shaft, were thought to possess special powers, sometimes offensive as
against enemies, and again defensive for the protection of the wearer.
Thus the belemnites,[395] considered to represent the form of a dart,
when dissolved and taken as a potion, were said to prevent nightmare and
to guard against enchantments. They are often either ash-colored or
whitish, and sometimes reddish-black. All these varieties were
frequently found during the sixteenth century in Hildesheim, and in the
marble grotto near the castle of Marienburg, called the “Dwarf’s
Grotto.”[396]
The umbilicus marinus, a fossil shell, which in form bore a great
likeness to the human navel, was called “sea-bean” by sailors. Usually
of a pale saffron hue, some specimens have a reddish or blackish tinge.
In the sixteenth century it was believed to have astringent properties.
We are also told that women used it as one of the ingredients of a
cosmetic for whitening the complexion.[397]
Certain echinites (fossil sea-urchins) found on the Baltic coast are
called by the peasants _Adlersteine_ and _Krallensteine_ (“eagle-stones”
and “claw-stones”), since they believe that while the substance was soft
eagles had seized them with their talons, thus producing the peculiar
forms and markings. Whoever had a fossil of this description on his
table while a thunder-storm was raging ran no risk of being struck by
lightning.[398]
Reich describes another variety of echinite, which was popularly known
as a “toad-stone,” the specimen he figures having been given him by a
certain Johannis Krauss. In this appeared some large cavities, whose
presence Reich found it very difficult to explain, until Krauss informed
him that they had been made by a former owner of the fossil who had
scraped out a few grains of the substance each year for medicinal use.
He was persuaded that his long life—he attained the age of eighty—was
entirely owing to his employment of this remedy.[399]
The _trochites_ and _entrochus_, named Räderstein, or “wheel-stone,” by
the Germans, are other fossils to which remedial or talismanic virtue
was accorded in popular fancy. These “wheel-stones,” while detachable,
fitted as closely together in the original formation as though they had
been skilfully adjusted by a clever artisan.[400] De Laet states that
when immersed in oil they gave forth bubbles and moved about
spontaneously. Still another of these fossils believed to be amulets was
the _enastros_, which De Boot terms the _asteria vera_, or genuine
asteria, since it not merely showed a star-shaped marking as did the
fossil coral bearing the name astroites, but was shaped like a
five-pointed star. As with the _trochites_, chains of these little stars
were found, closely joined together but separable from one another. Some
called them “star-seals,” because the stellar imprint was sharp and
clearly defined as though the work of an engraver or gem-cutter.[401]
These fossils are types of encrinites.
[Illustration:
Brontia. Fossil sea-urchins. From Mercati’s “Metallotheca Vaticana,”
Romæ, 1719.
]
[Illustration: TROCHITES]
[Illustration: ENASTROS]
Trochites│Fossil
│Crinoid From Mercati, “Metallotheca Vaticana,” Romæ, 1719.
Enastros │Stems.
The sections of the stem-like fossils called _entrochus_ by the older
writers have been named St. Cuthbert’s beads in later times, while the
fossil called _lapis Judaicus_ has borne the name of “stone-lily,”
because in form it resembles the lily. Ages ago the stem and flower-like
head united constituted a crinoid (a marine zoophyte). These aquatic
creatures—half-plant and half-animal—usually twine their roots about
some shell in the depths of the waters, but sometimes they become
detached and then, moving their delicate tentacles, they creep along the
bottom of the sea.
[Illustration:
Bucardites triplex. From Aldrovandi’s “Museum metallicum,” Bononiæ,
1648.
]
In olden times parts, or segments, of an animal were worn as a
protection against harm from that particular creature, or else to endow
the wearer with some of its real or fancied qualities. In modern times
this tendency finds expression in the wearing of jewels of animal form,
wherein precious stones are grouped and arranged so as to constitute
different parts of the creature’s body. Such jewels are often looked
upon as “mascots.”
