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Snake Stones and Bezoars: Chinese

The Chinese work entitled P'ing-chou-k'o-t'an, by Chu Yu, written in the first quarter of the twelfth century, mentions the mo-so stone (the bezoar) and states that it was worn in finger rings. Should anyone have reason to suppose that he had taken poison, all he had to do in order to escape any bad effects was to lick the bezoar-stone set in his ring. The Chinese writer adds that it might thus be justly called "a life preserver."

The Dayaks of Borneo have a method for producing bezoars which they call guligas. This is to shoot an animal with an unpoisoned arrow. When the wound heals, there is often a hardening of the skin, which finally results in the formation of a guliga. In some of these concretions the point of the arrow still remains. The guligas of natural formation are frequently found between the flesh and the skin of apes and porcupines.