George Frederick Kunz · Public domain edition · 417 cards · 111 chapters
George Frederick Kunz’s The Magic of Jewels and Charms examines why gemstones and other objects were credited with protective, healing, and occult powers across cultures. This deck covers the book’s preface on sentiment versus superstition and its historical accounts of speaking statues, sounding stones, rain stones, and related charms.
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Chapter 1 · Question
According to the preface, why does the author treat jewels, superstitions, and astrology together?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author argues that jewels, gems, stones, superstitions, and astrological lore are so interwoven in history that treating any one alone would break the chain of association linking them to the others. He therefore presents them together rather than in isolation.
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Section 14 cards
According to the preface, why does the author treat jewels, superstitions, and astrology together?
The author argues that jewels, gems, stones, superstitions, and astrological lore are so interwoven in history that treating any one alone would break the chain of association linking them to the others. He therefore presents them together rather than in isolation.
Chapter 1
What does the preface say distinguishes sentiment from superstition?
The author argues that true sentiment is the antithesis of superstitious dread, equating sentiment with optimism and superstition with pessimism. He holds that fancies generated by sentiment are helpful and make us happier, and that happiness often means health, which combined with health aids in evolving wealth.
Chapter 1
How does the preface explain the belief that amber and pearl necklaces protect children from cold?
The author suggests the virtue may lie in the necklaces not covering the neck: worn on the bare throat, the neck is never overheated and then suddenly chilled, so normal temperature is maintained and colds avoided. He offers this as a possible reason for the long-held belief, adding a poetic fancy about pearls as angels' tears.
Chapter 1
What does the preface say about the origin of attributing protective powers to holy men and women?
The author argues that the appeal to higher powers for help in pressing emergencies preceded formal religious faith. This need for protectors and healers eventually led to attributing protective powers to the spirits of men and women who had led holy lives, around whose history legend wove pious imaginations when poetic fancy reigned instead of historic record.
Chapter 1
Section 23 cards
What did the 'Vocal Memnon' statue at Thebes supposedly do at sunrise?
It was said to emit a melodious sound at sunrise, which Greek legend explained as Memnon greeting his mother, the Dawn. The statue reportedly favored the Emperor Hadrian, who heard the sound three times, while ordinary people heard it once or twice, or sometimes not at all. A modern traveler observed a man hiding behind the statue's elbow and striking an iron bar, suggesting the sound was produced artificially.
Chapter 2
How does the author explain the 'musical stone' of the river Hydaspes?
The stone was said to give forth a melodious sound when the moon was waxing. The author argues this should be understood as the stone sounding different when struck at that season, a fanciful idea based on supposed sympathy between stone and moon. Since moonstones are rarely larger than a silver dollar, he suggests the reference is probably to phonolite, a hard resonant igneous rock that rings like a bell.
Chapter 2
What did Pausanias report about the sonorous stone at Megara?
Pausanias reported that when the stone at Megara was struck, it emitted the sound of the chord of a lyre. This was explained by the tale that the god Apollo, while helping Alcathous build the walls of his city, had rested his lyre on the stone. The author cites this as another example of stones credited with musical properties.
Chapter 2
Section 34 cards
What did the term sarcophagus literally mean, and what power did one type of stone have?
The term literally means "body-devourer." Tradition held that a stone found near Assos in Lycia and in parts of the Orient would eat away the flesh of a living person if attached to the body. Another type, noted by Theophrastus in the third century B.C., petrified objects placed in receptacles made from it, including corpses, shoes, and buried utensils.
Chapter 3
What effects did Pliny attribute to the galactite, and what was it actually?
Pliny said galactite came from the Nile, had the color and odor of milk, and yielded a milky juice when moistened and scraped. Taken as a potion by nurses it increased milk flow; bound to a child's arm it promoted saliva; but it could cause loss of memory in wearers. The chapter states galactite is properly a nitrate of lime, not a stone.