A peculiar fossil was known to the Germans by the name of Mutterstein,
and is called _hysterolithus_ in the Latin treatises of Agricola, De
Boot, etc., a word of Greek derivation signifying the resemblance of the
object to an organ of the body. These fossils are formed from the
contents of certain shells, and retain the shape of the enclosing shell,
which has broken away. Some of these formations were called _enorchi_
from a fancied resemblance to another organ and were regarded as phallic
emblems, while others were thought to figure the heart, especially large
specimens being named _bucardites_, or “ox-hearts.” This name is already
employed by Pliny. The _hysterolithus_ was used to cure various female
diseases, and to the _bucardites_ was accorded among other virtues that
of increasing the wearer’s courage.[402] The _hysterolithus_ is believed
to be the same as the _autoglyphus_ mentioned by pseudo-Plutarch as
having been found in the river Sagaris, in Asia Minor. Its peculiar
shape was regarded as symbolizing Cybele, the mother of the gods, and
the story ran that if one of the unfortunate male victims of Eastern
jealousy should obtain a stone of this kind he would become reconciled
to his sad lot and would cease to regret his lost manhood.
[Illustration:
Types of Ombria (Fossil Sea Urchins). From Mercati’s “Metallotheca
Vaticana,” Romæ, 1719.
]
If we were inclined to accord the title of precious stones to stones
greatly esteemed for their talismanic virtues, a high place in this
category would be assigned to the sâlagrâma-stone of the Hindus.[403]
Among the aboriginal inhabitants of India this was regarded as a symbol
of the female principle in nature, and of its representative the goddess
Prakrti, and in the later Hindu belief the stone was looked upon as the
special emblem of the god Vishnu, the “Preserver,” the second personage
of the Hindu Trimurti. It is therefore ardently revered by those who are
more especially devoted to the worship of Vishnu. These stones are
fossil formations, either of ammonites or univalve mollusks of a spiral
order, and consist of a number of spirals surrounding a circular,
central perforation. They are generally the hardened filling of the
shell itself, which has entirely weathered away. For the stone to be an
effectual talisman, the diameter of the perforation should not exceed
one-eighth of the total diameter of the sâlagrâma. The best specimens
are said to be found in Nepal, on the upper course of the Gandakî, which
flows into the Ganges from the north, and is called the Salagrama River,
because the sacred stone is found in it.
[Illustration:
Cornu ammonis (Fossil Nautilus.) From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni
Batavorum, 1655.
]
There can be little doubt that we have here a substance similar to the
fossils described by Pliny and his successors under the names _brontia_,
_ombria_, _ovum anguinum_, and _cornu ammonis_, and it is most probable
that in India, as in Europe, these fossils were believed to have fallen
from heaven, and were associated with the thunderbolt. Hence they would
be regarded by the Hindus as more especially sacred to Vishnu, who was
originally a divinity representing the various forms of light, one of
his manifestations being the lightning.
The sâlagrâmas must be carefully chosen, for not all of them are
luck-bringing, some being bearers of ill-fortune. A black sâlagrâma
brings fame to the owner, and a red one, a crown; but one with an unduly
large perforation would cause dissension and strife in a family, one
with irregularly formed spirals portends misfortune, and a brown one
would bring to pass the death of its owner’s wife. Each faithful
worshipper of Vishnu has one of these stones, but two may not be in the
same house. To give away a sâlagrâma would be equivalent to casting away
every prospect of good fortune. However, only one who belongs to the
three highest castes is entitled to become an owner of the sacred stone,
in which the very spirit of Vishnu is supposed to dwell; neither a Sudra
nor a Pariah enjoys this privilege, which is also denied to women.
The sâlagrâma is carefully wrapped in linen cloths, and must be often
washed and perfumed. The water with which it has been washed becomes a
consecrated drink. The master of the house must adore the stone once
each day, either in the morning or in the evening. As the sâlagrâma not
only brings happiness in this world but also insures felicity in the
future world, it is held over the dying Hindu while water is allowed to
trickle through the orifice. This ceremony appears to have a certain
analogy to the rite of extreme unction administered in the Catholic
Church.
