The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-11-13
.Mall>tullc<.

''nc ol tile WiucS nrta! uciu>lonS ol
modern times is to he found in the
implicit faith which thousands Of pe"-
pie. educated and otherwise. place in
the so-callcd mad>toncs. Every
medical practitioner in the world would
rejoice to know that such stones were
really cliicacious. and that their re-
putcl virtues could be relied upon to
rid the human system Of the hydro
phobic germ. Yet it is Il fact beyond
dispute that as remedial agents they
are unknown to the world Of science.
Sensational literature 70: the period
covering the past 900 years contains
many references to the substances
popularity known as "madStoncs.
and many wonderful stories are told
concerning their real or imaginary
virtues, yet they still remain unrccog
nizcd by the medical fraternity. Men
who have devoted months and years to
careful and painStaking study Of the
maidstone with all the facilities and
appliances for testing them which
modern science commands, frankly
state that such stones possess no cur
ativc powers whatever; and further.
that the owners and operators Of such
charmed bits Of the earth stony
structure, or of pellet-like concrctions
found in animal bodies, as the case
may be, arc either kind hearted, super
stitious people. with desire to do the
afflicted a kindness, or brazen frauds
and charlatans. who live by prcying
upon the public Cyclopedias and hand
books of reference in general utterly
ignore the maidstone, but refer rather
singcrly to the supposed virtues of
the "bczor,' which appears to be a
scientific name for the alkaline concre-
tions occasionally, but rarely found in
the stomachs. intcstincs and bladders
Of deer antelopcs. goats and other
animals Of that ilk.
find one exception to this general
silence on the subject of madStones,
as exhibited by the reference books,
but it is an account not at all calcu-
lated to cnlightcn inquisitive human
ity. tits found in the little 'Diction-
airy of Rare and Curious Information, "
complied by Prof. Robert Thorne, and
is as follows: Maidstone is light,
porous stone Of a grcenish color, which
is said to possess the property of
drawing the venom from the bite of a
dog or other animal afflicted with hy
drophoba. They are quite rare, be-
Ing only occasionally found in the
South.
The above citation, which is Pref.
Thornc's maidstone" article in full,
does not contain sufficient cnlightcn-
mcnt to make it of any particular
value. more than to show that the
ideas which professors and public
alike entertain on the curious subject
Of madstoncs arc rather crude, dim
and misty.
In the encyclopedia articles which
bear the catch titles of 'bczor or
''bezors' we are informed that such
substances arc nodues of prccipitatcd
salts and other alkaline matter which
generally have for their nucleus some
small indigestible substance taken
into the stOmachs of the class Of ami
mails referred to above. or which has
found its way into the bladders of the
same family of ruminating creatures.
When such indigestibles once find
loGgcment in the organs of animals
they gather layer after layer of phos.
phatc Of ammonia or magneSia, and
occasionally superphosphatc of lime,
and thus become pebbles varying in
size according to the number Of years
it has to take on concentric layers
before being discovered by the death
and subsequent dissection Of the crea-
turc in whose body it was formed.
One fact is very noticeable in all cx-
pert articles on bczors: They inyari-
ably close with the words: They
are particularly valued by the ignor.
ant and s.. erstitious on account OF
their imaginary medicinal virtues.
NJ. Louis pastcur, the eminent
French specialist. and discoycrcr of
the inocculation cure for the dread
disease of hydrophobia, and such well
known psychologists as Prof. l;icbcr,
and Drs. Fcrran and Koch, have re-
pcatcdly warned the public to rcposc
no confidence whatever in madstoncs,
nor faith in the stories told of their
wonderful cures. Such cures, our
specialists say, are cures Of the imagl-
nation only, and are wrought upon
persons who have never had the poison
of hydrophobia injected into their
circulation. If one only pauses a
moment to reflect on the subject he
will be surprised that he has ever even
partially believed in an idea so exccs-
sivcly absurd Just think of it. We
are told that such stones draw great
clots of grccnish virus from wounds
inflicted by rabid animals, yet not a
word is said about how it can possibly
separate the poison from the blood
without also drawing" away a large
quantity of that lifc-giying fluid:
The stone hangs on like a bulldog,
one accoun: says, seeming eager to
ill its pores with the deadly virus
In another account we are told that
the stone literally buried itself in
the flesh, when applied to a scratch
made by the tooth of rabid cat.
Such accounts are wishy-washy in the
extreme and worthy Of no serious con-
sidcration whatever.
The geological maidstone is alto
gcthcr different from the animal con-
crctions considered in the foregoing.
Not that they are any more ctllcacious
us remedial agents when applied to
wounds made by creatures afflicted
with hydrophobia. but because of their
formation and structure. The weight
of evidence concerning the geological
maidstone is to the effect that it is a
fossil coral Of one of the ear y ages OF
the earth, and that its cellular struc-
turc causes it to adhere to any wound
on the same principle as "cupping.
.\s in the case Of the bczors or animal
madstoncs, there is no trustworthy
evidence that thcapplication OF one of
these bits Of rock has ever effected
cure.
I ,rJnrto n,,Lo this article rropcrlv