33 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1S65. 



"In a case where two were stung at the same 

 time by serpents, the stone was applied to one Avho 

 recovered, but the other for whom it could not be 

 used died. 



" It never failed but once, and then it was applied 

 after the twenty-four hours. 



"Its colour is so dark as not to be distinguished 

 from black. "P. M. Colquhoun. 



" Corfu, 7tli Nov. 1860." 



Upon the above I wish to make a few remarks. 

 While in Corfu, where I resided some years, I be- 

 came slightly acquainted with the gentleman in 

 question. Signer Ventura, of the Strada lleale, 

 Corfu. His family is, as stated, of great antiquity 

 in the island ; he does not know exactly when the 

 stone first came in their possession, but conjectures 

 it was brought from India by one of his ancestors. 

 I bave myself never seen this remarkable stone, but 

 I am fully satisfied as to its eificacy, as Ihave con- 

 stantly heard of people being cured by it ; in fact 

 the first thing the Greeks do when bitten by a veno- 

 mous snake, of which there are several species in 

 Greece, is to apply at once to Signor Ventura. Tlie 

 stone is then applied in exactly the manner described 

 above, and the patient in due time is cured. 



The instance alluded to where one died while it 

 was being used for another, is of a countryman who 

 was bitten by the olia or viper (whose bite is I 

 think more deadly there than ni England, owing, no 

 doubt, to the greater heat of the climate) while cut- 

 ting myrtle or bay for church decoration, lie, as 

 soon as bitten, ran to the town, distant some miles, 

 and arrived when the stone was in use. When it 

 was procured for him it would not adhere, for it 

 seems this singular stone requires to rest ni milk 

 for some time, to vomit as it were the poison ab- 

 sorbed. Before it was fit for use again the man 

 died . 



The stone was broken by a very clever but unscru- 

 pulous uative physician, who procured it to look at, as 

 he said, but who broke it in halves, and subjected one 

 half to the most severe tests, totally failing, however, 

 to discover its component parts. Contrary to the 

 opinion expressed in the preceding extract, the 

 fracture of the stone has slightly impaired its cura- 

 tive power, and in consequence I have heard the 



physician, "Dottore ," railed at in no very 



jneasured language by the Greeks. 



There is a current rumour in Corfu that the Jews 

 possess another and larger stone ; but I will not 

 vouch for the accuracy of this, nor do I profess to 

 give an opinion as to the nature of these mysterious 

 stones, but we have all heard of the so-called 

 " Bezoar Stone," taken as is said from the inside of 

 goats, monkeys, snakes, and toads, and its power in 

 rendering the bites of snakes innocuous. I have read 

 f)f such things in the works of Dumas and other 

 authors, and have always regarded such as fables, 

 Ijiit I iiad my faith greatly shaken in Corfu, and at 

 last became a convert, per force, to public opinion 

 and the wonders of this, which be it a bezoar-stone 

 or what, does, it is certain, cure snake bites in 

 every instance Avhen properly applied. Tlie wonder 

 is that iio_ one seems to know its composition, whe- 

 ther it is in reality the secretion of some animal or 

 a stone of an earthly absorbent nature. Once, on 

 mentioning it to an Indian acciuaintance, he did not 

 seem siirprised, as he told me that he had seen a 

 stone in India, known to possess the like powers, 

 and wliicli was taken irom the body of a deer. 



I havementioned these facts and my own crude 

 remarks in the hope that some more scientitic per- 

 son than myself can give a satisfactoiy cx])lanation 



of the nature of such stones, or adduce fresh evi- 

 dence in their support. A. Al. B. 



Note. — Zuhr IloJira, a blackish stone, is used iji 

 India for external application in cases of snake bites. 

 Sir W. B. O'Shaughnessy states that the Zeher 

 Morah is a kind of Bezoar, of which some are cele- 

 brated in Eastern works as remedies for snake-bites, 

 hydropliobia, &c. Aiuslic says that the Hindoos 

 sui)pose it to possess sovereign virtues, as an exter- 

 nal application in cases of snake-bites or stings of 

 scorpions ; and its various oriental names imply 

 that it destroys poisons. Dr. Davy, on examining 

 what are called snake-stones in India, found them 

 to \)Q bezoar. They are simply absorbents. The goat 

 bezoar has_ a smooth, glossy surface, and a dark 

 green or olive colour. — Ed. S. G. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Gorilla. — Three skulls of the gorilla, from 

 M. Du Chaillu, were exhibited at the Royal Societj^, 

 at the meeting on the 16th of January. 



Buonapae-te's Gull {Larus Buonapartii) — Oc- 

 curred in Ealmouth Harbour on the 4th January. 

 This is its first recorded visit to England. Twice 

 it has visited Ireland, and once Scotland. Its first 

 occurrence was in lSi8. 



A FEW days ago, whilst on a visit in Shropshire, a 

 lady who heard me putting in a plea for the birds, 

 gave me this fact. She was watching the trussing 

 of a pheasant for dinner, and as the crop was much 

 distended she had it opened, and the contents were 

 wire-worms ; of these real pests to the farmer there 

 were, she said, as many as woidd fill a teacup. This 

 occurred at a farmhouse in Salop, where game of all 

 kinds is in bad repute. — /. IF. Bedford. 



Notice op a Mule Breeding. — Mr. A. Eon- 

 lilanque, of the British Consulate at Alexandria, has 

 Commimicated to Mr. Darwin a notice of a " curious 

 birth," which has lately taken place at Cairo — that 

 of a foal produced by a mule. He says, so great 

 was the excitement at this unheard-of event amongst 

 the native population, that it produced an oificiat 

 inquiry. The mule is twenty-two years of age, has 

 no milk, and the jennet has to be ied.— Natural 

 History Recicw. 



In "WHAT Nest does the Cuckoo lay hek 

 Eggs? — Mr. Brockholes says, "I have always found 

 the titlark's nest the favourite with the cuckoo for 

 the deposition of its eggs. The skylark's appears 

 to be the next most favoured nest. I have also had 

 the egg from the nests of the sedge warbler, yellow 

 wagtail, yellow bunting, common bunting, and spar- 

 row ; but I do not remeniber an instance of two eggs 

 in the same nest." 



A Stauling w^ho had seen the World. — I 

 remember one poor bird (a starling) that had escaped 

 from domestication, in which it had entirely lost, or_ 

 probably never knew, the language or manners of 

 its race, and acquired only the name of its mistress ; 

 dishked and avoided by its cpngcners, it would sit, 

 by the hour together, sunning on some tall elm, 

 calling in a most plaintive strain, " Nanny, Nanny," 

 but, no Nanny came ; and our poor solitary cither 

 pined itself to death, or was killed, as its note 

 ceased. — Knapp's Journal of a Naturalist, 