It is stated by Finn Magnusen that in Iceland, toward the beginning of
the last century, he saw superstitious peasants carefully guard small
stones of peculiar appearance in pretty bags filled with fine flour.
They treated these stones with great reverence and either wore them on
their persons or placed them in their beds or other furniture.[404]
The fossils known as _brontiæ_, _ombriæ_ and _chelonites_ were all
believed to be antidotes for poison and also to make the wearer
victorious over his enemies. Hence they were sometimes set in the
pommels of swords. That these objects were equally potent in peace, is
shown by the fact that Danish peasant women placed them in their milk
pails to ward off the effects of any spell that might have been cast
over the cow’s milk by a malevolent witch.[405]
David Reich notes the four kinds of astroites, or “victory stones,”
given by De Boot; the first, marked with small stars; the second, with
rose-like figures; the third, with wavy lines, like the convolutions of
a worm; the fourth, with obscure and indefinite markings. To these
varieties Reich adds a fifth, the convex side of which was marked with
black crosses, while the other, flat side, showed larger crosses
surrounded by circles; all these markings were so perfect that an artist
could scarcely imitate them; this specimen he had set, with other
precious gems, in a silver cross, the flat side of the fossil, at the
back of the cross, being covered by a heart-shaped topaz.[406] These
were all specimens of fossil coral.
[Illustration:
_.ASTROITES._
Specimens of Astroites (asteria), or fossil coral. From Mercati’s
“Metallotheca Vaticana,”
Romæ, 1719.
]
The saga of Dietrich of Bern relates of King Nidung that on the eve of a
battle in which his forces were much inferior to those of the enemy, he
was filled with despair to find that he had left his “victory stone” in
his castle, miles away from where he had pitched his tent. Overmastered
by his desire to regain possession of his stone at this critical time,
Nidung offered a large sum of money and his daughter’s hand to anyone
who would bring it to him before the battle began. The distance was so
great and the time so short that the task seemed utterly impossible, and
a young esquire, Velint by name, was the only one willing to risk the
enterprise. He was favored in his quest by having a horse of wonderful
strength and endurance, by whose help he barely succeeded in making the
long journey to the castle and returning in time. King Nidung, wearing
his invincible stone, was the victor in the battle, and he did not fail
to carry out his rather rash promise.[407]
Amulets of fossil coral are freely used in Italy, especially in the
province of Aquila, and are called “witch-stones” (_pietre stregonie_).
These are similar to one type of the “asterias” worn as amulets in
ancient and medieval times. Many of the Italian amulets are incised or
engraved with Christian subjects, one figured by Bellucci bearing the
head of Christ on the obverse, and Christ on the cross on the reverse
side; on others appears the image of the Virgin Mary.[408]
Crystalline quartz will sometimes show a star either at base or apex, if
cut _en cabochon_. This is due to the presence of acicular crystals of
rutile or to air spaces. Those specimens from Albany, Maine and other
places present this phenomenon, and Starolite and Astrolite or “star
stone” has been suggested as an appropriate name for this variety.
V
Snake-Stones and Bezoars
The bezoar stone, according to the usual belief, was taken from the
intestines or the liver either of the goat or of the deer. The Arabs
told a strange tale as to the generation of this stone.[409] They said
that at certain seasons the deer were wont to devour snakes and other
venomous creatures, whereupon they would straightway hasten to the
nearest pool and plunge into it until only their nostrils were above the
water. Here they remained until the feverish heat caused by the poison
they had swallowed was alleviated. During this time stones were formed
in the corners of their eyes; these dropped as the deer left the pool,
and were found on its banks. The stones were a sovereign antidote for
poisons of all kinds. When reduced to a powder and taken internally, or
when simply bound to the injured part, they effected a cure by inducing
a profuse perspiration. It is curious to note that this tale
foreshadows, in a fanciful way, the latest progress of medical science;
namely, the use of a substance generated in the body of a diseased
animal as an antidote for the disease from which the animal suffered.
