The livers of certain animals provided concretions called haraczi by the Arabs; these were much used as remedies for epilepsy. The Turkish butchers, when slaughtering animals, always examined the livers carefully so as to secure these stones. As the Jews were said to suffer much from melancholia and epileptic disorders they valued the liver-stones very highly.[[385]]
The use of fossils as talismans and for the cure of diseases was mainly due to their strange and various forms. As color played the most important part in the case of precious stones, each color being looked upon as possessing a certain symbolic significance fitting the stone for some special use or uses, so in the case of fossils the form was the determining factor. Sometimes it was as the form of some creature held by the superstitious to be particularly endowed with mysterious qualities beneficial to mankind, at other times the fossil form suggested some part of the human body, and was therefore believed to afford protection to this part, or to cure any disease affecting it. This will be made clearer by a brief notice of some of the principal fossils which were favored in ancient and medieval times, either by popular superstition or by those who from interested motives made use of these superstitions for the purpose of gain, although they may have only half believed in the real virtue of the objects they sold.
Lapis Judaicus. Pentremite heads. From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni Batavorum, 1655.
The remedial quality of fossils, which were believed to have been formed from shells and marine animals deposited during the deluge, is ascribed by Mentzel to the fact that they had been produced by the action of fire, and hence had the same quality as though prepared and calcined by the chemist’s art. They were therefore believed to have great medicinal virtues in the cure of diseases.[[386]]
The lapis Judaicus[[387]] is described as of oval form, in shape like an olive, and sometimes provided with a stem at the upper part as though it had grown on a tree. The stone was soft and friable and in color either white or grayish. The “male” variety had several rows of equidistant spines, while the “female” was quite smooth. The description and the figured representations of the lapis Judaicus show that it was a form of pentremite—that is, a form of crinoid. This fossil, which was said to come from Syria and Palestine, was taken in solution as a remedy for calculus. The larger, male stones, were regarded as the better for renal calculus and the smaller, female stones, for vesical calculus. Hence this fossil was sometimes called tecolithos, from τήκειν, to dissolve, and λίθος, stone.[[388]] Pliny also states that this name was applied to certain concretions found in sponges and supposed to possess similar virtues.[[389]] Of the remedial use of this stone, or fossil, Galen states that when prescribed for vesical calculi, it was pulverized in a mortar, and the powder being mixed with water, three glasses of the solution were given. He adds, however: “I must say that as far as I have seen they have no effect, but they are efficient in the case of renal calculi.”[[390]]
Glossopetræ. Fossil shark’s teeth. From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni Batavorum, 1655.
No fossils were more prized than the so-called glossopetræ or “tongue-stones.” Although these were really the fossilized or petrified teeth of a species of shark, Pliny and his sources believed them to be meteorites, which “fell from the sky when the moon was waning.” This was, indeed, a prevalent fancy regarding all dart-shaped, pointed or sharpened fossils, or flints. Because of this celestial origin, the glossopetræ were said to control the winds and even to affect the motions of the moon. At a later time the chief source of supply for these petrified teeth was the island of Malta, and they were therefore sometimes called lingues Melitenses, or Maltese tongues; the Germans named them Steinzungen, or “stone-tongues.” According to popular belief these so-called Maltese tongues were petrified snakes’ tongues and they were brought into connection with the miraculous adventure of St. Paul on the island of Malta, when he shook off a viper that had fastened on his hand, and sustained no injury from the bite (Acts, xxviii, 3–5). This was taken to signify that the poison had been taken from all the snakes on the island.[[391]]
The material called “St. Paul’s Earth,” said to be derived from “St. Paul’s Cave,” in the island of Malta, was reduced to a fine powder and made into tablets. These were stamped with the Maltese cross; sometimes on the opposite side some other figure was impressed. As there was temptation to sell other material for the genuine, the purchaser was warned to be on his guard. The virtues of this powder—which was dissolved in wine or water—were numerous, and were the same as those ascribed to the “tongues” (glossopetræ) and to the “eyes”; for it was believed to be an antidote for poisons, cured the bites of venomous creatures, and remedied many other ills. The “eyes” were set in rings so that the material touched the wearer’s skin; the “tongues” were worn attached to the arm or suspended from the neck. Sometimes vessels were made from the earth. These were filled with wine or water, the liquid being allowed to stand until it had absorbed the virtues of the earth; it was then taken as a potion with good effects. The “tongues” and “eyes” were often dipped in wine or water and were supposed to transmit their curative powers to the liquid.[[392]]