder. This powder was then to be kneaded into a
sort of paste with a little very sharp vinegar and introduced into the
hollow interior of the gold heart.[381]
The “fretful porcupine” also contributed its stone to the series of
concretions; this was usually found in the animal’s head, and was
considered to be even superior to the bezoar as an antidote against
poison. If steeped in water for a quarter of an hour, the water became
so bitter that “there was nothing in the world more bitter.” Another
stone supposed to be found in the animal’s entrails possessed like
properties, but was said to lose none of its weight when placed in
water, while the first-mentioned stone became lighter. Tavernier bought
three of these stones, paying as much as five hundred crowns for one of
them.[382]
A jewel made of ambergris, in the J. Pierpont Morgan collection, is said
to be the only specimen of its kind that has been preserved for us from
medieval times. The perfumed material has been skilfully carved into the
symbolic figures of a woman and three children. At one time believed to
symbolize Charity, the later theory is that these figures have a less
pure significance and rather denote the reproductive energies, for
ornaments of this material were credited with aphrodisiac powers;
however, they were also believed to cure stomachic disorders. The
delicate perfume they exhaled was one of their chief titles to
admiration, and after the lapse of more than three centuries, this
particular jewel still emits a fragrant aromatic odor when it has been
held for some time in a warm hand. The style of the workmanship
indicates that this is a piece of cinquecento Italian work. It was at
one time in the Wencke Collection, in Hamburg, and later formed part of
the Spitzer Collection, until the sale of the latter in 1893.[383]
While many of the reports of the finding of immense masses of ambergris
(in one the weight of the mass is given as three thousand pounds) may be
classed as at least highly improbable, still there is abundant
unmistakable evidence that very large pieces have really occasionally
been found. In Rome and in the Santa Casa of Loreto costly and
artistically shaped pieces of ambergris were to be seen, which clearly
indicated that the weight of the original unworked mass must have
greatly exceeded that of the ornamental object. There can be no doubt of
the authenticity of the details regarding a great piece of ambergris
weighing 182 pounds bought in the year 1693 from King Fidori by the
Dutch East India Company for 11,000 rigsdalers or nearly $12,000 at the
current valuation of the coin of that time. In form it resembled a
tortoise-shell, was 5 feet 8 inches thick, and 2 feet 2 inches long.
After being long kept in Amsterdam as a curiosity, and having been
viewed there by thousands of persons, it was finally broken up and sold
at auction.[384] A lump extracted from a whale in the Windward Islands
weighed 130 pounds and was sold for $3500, or nearly $27 a pound.
The livers of certain animals provided concretions called haraczi by the
Arabs; these were much used as remedies for epilepsy. The Turkish
butchers, when slaughtering animals, always examined the livers
carefully so as to secure these stones. As the Jews were said to suffer
much from melancholia and epileptic disorders they valued the
liver-stones very highly.[385]
The use of fossils as talismans and for the cure of diseases was mainly
due to their strange and various forms. As color played the most
important part in the case of precious stones, each color being looked
upon as possessing a certain symbolic significance fitting the stone for
some special use or uses, so in the case of fossils the form was the
determining factor. Sometimes it was as the form of some creature held
by the superstitious to be particularly endowed with mysterious
qualities beneficial to mankind, at other times the fossil form
suggested some part of the human body, and was therefore believed to
afford protection to this part, or to cure any disease affecting it.
This will be made clearer by a brief notice of some of the principal
fossils which were favored in ancient and medieval times, either by
popular superstition or by those who from interested motives made use of
these superstitions for the purpose of gain, although they may have only
half believed in the real virtue of the objects they sold.
[Illustration:
Lapis Judaicus. Pentremite heads. From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni
Batavorum, 1655.
