The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-03-22
THE BLACK STONE OF ISLAM.

Its Appearance and the Various Theo
ries of Its origin.
So carefully is the black stone of thu
Temple of Mecca guarded even to thi
day, that the accounts given by differ
ent writer's as to the nature and appear
ance of the black stone exhibit some
! considerable varia lions; for orthodo,
Mussulmans cannot be prevailed upor
to give a straightforward description OF
it, and mere adventures, like the sew
eral European Halls (Burckhardt
Burton, and the others) could only
crafty their intelligent curiosity by
stealthy Investigations. Detection ir
the act of pursuing such investigation
would have cost the travellers theii
lives, in pursuance Gas Mahometans
suppose) of the law of the prophet.
Your faithful Mussulman cannot I'M
| derstand that any other motive than
worship would lead any one to visit
Mecca.
Mr.. Bate mentions what Intelligent
travellers have recorded concerning the
nature of the black stone. One or them
tells us that it is undoubtedly large
aerolite-an opinion which scarcely har-
monies with Its reputed quality OF
floating in water, since aerolites usual
ly contain large percentage OF heavy
metallic matter, such as iron pyrltes.
Another traveller reports that II looks
like a piece Of lava. containing small
extraneous particles of some white and
yellowish substance. Still another of
these authorities affirms that 1t is a
fragment of volcanic basalt, sprinkled
,rrrhA, re with
pointed colored crystals, and varied
with felspar upon dark ground, like
coal-excepting one of it's protuber-
ances, which happens to be little red
dish. Others, again, claiming an equal
title to exact knowledge, give 1T as
their opinion that it is nothing else than
ordinary piece of stone from quarr1es
in which the Meccan territory abounds.
These aforementioned travellers, howev-
err, appear to overlook the circum-
stance that this opinion of theirs does
not take due cognzance of that prop
erty of the stone to which we have just
alluded, and also the circumstances that
the only kind of stone yielded by the
Meccan quarries is a sort of gray gran
lite.
Not so difficult is it to form an idea
as to it's size and present appearance.
In form it is an irregular oval, the In
equality of its two longer sides impart-
ing to it a somewhat semicircular APP
pearance. 1t measures about six inches
in height and eight in breadth, the d.
ameter on it's lower and wider side be-
ing eight inches and half The sur
face is protuberant and somewhat
,11,1; I,, tl,n
pearance of being composed of a num-
Der Of smaller stones of different sizes
and shapes, securely fitted together
with cement and perfectly smooth. It's
appearance Is as though the original
piece of stone had been broken to
pieces by a violent blow and then re-
paired. And, as a matter of fact, this
appears to be the true explanation of
this irregularity of the surface; for it
is recorded by the Arabian historians
of the Kalba that in the year Alb Of the
Hajira an emissary of certain Egyp-
tlan Khaiifa, known as 1.-The mad
Khalifa Hakim," shattered it to pieces
by a stroke Of club; and they relate
that, after this event, the pieces, and
even the dust also, were carefully re-
stored, and the fragments cemented to-
gether.
The protuberances mentioned are
twelve or fifteen in number, and are
such as to inpart to the surface of the
stone muscular or pebbly appearance.
Near the middle there is a hollow
which reaches to about as much as two
inches below the outer edge Of the
stone, and is of kind to suggest to the
visitor the surmise that one of the pro-
may have been removed |
The color of the surface of the relic Is
at the present time a deep reddish
brown, or, as some have described it,
a metallic black; and notWithstand- |
ing the polished appearance impaired
to it by the constant touching Of I'M
numbered myriads of deVotees, it yet |
bears on its undulating surface what |
appear to be evident marks of volcanic |
origin These muscular protuberances, |
however, are attributed by the Mos
em authorities to the incessant oscu-.
ations and rubbings of the faithful. I
The smoothness may perhaps be at
-ributable to this cause, but the OBJ !
yiously fractured and pebbly appear
,nce is not accounted for in this way
From The Asiatic Quarterly.