Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-02-05
THE MAIDSTONE.
Wonderful Cures Said to Have Been
Wrought in North Carolina

= ty, North Carolina, had a mad
J stone that had been in his fami
? ly many years-more than ON,
= hundred, l think. / have neve
{ seen it, but / have heard of i
n since | was child, and / never
heard a doubt expressed as t.
its curative power. / lived with.
in five miles of Pointers house
5 for more than twenty years.
: went to school with his oldest
: children, and his younger chill.
dren went to school to me.
Those who have seen the mad
stone say that it is about the
! size of the ball of a mans thumb,
of a dark color, very compact
: like glass--on one side, and po-
rous and of a brownish color on
the other side. When a person
, has been bitten by a rabid dog
or a poisonous snake or spider,
it is applied to the wound, where
it adheres for a while and then
falls off. 1t is afterward put in
warm water, where it gives out
the venom it has absorbed, and
the process of applying it to the
wound and putting it in warm
water is repeated until it will no
longer adhere.
In the Spring of 1871 a girl
about twelve years old, who was
then going to school to me, was
bitten on the top of the foot,
while barefooted, by either a
land moccasin or a spread head
adder (the children were so excl
ted they were not sure which,.
The reptile held on so hard that
the girl had to kick to get loose.
She was about three miles from
Pointers. She was taken in a
wagon and hurried there as rap
idly as possible. The stone was
applied to her foot, which was
very much infiamed and swollen.
In day or two she was back to
school again.
About the time that the war
broke out, j. Scott, whose land
.adjoined that of my father, had
a negro man bitten in his yard
by strange dog that had all the
symptoms of hydrophobia. The
man was taken to Pointers, and
the stone was applied. He is
still living, and has no signs Of
hydrophobia, though no one has
a doubt that the dog that bit
him had rabies.
Josephus Younger, of Person
County, farmer and iron moul-
der, leading member of the
Baptist Church, and for many
years County Treasurer, told me
that many years ago when the
stone was in the possession of
Joseph Pointers father, a man
living near him was bitten by a
spider, became delirious and
seemed about to die, but was
cured by applying the maidstone.
Mr.. Younger told me that j.
Bennett, sen., for many years
Sheriff of Person County, and
once a member of the Legisla-
ture, told him that he knew of a
team of four horses all of which
were bitten by rabid dog. The
old man Pointer objected to ap-
plying the stone to any but a
human creature; but he was e.
nally persuaded to apply it to
the wound of one favorite horse.
The horse thus treated never
showed. any i'll effects of the bite,
while~all the other horses that
were bitten. had Eabies and died
or were killed. $
/ have been told by four men, 4
all of whom l have known from
my youth,an believe to be trust
worthy, that last summer a cow
and a colt were bitten by rabid I
dog. The same dog, on the same
day, bit two negro boys. One
of them, when he was taken to II
Pointers house, was very sick.
His jaws were set and he was 1
foaming at the mouth. The mad /:
stone was applied, and the boy
was well in q day or two. The
other boy was not sick, and af-
ter having the maidstone applied I
he never experienced any i'll eff
fects from the bite.
These are only a few of the
cases l have heard of where per-
sons were thus cured by the mad
stone. Joseph Pointer died not
long ago, and his effects were
sold on Dec. II, 1879, and / sup
pose the maidstone was sold. If /
not, it is likely to be sold next
Court, which will be in March or
Al H. - =,