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Stones of Healing: Armenus

Lapis Armenus The lapis Armenus was well known to the Arabs under the name hajer Armeny, and their medical writers describe it quite accurately and distinguish it from the somewhat similar lapis lazuli, with which it was often confused in ancient times. Ibn Beithar states that if properly prepared it would not provoke nausea, as was otherwise the case. It was said to cause a very abundant evacuation of bile and must have been regarded as an efficient remedy for the bilious disorders so general in warm climates.

A "blue amulet" against vertigo, melancholia and epilepsy could be made up of the following ingredients: shavings from an elk's horn and from a human skull, to be reduced to a fine powder, the excrement of a peacock, white agate, lapis lazuli or lapis Armenus, of which enough was to be used to give the required sky-blue tint. The whole mass was then to be softened by the addition of gum tragacanth, and formed into heart-shaped tablets, which were to be dried out in the air, and then smoothed on a turning-lathe. These amulets were to be worn attached to the neck or the arm, sometimes they were enclosed in a little receptacle of silver or of red sandal-wood and suspended from the neck. Lapis Lazuli In Papyrus 3027 of the Berlin Museum, a record that dates from about the fifteenth century B.C., and appears to be contemporaneous with the celebrated Papyrus Ebers, we have directions for the curative use of three stones as amulets; namely, lapis lazuli, malachite (Amazon stone?) and, probably, red jasper. The interpretation of the text offers considerable difficulty, but it seems that the stones were worked into the form of beads and then strung on a cord and suspended from a sick child's neck. Thereupon a formula was recited, calling upon the disease to pass through the beads and disperse itself through water and air, or, more literally, to attach itself to the denizens of water and air. The translation of Dr. Adolph Erman is as follows: [A red bead? of lapis-lazuli thereon.] . . . a green bead? of malachite is thereon. a red bead of jasper? is thereon O, ye beads! fall upon the haunches [of the . . .] in the flood; on the scales? of the fish in the stream; on the feathers of the birds in the heavens. Hasten forth! nsw, fall upon the earth Let this text be recited over the beads?, one of lapis-lazuli, the other of jasper?, the other malachite, which are drawn on a string of . . . and hung upon the neck of a child.

Erman does not venture to translate the name of the disease (nsw), but says that another word derived from the same root signifies a discharge from the nose. Possibly we have to do with croup or some similar disease of the respiratory organs.

A curious prescription for the cure of cataract is given in the Ebers Papyrus, dating from about 1600 B.C. The six ingredients are as follows: genuine lapis lazuli, verdigris salve, a resinous substance perhaps similar to what is to-day called tabasheer, milk, stibium, and "crocodile-earth," the slime of the Nile. It is possible that the word chesbet, which usually signifies lapis lazuli, was understood in this case as indicating some other stone, such as that known by the name of lapis Armenus--this latter is a carbonate of copper and really possesses astringent properties.

For remedial use a lapis lazuli (cyanus) of deep hue is recommended by Dioscorides. This stone was to be burned thoroughly and the resultant powder moistened so that a kind of paste was obtained. This was claimed to have an astringent and caustic effect, and was freely used as a counter-irritant. Probably here as in other cases a sulphate of copper has been confused with the lapis lazuli. The ancients did not favor the administration of lapis lazuli internally, and Braunfels therefore regarded the free use of pills of lapis lazuli which was common in his time as a source of grave danger. The lapis Armenus, however, if well prepared and properly washed, was less to be feared; but, unfortunately, the genuine stone was rarely to be found in the apothecaries' shops.

Malachite Many medicinal virtues were ascribed to malachite. Worn as an amulet, it averted attacks of faintness, prevented hernia, and saved the wearer from danger in falling. In this latter respect similar powers seem to have been admitted in the case of the green malachite as were attributed to the light blue or greenish-blue turquoise. If malachite were reduced to a powder, dissolved in milk and taken as a potion, it cured cardiac pains and colic; mixed with honey, and applied with a linen cloth to a wound, it stanched the flow of blood, and cramps were relieved if this solution were applied to the affected part; lastly, if mixed with wine, it was a cure for virulent ulcers. Powdered malachite was sometimes administered medicinally, with what results we have little definite information; certainly, if not very carefully used, the effect would have been anything but favorable. A friend of De Boot once told the latter that a dose of six grains of powdered malachite acted as a purgative, but the wary doctor confesses that he never ventured to test the efficacy of this prescription. In Bavaria, at the present time, mothers and midwives are fond of wearing pieces of malachite set in rings or strung for use as necklaces. These are believed to help the dentition of children and are also thought to bring more clients to the midwives. Amulets of this and other kinds were sold in Bavaria, in the seventeenth century, by wandering students and by gypsies.