The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-09-20
The Magic ofthe Maidstone.

@ The Magic ofthe Maidstone.
Bic Chicago Inter- Ocean has told US
3the real virtue in the maidstone as
's s.ss Re for hydrophobia is its size-to be
in striking the rapid animal before
angs sends poison through your
Butpeople believe in the mad.
despite the sneers of the papers,
prefer it to the savant Pasteur's
lation plan. The stone is rarer
tbe diamond, and not over score
em, according to the Cincinnati
g.;rsr, are known to be in existence,
they are guarded with such solem'
SzA that the belief in their healing
2 ers is created, or, ifit already exists
bgthened in the minds OF those who
s, Sa3 relief from them. Marvellous tales
lures by It's application has beer
brded and substantiated by testimony
3t was beyond cavil.
0ne of these stones has been on exhl: 1l:
Riou at the Cincinnati centennial l1 lal
|s position, and the cures it has effected
Sring the past few days have setgilhe
sople wild. Mrs. Albert Hirst, who
been bitten on the hand by a mad
[, experienced great deal Of pain in
s8e M injured. member. Procuring the
bue, heappIied it to the hand where
te wound had entirely healed. The
one clung: tenaciously to the hand,
\ here it hung for an hour and twenty
ge minutes; At the expiration of that
@ 3f me ii dropped of and was placed in
4 Jan of:parm milk. Upon reapplication
II u! refused to adhere to the band, which
heretofore had been almost useless, but
gsas now painless. It's muscles had re.
2axed, and it was as good as ever-and
She cure is thought to be permanent.
A young son Of Mrs. J. E. Higbee,
bf the same place, had been bitten by
mad dog. The mother heard of the cure
Just narrated and asked and was granted
permission to apply the atone to the
child. The lad, a little fellow, was
brought unwillingly from neighbo:ing
kociaI party, and the wounds he had
received laid bare. The stone was ap.
piled, and at once clamped itself tightly,
against the skin about the ori6ces made
by the dogs teeth. Here it clung
$teadfastly for an hour and fifteen min.
htes, or FIVE minutes less than it did to
Mrs. Hirst's hand. The operation had
the effect of relieving the lad of the pain
lhe bites were causing him. Those who
witnessed the application ofthe stone are
loud in its praises, and firmly convinced
of its genuiness in the cure and preven-
Jon of rabies.
The mad stone is not confined to any
5ne part CT the globe. Some have been
Sound in India. Another has been
Epund in Kentucky, which is held in an
Interior town and frequently sent to
Ristant places to perform its miraculous
sork. One remarkable stone is owned by
Mrs. L. G.. Gibson, of Columbia county,
Georgia, which descended to her from
fhe great grand father of her husband,
Ind is said to have effected hundred
lures, proving successful when the
patient vas in hydrophobic paroxyems.
Dne sufferer, who had been bitten by q
Aattlesnake and was found unconscious,
kas restored to his senses and to ulti.
hate health through its use. 1t is also
laid that Marshal Nelms has one ofthe
precious talismans.
The biography" Of the stone alluded
b above as having effected cures is
interesting. 1t was discovered in South
America, under the following remarkable
circumstances a gentleman while bath.
'ng, was bitten on the foot by q snake
shose venom was so poisonous and
leadly that none ever recovered there.
Rom. In his struggles 10 escape, the
.entleman's foot struck this stone lying
ia the bottom of the stream and it stuck
% the wound. He was taken out and
aid on the bank to die. The stone was
aud an effort made to detach it.
rhe resistance caused them to allow it
o remain, and, while waiting for the
,ictim to die, they were astonished to see
lin sink into peaceful sleep.
After perhaps half an hour the stone
|ropped of, and in the course of two
.ours the gentleman awoke, feeling little
he worse for wear from the venom.
Che stone was placed in some milk
lightly warmed and applied again. It
attached some time, and the
,atient was as well as ever. Expert.
aents were then made upon the bites of
'arious snakes, spiders, ETC., and also
aused by mad dogs and each proved
lccessful. 1t was purchased by an old
ea captain for large price and brought
B New Orleans, when it was sawed in
Ealves, and this portion passed into the
lands of the father of the present OWL
II.
In all cases the mad stone is used in
ae same manner. A patient who has
,een bitten or stung by rapid or pois-
nous animal is prepared for the appli.
alton of the healer by exposing the spot
'itten to which the magic talisman will
ling with strange tenacity. Apowerful
nction is felt by the patient, which con-
Inues until the stone gradually becomes
aturated with the poison contained
7ithin the system, when it falls off of its
wu accord. To refresh it, q bath of
iarm water or milk is prepared, and in
the stone is soaked until the poison is
ktracted. This is continued until the
zone refuses to take hold, when tits
eemed that the patient has been relieved