]
The remedial quality of fossils, which were believed to have been formed
from shells and marine animals deposited during the deluge, is ascribed
by Mentzel to the fact that they had been produced by the action of
fire, and hence had the same quality as though prepared and calcined by
the chemist’s art. They were therefore believed to have great medicinal
virtues in the cure of diseases.[386]
The lapis Judaicus[387] is described as of oval form, in shape like an
olive, and sometimes provided with a stem at the upper part as though it
had grown on a tree. The stone was soft and friable and in color either
white or grayish. The “male” variety had several rows of equidistant
spines, while the “female” was quite smooth. The description and the
figured representations of the lapis Judaicus show that it was a form of
pentremite—that is, a form of crinoid. This fossil, which was said to
come from Syria and Palestine, was taken in solution as a remedy for
calculus. The larger, male stones, were regarded as the better for renal
calculus and the smaller, female stones, for vesical calculus. Hence
this fossil was sometimes called tecolithos, from τήκειν, to dissolve,
and λίθος, stone.[388] Pliny also states that this name was applied to
certain concretions found in sponges and supposed to possess similar
virtues.[389] Of the remedial use of this stone, or fossil, Galen states
that when prescribed for vesical calculi, it was pulverized in a mortar,
and the powder being mixed with water, three glasses of the solution
were given. He adds, however: “I must say that as far as I have seen
they have no effect, but they are efficient in the case of renal
calculi.”[390]
[Illustration:
Glossopetræ. Fossil shark’s teeth. From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni
Batavorum, 1655.
]
No fossils were more prized than the so-called _glossopetræ_ or
“tongue-stones.” Although these were really the fossilized or petrified
teeth of a species of shark, Pliny and his sources believed them to be
meteorites, which “fell from the sky when the moon was waning.” This
was, indeed, a prevalent fancy regarding all dart-shaped, pointed or
sharpened fossils, or flints. Because of this celestial origin, the
_glossopetræ_ were said to control the winds and even to affect the
motions of the moon. At a later time the chief source of supply for
these petrified teeth was the island of Malta, and they were therefore
sometimes called _lingues Melitenses_, or Maltese tongues; the Germans
named them _Steinzungen_, or “stone-tongues.” According to popular
belief these so-called Maltese tongues were petrified snakes’ tongues
and they were brought into connection with the miraculous adventure of
St. Paul on the island of Malta, when he shook off a viper that had
fastened on his hand, and sustained no injury from the bite (Acts,
xxviii, 3–5). This was taken to signify that the poison had been taken
from all the snakes on the island.[391]
The material called “St. Paul’s Earth,” said to be derived from “St.
Paul’s Cave,” in the island of Malta, was reduced to a fine powder and
made into tablets. These were stamped with the Maltese cross; sometimes
on the opposite side some other figure was impressed. As there was
temptation to sell other material for the genuine, the purchaser was
warned to be on his guard. The virtues of this powder—which was
dissolved in wine or water—were numerous, and were the same as those
ascribed to the “tongues” (_glossopetræ_) and to the “eyes”; for it was
believed to be an antidote for poisons, cured the bites of venomous
creatures, and remedied many other ills. The “eyes” were set in rings so
that the material touched the wearer’s skin; the “tongues” were worn
attached to the arm or suspended from the neck. Sometimes vessels were
made from the earth. These were filled with wine or water, the liquid
being allowed to stand until it had absorbed the virtues of the earth;
it was then taken as a potion with good effects. The “tongues” and
“eyes” were often dipped in wine or water and were supposed to transmit
their curative powers to the liquid.[392]
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a strange belief was prevalent
among the ignorant to the effect that the fossil sharks’-teeth, the
“tongue-stones,” were the teeth of witches who sucked the blood of
infants; these “vampires” were called _lamiæ_ in ancient times.[393]
Probably the fact that a certain species of shark bore the name _lamiæ_
gave rise to this idea, which was therefore merely due to a confusion of
names. Nevertheless we can easily understand that this popular belief
added to the repute of the _glossopetræ_, for the more dreaded the
object the greater the power it was credited with possessing. In the
seventeenth century De Laet (d. 1649), the Dutch naturalist and
geographer, received in Leyden certain _glossopetræ_ sent him by a
friend in Bordeaux, who wrote that they would cure any one suffering
from soreness of the mouth, whether this were the result of having eaten
impure food, or were produced by some derangement of the secretions. The
“tongues” were to be dipped in spring water and would cause bubbles to
form therein; as soon as these disappeared, the water was to be used as
a gargle, and the mouth was to be washed with it two or three times. De
Laet’s friend assured him that this treatment would cure the disorder in
twenty-four hours.[394]
A seventeenth century amulet of a fossil shark’s tooth, mounted in
silver and found in an excavation at Salzburg, Austria, was among the
objects exhibited by the writer for the New York branch of the American
Folk-Lore Society, in the Department of Ethnology of the Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago, in 1893. They are frequently found at Lake
Constance but are from the ancient fossiliferous formations and not from
the lake. They are often sold as amulets.
[Illustration:
Belemnites. Fossilized bony end of extinct cuttlefish. From
Aldrovandi’s “Museum metallicum,” Bononiæ, 1648.
]