Omaha daily bee., 1888-05-06
WONDERFUL MAIDSTONE.
For a Hundred Years 1t Has Cured the
Bites of Snakes and Mad Dogs.

TOT IL al ~ ItS Il viz
Bites of makes and Mad Dogs.
The recent death of a man in Banks
county, Ga, who had been bitten by a
mad dog, has revived interest in mad
stones, of which there are several in
various parts in the state, says the Savan-
nah News. There is one in Fairburn
which is said to have been successfully
applied to about n hundred persons.
But by all odds the most notable stone
the south is that owned by Mrs. l.. w.
Gibson, in Columbia county. 1t derived
interest not alone from the wonderful
cures which it has effected, but from its
antiquity and the manner in which it
came into possession of the family.
In 1748 q vessel from the East Indies
touched the coast of North Carolina,
where the great-grandfather of Mrs.
Gibson's husband lived at the time. A
passenger who was sick was put off, and
Mr.. Gibson took him to his home, where
the stranger was welcomed and nursed
back to health. When about to take his
departure he took from his pocket two
stones, one of which he presented to
MI. Gibson, telling him that it was of
great age,a as he had been assured by
the gentleman from whom he pro-
cured it in Bombay; that it pos
sessed remarkable powers in all cases
III DlOOu DOlBOlllhE. hSllSl ~ iSouiiSb
from corrosion of foreign substance,
from the bites of animals or insects OF
any description, or from incubation.
Even in cases of smallpox, said the
stranger, the stone had been known to
extract the poison from the system,
leaving the patient thoroughly restored
to health. The stone was of a grayish
black color and perfectly smooth. 1t
was n inch in length, three quarters
of an inch in width and half an inch
thick.
The stranger disappeared, and the
stone was laid by as n curiosity. No
faith was placedin it's medical quail
ties. 1t was not long, however, before
an event happened which brought the
stone into high repute. A member OF
Mr.. Gibson's family was bitten by a rat
tlesnake. All known remedies failed.
The patient had passed into parOXysms
and all hope had fled. 1t was then that
! one of the children thought of the mys-
terious stone. AS no harm could be
done, it was determined to use it. An
incision was made in the patients leg,
one inch above the spot bitten, ana he
| stone was inserted. AS the stone adj
| hered a scream of unutterabl9 anguish
| escaped the lips of the sufferer, as If
life itself was being drawn out. In less
than one minute the stone had changed
its color from dark TO a poisonous-look-
| ing green. 1t was pulled out and soaked
in warm water, and applied again and
again, its adhesive power becoming
| less and less until at last it refused TO
stick. BY this time the patient fell of
into a heavy sleep, only to wake to a
consciousness of restored health. He
lived for thirty years after the event.
| 1t was thus that the stone which was
| only kept as a jest became an object that
money could not buy. From all parts
of the coast there were calls for the
wonderful stone. The family subse-
quently removed to Columbia county,
| in this state, where for 100 years this
stone has been an object of curiosity to
physicians and people in. general.
The recent history of this remarkable
stone is quite as strangs as that OF its
earlier years, curing the bites OF mad
| dogs and cats, and stings. OF scorpions