The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-07-27
ABOUT MADSTONES.
St. Louis Republican.

What are madstones7 Geologically, the writer can speak of quite & number he has seen and of others he has heard described They seem to be mostly fossil corals. During the great mad dog scare at Hannibal Mo-, some three years ago, 6 number of madstones from various sections of the country were obtained by the mayor of that city. The majority of these stones were Devonian favor ites At least three madstones the writer has seen were fossil coral from the lower silurian, while others are tertiary fossils. In some instances the virtues of maidstone are claimed for those singular calcui or balls of lime and hair that sometimes found in the stomach of the OK.
 One object used as a maidstone in Illinois is said to have been taken from an ancient mound in Ken lucky. It is one of those pretty perforated badge stones made of variegated slate, and made by the old mound builders. was unable to see that it had absorbent qualities.
 Other forms of rock, such as tufa from thermal springs, lava and stones of volcanic origin, have been used as madstones, but majority of these objects claimed remedial agents are, as before remarked, found to be ancient cOralines. The most irregular stories sometimes told of the origin of madstones by those that possess them these peo pie not always being among the best informed The history of one maidstone that has great repu- tation is that it was taken from the stomach of & beet and had been formed there, yet almost any geologist would recognize in the stone old silu- raD coral
 Another maidstone widely known and much used, has its history given of meteoric origin,
 
 meteor once seen to descend to the earth. This maidstone too is coral, and full of those peculiar open radiating cells that were once the home of polypi of Devonian seas
 The history of still another and somewhat simi- lar stone of great repute gives it miraculous or- gin in Mexico yet we have found precisely such & one in an old Devonian reef in Calhoun county, Illinois.
 Now we come to the most important question in this investigation What evidence have we that madstones really have the virtues ascribed to them of removing virus from the human system2 Are they really of any beneft2
 The last question is very much more easily answered than the first In the first question it is very difficult to get evidence that the bite of the dog had left any virus in the system of the person bitten. It is probably very seldom that we have positive evidence that the dog was mad had real rabies Negative evidence is not always convinc- ing. Among the country folk, where the mad l. stone is mostly used, volumes of evidence could be obtained that would read we'll but it might not all be reliable Of the matter professional scientific men know little nothing, from the fact that it is thought to be dangerous to their reputation to take especial interest in such investigation.
 We know of a prominent physician who went of into adjoining state to have 6 maidstone ap- piled to & wound made by a dog thought to be rabid. He acknowledged that has mind felt re- lieved afterward, but claimed that any benefit to derived from a maidstone was simply in this reliei from apprehension.
 One peculiarity about the application of cora lines is their strange adhesion, at times to wounds The writer happened one day to noted maidstone applied to three children, two boys and . girl They were all bitten on the hands or arm. The stone after being placed in boiling water, was ap. piled to one of the boys, and adhered, seeming te