188a] 337 



[Hofiiiian. 



Which had a high reputation in the Str.te from which it had been brouc^ht 

 was described by the present writer,* as consisting of a worn piece of 

 medio it ' '""'^ '''''''"^ ^'"' "' '''' ''''''''''''' «f '^-^^^^Ptioa attrib- 

 The first notice of stones used in extracting, or expelling, poisons 

 o curs about the middle of the thirteenth century, though the 1 nowirge 

 of them, and their use. by the superstitious of Asia Minor, without douLt 

 antedates that period. They were called be.oar stones.f and c nlld 

 a calculus, or concretion, found in the intestines of the wild goat of North 



7^": ''""Trr'-'" '^^"^^"' '""''"^^ by Aldrovandus as Hurcus Pe.o- 

 anUcus, and which Linn.^us mentions as Capra bezoartica. Various other 

 rummants were subsequently found to possess a similar calculus, such as 

 he chamois, and the 11am. and guanaco furnished the early Spauiar 

 HI South America with this highly valued article. The latter was reS^ 

 n..ed in therapeutics as the Occidental bezoar stone in contradistinction fo 

 the Oriental variety, which latter was considered more efficacious A 

 specimen in the British Museum, described and figured by Van RymsdykJ 

 JamaL;. Germanorum. although it had been found in 



In addition to the flxct that the fable of poison-extracting stones may be 



raced back to the Middle Ages, it is probable that they had been used 



ong anterior to that time, in Asia Minor, and it is n Je than probable 



that a knowledge of their reputed properties, and possibly sp chn n 



^ere brought back to Europe by Crusaders on their return fiom the Holy 



of^thrTen'T'^'i'v ' '"/''" '' ^''''''''' °" ^^^« ^^^« "f the old Church 

 of the Templars, dedicated to St. Paul, are of interest and may be briefly 

 mentioned. One of them is an earthen vase, and another, a medal These 



Tie Earthen Vase, on one side of which is seen, between two fleurs-de 

 lis, the figure of St. Paul bitten by a serpent, bears a Latin|| inscripaon. 



*The Western Lancet, Sau Fraucisco, Cal., ]S34. 



+ Known in German as Bezoarstein aurl " Herr des Giffif^-" av^av ju ■ , 



stances, such as ixjwdcred red co!;,, "'^ ? chsorders-in combination with other sub- 

 see inaugural ^n^:;^^^^ ^T^^T'T''^'' ^° "^ ^^^''^^• 

 1673; J^D^Ehrhardo. De ti.lctura bez«ressen;f;cat"VenT\S°'^^ 

 De lapide bezoar, Jente 1698 • f W v,>st,- n^i -^ "^'"^-I'-d, jcna, lojs , j. h. Slevogt. 

 ice considerate, Erflo^diL [l^o^j ' ' "'"''" bezoardico orientali physicc et med- 



tMuseumbritannicum,etc,Loudon, M.DCCXCI, Tab VI No 7 



II '■ Expelleo lapide hoc paflli virtvte vencnvm." 

 PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOr vwt 100 o,^ 



^xiA^s. sue. XXVI. i^y. 2q. printed may 15, 1889. 



