224 NICOLAUS STENO 



cribration, and that after having been secreted from it likewise 

 in various ways, and having been transmitted into the internal 

 peculiar fluid by fresh cribration, they are added to the solid 

 parts in the form of either fibres or parenchymata, according as 

 they have been directed by the property of a given part, un- 

 known to us, included in the consideration of the three forego- 

 ing statements. 



If, now, we wish to reduce to definite classes the solids 

 naturally contained within solids in the fashion indicated, we 

 shall find some of them produced by accretion from the external 

 fluid, which are due .either to deposits, as the strata of tffe 

 earth ; or to incrustations, as the agate, onyx, chalcedony, 

 eaglestone,^ bezoar,^ and so on ; or to filaments, as the amian- 



^ The Latin word is aetites. The ' eaglestone ' is defined thus by the New Oxford Dic- 

 tionary : " A hollow nodule or pebble of argillaceous oxide of iron, having a loose nucleus, 

 which derived its name from being fabled to be found in the eagle's nest, and to which medic- 

 inal and magical properties were ascribed." 



Some of these properties are mentioned by Damigeron, de Lapidibus, Lapis Aetites : 



' The aetites is a very great safeguard of nature ; God gave this stone to men as a protection 

 to health. The eagle carries the stone to its nest from the uttermost parts of the earth for the 

 sake of guarding its eggs. . . . The aetites has a purple color and a very rough appearance, 

 and has another stone within it, as if it were pregnant. It is useful to pregnant women, for 

 when bound upon the left arm it prevents abortion. It is also very useful for accelerating 

 parturition. For if taken from the woman's arm, and ground and placed upon her back, it 

 will bring her immediate release. Furthermore, it will preserve the one who wears it, for it 

 will make him sober and superior to all things ; it will increase his wealth and spread about 

 his good repute, and he will be most agreeable. ... It is a remedy for insanity and 

 unspeakable terrors, preserving the sufferers from dreaming and frequently falling. If you 

 suspect that there is a poisoner in your home, put the stone in a relish and invite the suspect 

 to dinner. If he is a poisoner, he will eat nothing, and if he ventures to swallow, he will not 

 be able to do so. Such power has this stone. But if you remove the stone from the relish, 

 the criminal will begin to eat and make merry. The wearing of the stone also greatly lessens 

 anger incurred from powerful men. This stone is a sort of safeguard ; the eagle uses it as 

 a preventive against harm. For the eagle carries it from a never-failing river and puts it 

 against the young in the nest to keep them from being harmed by another bird.' Abel, 

 Orphei Lithica, accedit Damigeron de Lapidibus (Berlin, 1881), pp. 163, 164. 



Similar statements are found in Pliny, N. H., X. 12 (3) ; XXX. 130 (14). Val. Rose, 

 in his study of the sources of Damigeron (Hermes, Vol. IX, 1875, PP- 471-49'); cites an in- 

 teresting parallel from Demosthenes, Concerning Stones, pp. 481, 482. 



Palissy (cf. p. 208) ventures an independent opinion as to the origin of the aetites ; " II y a 

 beaucoup d'autres pierres qui sont form^es selon le suiet qu'ils ont pris, comme quelques 

 autres pierres que i'ay veues que Ton norame Pierre d'Aigle. Quelque chose que I'on en die, 

 ie croy que ce n'est autre chose qu'un fruit lapifid, et ce qui ioue dedans est le noyau, qui 

 estant amoindry quand on secoue ladite pierre, ledit noyau frappe des deux costez d'icelle." 

 CEuvres Computes de Bernard Palissy, by Paul-Antoine Cap, Paris, 1844, p. 284. 



^ An account of the medical history of the Bezoar is given by A. Laboulbfene in Diction- 