Chapter 3
What was the rain-stone tradition connected to Noah, and how did the Turks reportedly use such stones?
An old Mohammedan tradition cited by Ibn Kadho Shobah says Noah, after the deluge, entrusted his family with a miraculous stone bearing the great name of God, by which its possessor could cause rain. The stone was eventually lost, but some Turks claimed stones with like power, and the superstitious said their rain-stones could beget progeny by mysterious generation.
Chapter 3
How did the Dieri of Central Australia explain rainfall through their rain-making ceremonies?
The Dieri sorcerers believed all rainfall was produced by their conjurations, generally through ancestral spirits. If rain fell where no ceremonies occurred, they assumed rites had been performed in contiguous territory; a spontaneous natural rainfall was out of the question. Clouds generate rain, but it reaches earth only by magic art. Two large stones were carried about twenty miles and placed high in a tree.
Chapter 3
Section 43 cards
What did Hebridean peasants do with the stone cross at St. Mary's Church during drought?
When drought prevailed, peasants on the Island of Uist in the Outer Hebrides would set up a stone cross that usually lay flat on the ground, confidently believing rain would follow. Since rain came sooner or later, the cross was then quietly returned to its horizontal position, having supposedly done its duty.
Chapter 4
What does the author conclude the Hebrew shamir most probably signified, and why?
The author argues shamir most probably signifies a variety of corundum, the next hardest mineral after diamond, since it is almost certain the Hebrews were not familiar with the diamond. The word appears three times in the Old Testament, translated as diamond, adamant, and adamantine stone, and its etymology indicates a pointed engraving object.
Chapter 4
How did Sahr obtain the shamir stone in Cazwini's Arab legend?
Sahr placed eagle's eggs inside a strong glass bottle and returned them to the nest. When the eagle struck the vessel in vain, it flew off and returned with a stone, dropping it on the glass and breaking it silently. Solomon, who understood bird speech, learned the stone came from Samur Mountain in the West, then had the Jinns fetch a supply for noiselessly shaping the temple blocks.
Chapter 4
Section 53 cards
How did magicians use the dog-stone to create enmity between people?
According to Ibn Al-Beithar, the hajer al-kelb attracted a certain breed of dogs that would bite and hold the stones. Magicians selected seven such stones, marked them with the names of people they wished to set at strife, threw them before the dog, then placed two bitten stones in water the targets would drink. The author reports the experiment was said to produce the desired evil result.
Chapter 5
What powers did the piropholos stone supposedly have?
Thomas de Cantimpré described the piropholos, said to come from the heart of a poisoned man, which could not burn in fire. Kept nine years in fire, the heart produced the stone. It protected against lightning and, chiefly, guarded the wearer from sudden death—a man holding it could not die—though it did not prevent disease, only prolonged life. It was light, bright red.
Chapter 5
What does the chapter say about the Philosopher's Stone and radium?
The author argues the Philosopher's Stone seems less improbable now than twenty years earlier, since radium, produced from uranium, transforms into helium, neon and argon, undermining the old idea that elements are immutable. Yet the power to provoke such change at will, quickly, is still withheld from us and may never be given. The author also notes alchemy helped lay the foundation of modern chemistry.
Chapter 5
Section 63 cards
What do native Australians believe about the ultunda crystals in medicine-men's bodies?
Native Australians believe crystals called atnongara or ultunda are embedded in the bodies of their medicine-men, a belief the medicine-men themselves encourage. The medicine-men are supposed to retain their power only so long as these stones remain in their bodies, and a share of their might can be transmitted by transferring stones from one body to another. The chapter describes an initiation ceremony involving pressing crystals into the novice's body.
Chapter 6
How do mestica stones differ from bezoars, and what powers are they believed to give?
Mesticas are not supposed to owe their origin to pathological conditions in the organism, but rather to a superabundance of normal, healthy constituents of the animal or plant. Probably for this reason their virtues are talismanic rather than therapeutic: they are believed to endow the finder or recipient with courage, immunity from injury, and cunning and shrewdness in life's affairs. Warriors especially valued them as protection from wounds.
