Here it is cited as a remedy for affections of the eyes, the chest, and of the stomach, for coughs, fevers, and biliary complaints, and especially for melancholia arising from solitude, dread of the past, and fears for the future. Other writers speak of its use in bilious fevers and dysentery, internal and external heat, and injuries and maladies.
The writer has examined a large number of so-called madstones, and they have all proved to be an aluminous shale or other absorptive substance. But tabasheer possesses absorptive properties to a greater degree than any other of the mineral substances examined, and it is strange that it has never been mentioned as being used as an antidote. It may be confidently recommended to the credence of any person who may desire to believe in a madstone.
Cobra de Capello. From Tavernier’s Travels, English translation by John Philips, London, 1684.
The writer believes that Tavernier’s snake-stones may all have been tabasheer, or again, while some of them were of this substance, others may have been artificially compounded by the authorized dealers of the Brahmin caste. The instance he gives of the successful use of such a stone is not altogether incredible, as, should one of the less active poisons be sucked out of a wound shortly after this were inflicted, a cure might well be effected. In view of the great difference in the virulence of poisons and the varying degrees of the sensibility to toxic effects, it is not strange that the snake-stones should sometimes seem to give good results. Tavernier states that these stones were brought to India by Portuguese soldiers returning from service in Mozambique.[[472]] For successful use a pair of them were needed, so that, when applied to a snake-bite, as soon as one became saturated with the venom the other could be immediately substituted. To have them always at hand, those natives fortunate enough to own a pair of pedras de cobra carried them about in a little bag.[[473]]
A curious traditional belief is current in some parts of India, notably in Ceylon, to the effect that the male cobra, during the night, uses a certain luminous stone to lure its prey and to attract the female. This is probably the chlorophane, a variety of fluorite, a substance which shines with a phosphorescent light in the darkness, and this quality, quite mysterious in the eyes of the natives, may have induced them to associate the stone with the snake, the epitome of all subtlety and cunning. Serpent-stones were supposed to exist in both ancient and medieval times, and the belief in their existence is widespread among many races of mankind.
A chlorophane is also found in the microlite localities of Amelia Court House, Virginia. The writer made a series of experiments and noted that some of these specimens emit a phosphorescent light at a low temperature. The material occurs in Siberia, and Pallas describes a specimen from this locality. When subjected to the heat of the hand, it gave out a white light, in boiling water a green light, and when placed on a burning coal a brilliant emerald-green light, visible at a considerable distance. Similar phenomena have been observed by the writer, who has found that very slight attrition, even the rubbing of one specimen against another in the dark, will produce phosphorescence.[[474]]
The real or supposed virtues of the “snake-stones” of Ceylon are detailed at considerable length by the great Dutch naturalist, Rumphius. After noting the old tale that the “natural” snake-stones came from the cobra de capello (Serpens pilosus), he proceeds to relate the information he had been able to gather regarding the “spurious” stones of this type. These were fabricated by the Brahmins, the process being kept a profound secret; indeed, there were those who asserted that the Brahmins themselves had lost the art, as this had been possessed by but a single family which had died out, leaving the secret unrevealed. Rumphius describes these artificial stones as usually round and flat, the size varying from that of a half-shilling piece to that of a two-shilling piece. Some were of lenticular form and a few were oblong; all had a white spot in the middle. In making the application, the bitten spot was first pricked until it bled, whereupon the stone was immediately laid on and allowed to remain until it dropped off of itself “just as a leech would do.” So intense was its absorbent activity that it would sometimes break, in which case a substitute had to be quickly applied. The saturated stone was placed in milk and the absorbed venom was thus drawn out, turning the milk blue.[[475]]
One of the tales of the Gesta Romanorum treats of a serpent-stone of singular medicinal virtue. According to the story—which is, of course, a mere legend—a certain Theodosius, who “reigned in a Roman city,” was a most prudent ruler, but was afflicted with blindness. In his care for the welfare of his subjects he had decreed that when anyone who desired justice rang the bell at the palace gate, a judge must forthwith appear and try his case. Now it happened that a serpent had its nest near the bell-rope, and one day, while the reptile was absent, a toad took possession of the nest. Returning and finding the nest occupied, the serpent,—evidently a worthy descendant of the original serpent of Paradise, “more subtle than any beast of the field,”—wound its tail about the bell-rope and pulled the bell. When the judge appeared, as in duty bound, he was struck by this strange spectacle, and reported it to the emperor, who told him to right the wrong which had been done, directing him to expel and kill the toad. Not long after, the serpent made its way into the palace and entered the emperor’s room, bearing in its mouth a small stone. Proceeding to the emperor’s couch, it crawled up, raised its head above the emperor’s face and dropped the stone upon his eyes. As soon as the stone touched the eyes, the emperor’s sight was restored. The serpent disappeared and was never seen again.[[476]]
A representative type of “madstone” is a concretionary calculus occasionally, but very rarely, found in the gullet of male deer. In form it bears a resemblance to a water-worn pebble and is usually of oblong shape, the largest specimens being 3 inches in length and 1½ inches in width. The chemical analysis of Dr. H. C. White showed that the chief component was tricalcic phosphate. His experiments demonstrated that while such a concretion would absorb water to the amount of 5 per cent. of its own weight, the quantity of blood or other fluid it was able to absorb only amounted to 2.3 per cent. of its weight. When immersed in water, after having been placed on a wound caused by the bite of a venomous creature, the liquid absorbed was given out so as to discolor the water, and the material exuded was found to be of toxic quality. However, experiments with animals that had been bitten by snakes or other reptiles, failed to show that the stone exercised any curative effect. Dr. White states that he has in his possession a “madstone” dating from 1654, but this is of a different type, being a porous sandstone.[[477]]