We are also told that Abdallah Narach narrates the case of the Moorish
king of Cordoba, Miramamolin, as Monardes gives the name, to whom a
violent poison had been administered and who was cured by means of a
bezoar stone. The king, overcome with gratitude for the preservation of
his life, gave his royal palace to the man who had brought him the
stone. Monardes remarks: “This certainly was a royal gift, since we see
that at this day the castle of Cordova is something rare and of great
value and the stone must have been highly prized when such a price was
paid for it.”[410]
[Illustration:
Application of a besoar to cure a victim of poisoning. From Johannis
de Cuba’s “Ortus Sanitatis,” Strassburg, 1483.
]
The first mention of the bezoar stone is by the Arabic and Persian
writers. In the Arabic work attributed to Aristotle, and which was
certainly written as early as the ninth and possibly in the seventh
century, it is even described among the precious stones. The same is
true of the oldest Persian work on medicine, namely, that of Abu Mansur
Muwaffak, composed about the middle of the tenth century. A valuable
monograph on the bezoar was written in 1625 by Caspar Bauhin, a learned
professor and physician of Basel; this work contains all that was then
known of the various qualities ascribed to this substance by the older
authors.
The bezoar does not appear to have been used medicinally in Europe
before the twelfth century, when the so-called pestilential fevers
became very prevalent. In their distress people turned to the lapis
bezoar, which was so highly recommended by the Arabic physicians whose
works were, at that time, becoming more widely known through the
intercourse between the Spaniards and the Moors. Caspar Bauhin
writes:[411] “Even to-day princes and nobles prize it very highly and
guard it in their treasures among their most precious gems; so that the
physicians are forced, sometimes against their better judgment, to
employ it as a remedy. So great are its virtues that many imitations are
made.”
The name bezoar, derived from the Persian _padzahr_ (_pad_, expelling;
_zahr_, poison), or some of its many variants, was often used to
designate any antidote for poison, so that the Arabs would say that such
or such a substance was the bezoar for a particular poison. This should
be understood to signify that the stone received its name because it was
regarded as a specially powerful antidote.
The various authors give many different sources for the bezoar. We have
already cited Monardes and repeated his account; other writers asserted
that this concretion came from the heads of certain animals, others
again said that it was taken from their livers, and still others stated
that it was formed in the eye of the stag. Naturally, concretions of a
similar form and quality may well have been obtained from any of these
sources. Indeed, one of the most potent bezoars was that taken from the
monkey. A specimen of this kind is described and figured in the Museum
Brittanicum[412] with the following description:
A Monkey’s Bezoar, very much resembling one from the goat, of an
oblong shape broke in two, with a long straw, or some such like
substance in its centre; its colour brown, pink, or deep yellow. I
found it set as generally they are for preservation in a little chest,
or case, of what is called _Lignum Læevisiunum_; the pith or medula of
which appears to resemble the common elder, and may, for what I know,
be as curious as the stone itself.
Toll quotes[413] Jacob Bontius to the effect that these monkey bezoars,
which were rounded and a little longer than the finger, were considered
the best of all.
As the chief quality claimed for the bezoar was that it induced a
profuse perspiration, we might understand that it could have a
beneficial effect in some cases. It was also remarked that the solution
of the stone blackened the teeth and those who used it were therefore
obliged to take great care that the medicine should not touch their
teeth.
[Illustration:
Monkey bezoar. From Valentini’s “Museum Museorum oder Vollständige
Schau-Bühne,” Frankfurt am Main, 1714.
]
We learn that a genuine stone was valued at 50 gold crowns (about $125)
in Calcutta; another is said to have brought 130 crowns ($325). De Boot
states that a drachm of the powdered stone was worth two ducats ($5) in
Lower Germany and four ($10) in Upper Germany; why, he does not say.
