Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-11-07
FAITH IN MADSToNES.
Claims Supported Only by Chimney
Corner Tradition and Credulity.

Claims Supported Only by Chimney
Corner Tradition and creduIity.
A dispatch from Newcastle, lind, an
nouncing the death of Henry Bundy Of
that place, adds:
He was the owner of the celebrated
'Bundy maidstone which has brought
hundreds of persons afflicted with va
rious forms of infection to this city for
treatment. Mr.. Bundy always kept it
about his person or in a safety-deposit
vault in a local bank"
This relates to common supersti-
ton which has existed for a long time
and will probably continue to exist
much longer, says the Indianapolis
News. The so-called maidstone is a
calcareous or stony formation popu-
larly believed to have the power Of
averting hydrophobia by absorbing the
poison when applied to the wound.
The popular belief is that 1t possesses
specific affinity for hydrophobia
virus; that when applied to the bitten
place it adheres until the poison is
absorbed and then drops off, when If
placed in warm milk or water it gives
out the poison as greenish yellow
scum.
If any such stone exists, or even
has existed, it differs fundamentally
from all other stones in the alleged
quality of possessing a specific at
traction for particular kind of poison
AS this alleged quality is entirely for
eign to all natural stones, those who
possess what they call madstones-
ascribe a mysterious origin to them, as
having been found in the stomach of
some animal, in the head of a snake.
etc. The Bundy maidstone is said to
have been found in the stomach of a
wild deer and to have been a valued
possession of the Bundy family for
more than hundred years and to
have saved great many persons
from hydrophobia 1t is said the last
owner of the Bundy stone accumulated
a fortune by its use during a long
term OF. years.
Popular tradition and folklore theo-
ries are hard to put down, but as a.
matter of fact the so-called maidstone
has no recognition whatever in sci
ence. A publication of the American
Philosophical society of 1889 says:
Among the various individuals in
Pennsylvania who profess ability in
exorcisms and charms we occasionally
find one who is reputed to possess a
maidstone. These pebbles are of va
rious sizes and appear to have been Sc
lected on account of some popularity
of color or form. A specimen which
had a high reputation in the state
from which it had been brought was
described by the present writer as
of worn piece of white
feldspar and possessing none of the
of absorption attributed to
it,"
Scientists can classify all the stones
alleged to be madstones but no scien-
fist has ever given the slightest
to the qualities claimed for
them. Sir Walter Scott, in "The Tai
isman,' gave his Endorsement of a.
certain alleged maidstone, but the
wizard Of the north was far from being
a scientist. and on this case his asser-
tons of virtue in the alleged mad
stone We're SO incredible as to be
ridiculous. But everything went with
Sir Walter when he wa writing a
story. That is right, but facts and fic-
ton are still essentially different, and
the fact remains that the so-called
maidstone has no recognition in sci
ence, nor is there any well-authenti-
Gated case of such a stone having
shown the qualities claimed for it by
Its owners. Such claims are support
ed only by chimney corner tradition
and common credulity.