Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-12-26
They Were Known in Ancient Times
and Healing Power Claimed
for Them.
Quotations from Treatsies on thi,
Queer Belief, and Examples of
its Application.
Interesting Stories of Stones Being
Found in the Heads Of Venom
GUS Serpents.

aglned, OF certain bodies known as snake
stones and mad-stones, which are asserted
to have the power of absorbing poisons
from wounds. The literature of 200 years
ago contains references to these substan-
ces; and even now some persons have a
lingering BELIEF in their efficacy. The
subject is a curious one. and briet ac-
count Of it may be OF interest, particularly
of the origin and Identification of one of
these peculiar bodies.
Jean Baptiste Tayernier, the great orr
entail traveller Of the seventeenth century,
IN his Travels in India" (see DR.. Valen-
tine Balls translation in two volumes
London and New York, 1889, pages 429,
1861, says Il will finally make mention
of the snake-stone, which is nearly Of the
size Of a double ioubloon "a Spanish gold
coin), some of them tending 10 an oval
shape, being thick IN the middle and be-
coming thin towards the edges The
Indians say that it grows on the heads Of
certain snakes, but | should rather believe
that il is the priests Of the idolators who
make them think so, and that this stone Is
a composition which is made Of certain
drugs. Whatever it may be, it has an
excellent virtue in extracting all the
poison when one has been bitten
by a poisonous animal If the part bitten
is not punctured it is necessary to make an
incIsion so that the blood may flow, and
when the stone has been applied to it, it
does not fall off until it has extracted all
the venom, which is drawn to it. In order
TO clean it it is stepped in wouan's milk,
or In default of it, in hat of COW; and
after having been stepped for 10 or II
hours, the milk, which has absorbed all
the venom, assumes the color Of matter.
The day when dined with the archbishop
of Goa, he took me into his museum,
where he had many curiosities. Among
other things he showed me one of the mad
stones, and in telling me OF its properties
assured me that it was three days since he
had made trial OF it, after which he pre-
sented it to me. As he traversed a marsh
on the Island of Salsette, upon which Goa
is situated, on his way to a house in the
country, one of his palaquin bearers, who
was almost naked, was bitten by a serpent
and was at once cured by this stone.
have bought many of them and it is that
which makes me think that they make
them. You employ two methods to ascer
tain if the snake-stone is good and that
there is no fraud. The first is by placing
the stone in the mouth, for then, if it Is
good, it leaps and attaches itself immedi-
ately to the palate The other is to
place it in a glass full of water, and inn
mediately, if it is genuine, the water be-
gins to boil. "
Thevenot says in his Voyages, page
"a, that snake-stones were made OF the
ashes of the root of certain plant, mixed
with a particular kind of clay Some
snake-stones appear to have been made OF
charred bone. See, for an exhaustive ac-
count of this subject, Yule Barnell, Anglo
Indian Glossary. The belief in their
efficacy is still very general in India by
some they are supposed to be found in the
head of the adjut8nt bird. See Jungle
Life in India, page 50.
Francisco Redi describes in his "Exper-
menta, " Amsterdam, 1861, pages 70 81,
the extraordinary healing powers attrlb-
uted to stones obtained from the heads Of
certain serpents called by the French
"corbas de capello," found throughout
Hindoostan and Farther India. These
stones are claimed to he an lnfalllble rem
edy for the bites and stings Of all kinds OF
venomous reptiles or animals, and like
wise for wounds made by poisoned arrows,
etc. He repeats the usual tales of their
adhering powerfully when applied to the
bite or wound and cllnging TO it like
cupping glass until they had absorbed all
the poison, when they would fall of spon-
taneousIy, leaving the man or animal
sound and free. Then follows the account
of stepping the stones in ulllk TO remove
the poison, the milk assuming a color be-
tween yellow and green. These wonder
full stones and the variations concerning
them had been brought TO Italy by CathO-
lie missionaries, who seem % put entire
faith in their powers; so that Redi says
they Ctfered to prove the accounts by any
number of experiments, such as would
satisfy the most incredul0us, and
prove to medical men that Galen
was correct when he wrote Chapter
xiv, book II that certain medicines attract
poison as the magnet does iron. For this
purpose q search for -vipeTs, ETC., was rec
commended, but, the season being later
and colder then usual, none could at that
time be obtained, a, they bad not emerged
from their winter quarters. An expert
ment was therefore substituted, afCer
much consultation among the learned men
Of the Academy Of Pisa, whereby oil of
tobacco was introduced into the leg II
rooster. This was regarded as one Of the
most latal Of such substances, and was adj
miuistered by lmpregnating thread with
it to the width of four fingers and drawing
it through the punctured wound One Of
the monks forthwith applied the stone.
which behaved in the regular manner de
scribed Thebird did not recover, but it
survived eight hours, 70 the admiration Of
the monks and other spectators of the eX-
pertinent
Up to the present time no one has appa-
rentiy identified what Tavernied referred
to in speaking Of snake-stone, IL, however,
occurred 8 the writer. after receiving
quantity Of tobasheeT from DI. II Il. NAL
let, ST the geological survey Of India, who
obtained it at the bazaar Of the Calcutta
fair in November OF 1883, that the Indian
sna ke stone i evidently t8basheer. Ia-
basaeer j. variety of opal that Is found
in The Joints Of certain species Of bamboo
IN Uinaostan Burmah and South Ameri
ca. it Is originally a juice which Jy eyaP3-
ratI.u changes ln.o q muclaglnous state,
thar then becomes a solid substance. Y
ranges from 't~ansiul entto ooaqu n color.