Garcias ab Horto, a Portuguese physician of Goa, in India, describes a
variety of the bezoar called the Lapis Malacensis, used as an antidote
for poisons in Malacca. This was found in the liver of the hedgehog, and
the substance was held in such esteem that of two found in the fifteenth
Century, one was sent as a very valuable gift to the Portuguese Viceroy
at Goa. Garcias describes this as being of a light purple hue, bitter to
the taste and smooth as the skin of a toad. The custom was to steep the
stone in water for some time and then to give this water to the patient
as a medicinal draught. A specimen was brought to Rome from Portugal by
Cardinal Alexandrinus, and Mercato states that he had seen a test of its
virtues as an antidote for poisons. In the opinion of De Boot: “As an
antidote for any poison which may have been administered, nothing more
excellent than the bezoar stone can be had.”[414] It was even asserted
that if a bezoar set in a ring were frequently placed in the mouth and
sucked, this would afford a cure for poison by inducing a profuse
perspiration.[415] Besides its exceptional quality as an antidote for
poisons, this stone was regarded as a panacea for all chronic and
painful diseases, especially if taken each morning for several days,
after the use of a cathartic.
[Illustration:
1. Hedge-hogstone from Malacca. 2, 3. Spurious stones of this type
manufactured in Ceylon. From Kaempfer’s “Amœnitatum exoticarum
fasciculi V,” Lemgoviæ, 1712.
]
Besides this use as a remedy or antidote, the bezoar was credited with
the powers of an elixir of life, for some of the Hindus employed it as a
preservative of youth and vigor. Twice a year, after dosing themselves
with a strong cathartic medicine, they would take ten grains of powdered
bezoar daily for fifteen days, and they are said to have derived great
benefit from this treatment.[416]
The celebrated practical test of the bezoar’s power as an antidote to
poison, recorded by the famous French surgeon, Ambroise Paré
(1510–1590), was performed in Paris with one which had been brought from
Spain to Charles IX of France. Clearly the only perfectly satisfactory
means of ascertaining whether the reputed virtues of this curious
concretion were really present was to make an experiment therewith upon
a living human being. Now it chanced that just at this time there was in
the royal prison a cook who had stolen two silver dishes from his
master, and who, in accord with the pitiless laws of that period, had
been condemned to death for this offence. Here was an excellent
opportunity, therefore, to make a trial of the bezoar, but as the
adjudged legal penalty could not well be arbitrarily changed to some
other form of death, the matter was first laid before the condemned man
himself, with the promise that should he not succumb to the poison he
would be given his liberty. As at the worst this was taking a chance of
life in exchange for certain death, the cook readily consented. The
necessary preparations having been made, the poison was administered and
immediately thereafter the man was given a dose composed of a part of
the bezoar reduced to powder and dissolved in liquid. The effects of the
poison were soon manifested by violent retching and purging, and when
Paré was called in an hour later, he found the man in great agony, with
blood issuing from his nose, ears and mouth, and from the other bodily
apertures. He piteously complained that he felt as though consumed by an
inward flame, and before another hour had passed he expired, crying out
that it would have been much better to have died by hanging. From his
report, Paré seems not to have been present when the poison was given
and not to have been informed of its character, as he merely states that
from the results of his autopsy and from the symptoms he had observed,
he concluded that it was corrosive sublimate. Probably, conscientious
and truly religious as he was, he was unwilling to take an active part
in such an affair. The king ordered that his discredited bezoar should
be cast into the fire and destroyed. As an illustration of Ambroise
Paré’s humility and piety we may cite his remark on the recovery of one
of his patients: “I treated him and God cured him.”[417] It was Paré who
operated upon Admiral Coligny after the unsuccessful attempt on the
latter’s life made a few days before his assassination on St.
Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572, at the outset of the dreadful
massacre.
Alluding to the ill-success attending the experiment performed by
Ambroise Paré, in order to test effectively the supposed virtues of the
substance as an antidote for poisons, Engelbert Kaempfer remarks that
Paré’s bezoar may have been of inferior quality, and, moreover, bezoars
could not be successfully used to counteract mineral poisons, but were
only useful when vegetable poisons had been taken. This opinion was
probably due to the fact that the bezoar itself is largely or in the
main a vegetable substance. That the interior layers of a specimen
should be inferior in quality to the external layers was not for
Kaempfer a proof of its spurious character, but might easily be
accounted for by a change of pasturage in the case of the creature in
whose body the concretion had formed.