Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-22
VIRTUE OF MADSTONES
SAID TO CURE BITES FROM MAD
DOGS AND FROM SNAKES.
Belief in India in the Curative Proper
ties Of Tobasheer, the
Bamboo Opal.

So much discussion has been aroused by
the alleged cures of bites of venomous In
sects. and even of mad dogs. which have
recently been accomplished both In this
city and in Chicago by means of mad
stones-stones which are asserted to have
the power of absorbing poison from wounds
that 1t may be timely to call attention to
the fact that for centuries past stories have
been current regarding the virtues. real
or imaginary, of stones of this kind. While,
of course, there is still room for skepticism
concerning the reality of the cures attrib-
uted thereto, the immense amount OF liter
ature dealing with the subject should be
sufficient to protect it from tho ridicuie
which has been excited in connection there
with among a certain element Of the scien-
tific world.
Composition Of the Stone.
The maidstone, sometimes known as the
snakestone, is first mentioned in the ''Trav-
els in India" of Jean Baptiste Tavernier,
the great oriental traveller of the seven
tenth century, who describes 1t as being
oval in shape, thick in the middle. becoming
thin toward the edges. He writes fol-
lows: THE Indians say that it grows on
the heads of certain snakes. But l should
rather believe that it. is the priests of the
this stone is composition which Is made
of certain drugs. Whatever it may be, 1t
has an excellent virtue in extracting ali
the poison when one has been bitten by
poisonous animal. If the part bitten is not
punctured, 1t is necessary to make an In
cision so that the blood may flow, and
when the stone has been applied thereto 1t
adheres and does not fall until it has ex-
tracted all the venom. which is drawn to 1t.
In order to clean 1t. it is stepped In wo
mans milk, or. in default of it, In the milk
of cow, and after having been thus steep
ed for ten or twelve hours. the milk, which
has absorbed all the venom, assumes the
color of pus. One day when 1 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
these stones. and. in telling me of its
properties, assured me that 1t was but three
days since he had made trial of it, after
which he presented it to me-
AS he traverSed marsh on the Island of
Salsetto. upon which Goa is situated.
his way to house in the country, one of
his palanquin bearers, who was almost
naked. was bitten by serpent. and was
at once cured by this stone. l have bought
many of them. and 1t is that which makes
me think that they make them. You en-
ploy two methods to ascertain 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 1t is good. it attaches
itself Immediately to the palate The other
is to place it in a glassful of water, and
Immediately. II 1t is genuine, the water
begins to boil"
Thevenot's Account.
Thevenot. In his Voyages" likewise de-
scribes the snakestcne and discourses ex-
haustively on the subject Indeed. there
are few writer's on eastern India during the
last two hundred years who have not de-
voted attention to these stones all of them
declaring that the belief In their efficacy
Is very general throughout Hindustan, not
only among the natives. but also among
the white population. The annals Of the
Roman Catholic missions likewise contain
numerous accounts, duly authenticated, OF
cures effected by the snakestones, men,
tioning them as an 'infallible remedy for
the bites and stings of all sorts of veno-
nous reptiles and animals, and likewise
for wounds made by poisoned arrows"
There is every reason to believe that the
so-called snakestone or maidstone Is not ex-
cluSively an Indian product According to
DIR. George Frederick Kunz, who has made
special study OF the subject, the so-called
maidstone is nothing else than tabasheer
we'll known to mineralOgists. Tabasheer is
variety of opal that is to be found in the
joints of certain species of bamboo in Hin
dustan, Burmah and South America. 1t Is
originally juice, which, by evaporation
changes into mucilaginous state. and
then becomes a solid substance. 1t ranges
from translucent to Opaque in color and
upon fracture it breaks into regular pieces
like starch. DIR. Kunz declares that. with
regard to Tavernier's account of the mad
stone clfnging to the palate and causing
water to boil when immersed, tabasheer
has the property Of strongly adhering to
the tongue, and when put into water emits
rapid streams of minute bubbles of air
1t Is almost identical with an organic
product found by Arnold Hague in the
geysers OF the Yellowstone Park, and
which has received the name of Colorado
hydrophane. The latter. like tabasheer,
has an extraordinary capacity for the alb
sorption of fluid. and this undoubtedly rem
ders 1t efficacious for the purpose Of alb
sorbing poison from a wound providing the
latter is open enough. 1t may be added
that tabasheer. formerly known as tabixir
was known and used In Persia by the prin-
cipal physicians of the rulers of that en-
pire as far back as in the tenth century of
our era. Indeed, tabasheer plays very
important part in the medicine of the mid
die