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Fabulous Stones, Concretions and Fossils

NOT only precious or semi-precious stones were used as charms or talismans and for curative purposes; a large number of animal concretions also were and are still somewhat in favor. These concretions, variously composed but usually containing a quantity of carbonate of lime, are found in different parts of animals' bodies, and they were believed to contain a sort of quintessence of the nature of the animal in which they occurred. For this reason the alectorius, from the body of the cock, one of the most widely-known of the animal stones in ancient times, was thought to confer valor upon the wearer, and is said to have been worn by athletes in their contests. In the case of venomous, or supposedly venomous, creatures, such as the toad and certain snakes, the stone was used as an antidote for poisons. This virtue was thought to be notably present in the so-called bezoar stone, taken from the stomach of a species of goat, as well as from some other animals. As we shall see, legend sought to account for the peculiar qualities of the bezoar by the tale that the animals in whose bodies the stones were formed had been bitten by serpents. Indeed, it seems not unlikely that the belief in the curative properties of the bezoar stone originally owed its existence to the finding of some such concretion in the body of an animal that had died from the effects of snake-bite.

As is well known, certain pathological conditions induce the formation of stones of various kinds and shapes in the human body also. Here the tendency has been to use these stones to counteract the disease which produced them. Renal or vesical calculi, for instance, were recommended for diseases of the kidneys and bladder, a treatment quite in accord with the popular idea of the homeopathic theory.

Another class of animal substances, namely, the fossil teeth of the shark, enjoyed a tremendous vogue at one time, and were known by the name of glossopetroe. These were usually regarded as stones, and because of their peculiar form were frequently assimilated to the belemnites and even to the flint arrow-heads and other prehistoric flint instruments, which were dug up in many places. All these flint artefacts were believed to have been precipitated to the earth by the discharge of electricity during a thunder-storm; in other words, they were "thunder-bolts." The same idea was frequently held as to the origin of the glossopetrae, and those found on the island of Malta were brought into connection with an incident of St. Paul's visit to that island.