78 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



recorded that formerly a bezoar was \ialued at ten 

 times its weight in gold, and that a stone weighing 

 four ounces could formerly be sold for upwards of 

 ^200. So deeply rooted and so widespread was 

 the old-time belief in their efficiency that the whole 

 subject of bezoars is a highly interesting and 

 romantic subject, well worthy of the days when 

 men believed in the existence of the philosopher's 

 stone, when they thought that the earth was flat, 

 and that all Africa beyond the Atlas mountains 

 was alive with dragons and dog-headed men. 



Examined by the critical light of modern 

 science, bezoars are demonstrated to be concre- 

 tions or calculi occurring in the intestines of 

 various ruminant animals, such as the Persian 

 wild goat (Capra cegagr&$) and the mhorr gazelle 

 of Southern Morocco : indeed, every individual of 

 this gazelle is said by the Moors to contain two 

 bezoars. These concretions are either oval or 

 orbicular in shape, and consist of odourless taste- 

 less organic matter, more or less greenish in 

 colour. They are smooth externally, and their 

 size varies from that of an acorn to that of a 

 pigeon's egg. When broken, bezoars exhibit a 

 waxy fracture and are seen to consist of concentric 

 layers of material disposed about a small nucleus, 

 such as a bit of stone or the bud of a plant : when 

 burnt they are almost entirely consumed and leave 

 but little ash. These stones exhale an aromatic 



