98 POPULAR SCIJENCE MONTHLY. 



That St. Paul is the one appealed to in the above instances may 

 be attributed to the fact that he was not affected by the bite of a 

 serpent when almost instant death was the result expected by his 

 associates (Acts, xxviii, 3-6). 



It would appear that the Old-World custom of employing cal- 

 culi or stones for the extraction of serpent venom gradually led 

 to the practice in modern times of applying similar substances to 

 wounds made by the bite of rabid dogs. These calculi are of a 

 cretaceous or chalky nature, and anything of a cretaceous charac- 

 ter may, if dry, possess absorbent properties ; and it is probable 

 that to this property may be attributed the first employment of 

 the Oriental bezoar stones as capable of extracting or expelling 

 poisons. 



The prescription for the use of the so-called mad stone is gen- 

 erally as follows: Place it against the wound until it becomes 

 saturated with the poison, when it will of its own accord fall off. 

 Then boil it in milk to remove the poison, and repeat the applica- 

 tion until the stone refuses to adhere. 



A short time since I examined a celebrated North Carolina mad 

 stone, one that had widespread reputation. This stone was of the 

 size and form of an ordinary horse-chestnut, white in color, and 

 consisted of feldspar, a hard mineral usually found in granite. 

 It possessed no absorbent properties whatever, and its reputed 

 ability to extract poison or any other liquid was utterly unworthy 

 of a second thought. 



We are all familiar with the frequently circulated reports of 

 the cures performed by mad stones, reports pretending to emanate 

 from reputable physicians and others, but when we attempt to 

 trace the source from which they emanate they are found to be of 

 questionable authority. 



To illustrate the esteem in which these substances are held, I 

 will only add that in 1879 a mad stone was sold to a druggist in 

 Texas for two hundred and fifty dollars. The specimen was found 

 in the stomach of a deer.* 



It may be of interest to refer to a famous specimen, known as 

 the " Lee " stone or penny,f which consisted of a small, heart- 

 shaped pebble of carnelian or agate, set in a silver coin about 

 one inch in diameter. The specimen was traditionally asserted 

 to have been brought from the Holy Land, and it is said to 

 have suggested to Sir Walter Scott the design of his Talisman. 

 According to the legend, Robert Bruce wished that after his 

 death his heart should be carried to the Holy Land by Sir James 

 Douglas ; and in 1329 the latter, accompanied by Simon Lochart, 

 of the Lee, proceeded on the mission. In Spain the Scots were 



* Journal of Chemistry, Boston, 1879. f Jones. Op. cit., p. 330. 



