Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-08-04
VIRTUE OF MADSTONES.
sAID TO CURE BITES FROM MAD
DOGS AND SNAKES.
II is Nothing Else Than Tabasheer, a
Variety of Opal Found in the Joints
of Certain Species of Bamboo-The
Snakestone Does Its Work by Alb
cnrn&f1Sz

SO much discussion mas been Srous-
ed by the alleged cures of bites of
venomuos insects, and even of mad
dogs, which have recently been ac-
complished both in this city and in
Chicago by means of madstones-
stones which arerasserted to have the
power of absorbing poisons from
wounds-that it may be timely to cal
attention to the fact that for centuries
past stories have been current regard
ing the virtues. real or imaginary, of
stones of this kind While. of course.
there is still room for skepticism con-
corning the reality of the cures at
tributed thereto, the immense amount
of literature dealing with the subject
should be sufficient to protect it from
the ridicule which has been excited in
connection Herewith among a certain
element Of the scientific world.
The maidstone, sometimes know as
the snakestone, is first mentioned in
the Travels in India" of Jean Bap-
tiste Tavernier, the great Oriental
traveller of the seventeenth century.
who describes it as being oval in
shape, thick in the middle, becoming
thin toward the edges. He writes as
follows: THE Indians say that it
grows on the heads of certain snakes.
But l should rather believe that it is
the priests of the idoiaters who make
them think so, and that this stone is
composition which is made of GER
tain drugs. Whatever it may be, it
has an excellent virtue in extracting
all the poison when one has been bit
ten by poisonous animal. If the
part bitten is not punctured, it is not
necessary to make an incision so that
the blood may flow, and when the
stone has been applied thereto it adj
heres and does not fall until it has
extracted all the venom, which is
drawn to it. In order to clean it, it
is STEPPED in the milk of COW, and
after having been thus STEPPED for ten
or twelve hours, the milk, which has
absorbed all the venom, assumes the
color of matter (pus). One day when
NAASo viii NDS EA1NnDlOllOP VI OfOd uC
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 pro-
pert..es, assured me that it was but
three days since he had made trial
of it, after which ne presented it to
me. AS he traversed a marsh on the
island of Salsetto, upon which Goa is
situated, on his way to house in the
country, one of his palanquin bearers,
who was almost naked, was bitten by
a serpent, and was at once cured by
this stone. | have bought many Of
them. You employ two methods
10 ascertain if the snakestone is
good and there is no fraud. The
first is by placing the stone in
the mouth. For then, if it is
good, it attaches itself Immediately to
the palate. The other is to place it
in glassful of water, and immedi-
ately, if it is genuine, the water begins
20 boil"
Thevenot, in It's Voyages" like
wise describes the snakestones and
discourses exhaustively on the sub
ject Indeed, there are few writer's on
Eastern India during the last two
hundred years who have not devoted
attention to these stones, all of them
declaring that tne belief IN their eff
fcacy is very general throughout Hin
dustan, not only among the natives,
but also among the white population.
The annals of the Roman Catholic mis-
sions likewise contain numerous ac-
counts, duly authenticated Of cures
effected by the snakestones, mention
ing them as an '1nrallible remedy for
the bites and stings of all sorts of
venomous reptiles and animals, and
likewise wounds made by poisoned ar
rows
There is every reason to believe that
the so-called snakestone or maidstone
is not exclusively an Indian product.
According to DR.. George Frederick
Kunz, who has made a special study
of the subject, the so-called mad
stone is nothing else than tabasheer,
well known to mineralogists. Taba-
sheer is a variety of opal that is to
be found in the joints of certain spe-
cies of bamboo in Hindustan, Burmah
and South America. 1t is originally
a juice, which, by evaporation, changes
into a mucilaginous state, and then
becomes a solid substance. 1t ranges
from translucent to opaque in color.
and upon fracture it breaks into reg
ular pieces, like starch. Dr. Kunz de-
clares that, with regard to Tavernier's
account of the maidstone clinging to
the palate and causing water to boil
when immersed, ta5asheer has the
property of strongly adnereing to the
tongue, and when put into water
emiis rapid streams of minute bub-
bies of air. 1t almost identical with
an organic product found by Arnold
Hague in the geyers of the Yellow
.sore Park. and which has received
the name of Colorado hydrophane.
The later. like tabasheer, has an ex-
traordinary capacity for the absorb
ton of fluid, and this undoubtedly
renders it efficacious for the purpose
of absorbing poinson from a wound,
providing the latter is open enough.
1t may be added that tabasheer, form
erIy known as tabixir, was known and
used in Persia by the principal physi-
clans of the rulers of that empire as
far back as in the tenth century of
our era. Indeed. tabasheer plays a
very important part in the medicine
of the Middle Ages.
In conclusion, II may be mentioned
that tabasheer, its various properties
and its history. constitutes the sub
ject OF a remarkable work published
by DR.. Ernest HUH in Berlin, in
1856. and that much concerning the
subject. as well as about the Colorado
dvdroYhane and Its relation to the
madstones ard snakestones of India
and South America, win be found in
the annals Of the New York Academy