Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1886-04-05
HydroplIobia Traditions.

Captain Byrne- an intelligent Chero-
kee, who is in Washington on tribal
business, is prompted to tell something
about hydrophobia and the maidstone,
as the information came to him from
hunters and Indians:
''As far back as 1920 Captain Byrne
says, 1.-The maidstone was used for the
cure of poisonous snake bites and mad
dog bites. 1t never failed if applied
within ten hours after the bite The
maidstone was used by simply laying it
upon the place bitten. 1t would adhere
to the wound as soon as applied and re-
main fast until filled with the poison,
when the stone would drop off. 1t was
the custom to have ready basin of wa
ter warmed to about blood heat. The
maidstone was dropped into the water,
and in minute or so would be relieved
of the poison it contained. Then it was
applied to the wound again. This ope-
ration was kept up until the stone re-
fused to adhere any longer:
This maidstone, " continued Captain
Byrne, was discovered about the spurs
of the south end of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, | think about thirty years
ago, by old hunters. In those days
deer were very numerous. The discov-
cry came about through the hunters
dogs eating the entrails of a deer toward
the end of winter. The dogs were pois-
oned and died. This led to an eXami-
nation of the stomachs of the deer. 1t
was found that the animal had browsed
freely on the poisoned ivy which grew
in green abundance in the spurs Of the
Blue Ridge How the deer escaped any
bad consequences from this kind
of food was mystery, until further
search of the maw or stomach revealed
what was called the maidstone This
substance was about the size of horse
chestnut. The hunters had various
theories to account for the presence of
the stone in the stomach, but they were
agreed that it took up the poison from
the ivy. Curiosity prompted the trial of
the stone to various poisons, and the
discovery that it would absorb them was
made. In this way the stone came to
be used for rattlesnake bites and moe
casin bites, and afterward for mad dog
! bites.
This" said Captain Byrne, is the
tradition Of the discovery Of the mad
stone. The hunters and Indians had a
! preventive for hydrophobia which went
| back of the Paris doctors incubation.
| You will find on the under side of a
dogs tongue, back at the root, small
worm, about an inch long. The shape
and size is plain. When the pup is
three or four months old take a sharp
knife and split the thin skin that con-
tains the worm, and with an awl pick
out the worm. That dog will be for
ever proof against hydrophobia. This
is the Indians and hunters preventive.
remember its application fifty years
ago. Some old hunters in the Blue
Ridge country still practice it. If there
is doubt about its value the experiment
can be made without much trouble.
Take three OF four pups and extract the
worm. Then wait for the next case OF
mad dog and let the pups be bitten. I'll
stake my belief that the pups will not
have hydrophobia-
Dogs 60 mad" concluded the Chero-
kee, without being bitten by mad
dog. The irritation of the hydrophobia
worm under the tongue does it. There
is in Western Texas small black-and-
white polecat which might oe called a
natural hydrophobia animal Any liv-
ing thing bitten by this polecat at any
time goes mad. = Washington Dispatch.