The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1907-10-18
FAITH IN MADST0NES
NOT SUPPORTED.
Claims Supported Only by Chin
ney Corner Tradi-
ti0n.

[. y dispatch from Newcastle, Ind.
announcing the death of Il Mr.. Henry
Bundy, Of th1J place, adds:
lie was the owner Of the cclcbrai-
c1'Bundy maidstone which has brought
hundreds Of persons aiflic, cd wiki va
riOus forms Of infection 10 inis city
for treatment. Ar. Bundy always KEEP
i; about mis- person, or III It sale.y d.
post vault in a local bank"
This relates 20 a common supers =
iCu WHEN has cX.s,Cd for a long I'm,
and VIII probably continue 10 tx ST
much longer. The so-called mads,One
is carcariOus or stony formation
popularity believed TO have me pow
er OF averting hydrophobia by alb
sorbing The poison when applied to In,
wound. The popular belief is thal IL
possesses specific affinity for by
dropnOlic virus: that when applied TO
the biuCn place it adheres until The
poison is absorbed, and then drops Off
when, if placed in warm milk or wa
ter, Il gives out the poison as a green
ism yellow scum.
If any such stone exists, or even has
existed, i, differs fundamentally from
all other stones in jhe alleged quail y
of possessing a specific attraction for
particular kind of poison. AS this
all ged quality is entirely foreign TO al!
natural mads;unes ascribed Il mysteri-
Gus origin 60 them, as having been
found IN the stomach of some animal.
in the mead OF a snake, etc. The Bun
dy maidstone is said to have been
found in the stomach of wild door
and 10 have been Il valued posse ssiJn
Of the Bundy family for more than a
hundred years, and TO nave saved Il
great many persons from hydropno-
hia. Ii is said The last owner of the
Iiundy stone accumulated fortune
by its use during long term of
years.
Popular traditions and folklore the
cries are hard to put down, but as
a matter of fact the so-called mad
stone has no recognition of the Amer.-
can Philosophical Society of 1889 says
Among the various industrials in
Pennsylvania who profess ability in
cXOrcisms and. charms we occasional
~ find one who is repu,ed TO possess
a maidstone. These pebbles are of va
rious sizes, and appear 10 have been
selected on account of some popularity
Of color or form. a specimen which
had high reputation in the State
rom which it mad been brought was
described by the present writer as
consisting of worn price of white
,oldspar and possessing none OF the
properties of absorption attributed 10
it,"
Scientists can classify all the stone
alleged to be mads,ones, but no scicn-
fist has ever given the slightesl cred
rnce 10 the qualities claimed for jhcIn
Sir Walter Scot, in THE Talismln,'
gave mis- lnoOrSemenj or certain al
legged maidstone, but the Wizard of the
North was far from being a scien Isl
and on this case his assertion of viz
tue in the alleged mdasjo one was SO
incredible as 10 be ridiculous. But
everything went with Sir Walter when
he was writing a story. That is right
but facts and fiction are still essen
TALLY different and the fact remains
that the so-called maidstone has no
recognition in science, nor is there an
well authenticated case of such store
having shown the qualities claimed for
it by it's owners. Such claims are sup
ported only by chimney corner tradi-
ton and comon credulity.-Indianap
oils News.