Chapter 6
How did New Guinea native doctors treat illness believed to be caused by an embedded stone?
A native suffering from lumbago believed his disease was caused by a stone in his flesh. The sorcerer made passes over the man's back and exhibited a stone he pretended to have extracted, convincing the sufferer the disease had left; the back showed superficial cuts at the spot. In another case, a child's father seized the operator's hands, revealing the disease-laden stone concealed in the operator's hand.
Chapter 6
Section 74 cards
What did Cellini reportedly find in the entrails of cranes he shot?
Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1574) relates that as a youth he often shot cranes with his arquebuse and in several instances found in their entrails not only fine turquoises but also fragments of plasma-emerald and occasionally small pearls. The chapter uses this to suggest birds were attracted by the pretty exterior of such objects, somewhat analogous to human impressions on viewing them.
Chapter 7
What powers were attributed to the shining pebble King Christian II found?
In seventeenth-century Denmark, King Christian II was said to have picked up a shining pebble while strolling along the beach, by means of which he could render himself invisible at will. The chapter also notes similar power was claimed for stones found in ant-hills if hot water were thrown onto them on St. Walpurgis Day or St. Hans' Day.
Chapter 7
Why can pebble origin not be reliably determined by form and surface alone?
Though rounded pebbles are classed as marine, subangular flat ones as river, and faceted striated ones as glacial, careful observation shows all these types occur among marine, fluviatile, and lacustrine pebbles. Local conditions interfere: weak wave-action lets pebbles stay buried in sand unchanged, and coast pebbles may have been swept down by rivers or already shaped by glacial action before waves modify them.
Chapter 7
What did St. Columba do with white pebbles from the river Ness?
After Broichan the Druid refused to free a Christian bond-maiden, Columba menaced him with approaching death; Broichan sickened and consented. Columba then picked white pebbles from the shallows of the river Ness, announcing they would by the Lord's power cure heathen people. One blessed stone was placed in a vessel of water, floated on the surface, and Broichan was restored to health after drinking.
Chapter 7
Section 84 cards
What was the Stone of the Banner and what powers were attributed to it?
A polished globular mass of white quartz, 1¾ inches in diameter, owned by the chiefs of Clan Donnachaidh. It was found by a chief on his way to join Robert Bruce in 1315 before Bannockburn, lodged in a clod on his flagstaff. It was held a powerful battle talisman, and water in which it was dipped was said to cure diseases; tradition identified it with a stone used by St. Columba.
Chapter 8
Why were white quartz pebbles placed in graves, according to the chapter?
The author argues the practice was so widespread it must reflect inherent properties of white stones. Whiteness suggested purity through spotless cleanliness, and sparks from quartz on percussion linked it to fire worship. Such stones were sometimes placed in a deceased person's mouth, perhaps to light the dark path to the underworld; in Christian times Revelation's promise of a white stone also influenced belief.
Chapter 8
Why were crystal balls worn as amulets in Japan?
In some parts of Japan crystal balls were thought to ward off dropsy, and wearing them was recommended to guard against all wasting diseases. The author explains this through the doctrine of sympathy: rock-crystal's likeness to congealed water was credited with preventing the watery infiltration of dropsy. Japanese craftsmen made many choice crystal balls, so the objects were familiar and appealed to the superstitious and to lovers of beauty alike.
Chapter 8
What did the author personally observe about quartz crystals in Arkansas mounds?
In Garland and Montgomery counties, Arkansas, the author observed quartz crystals in mounds together with chipped arrow-points of chalcedony, though the crystals showed no sign of having been worked. He suggests such crystals found in Indian mounds elsewhere may have been worn as talismans and then interred with the deceased as intimate personal property. The Hot Springs region furnished some of the finest U.S. rock-crystal.
Chapter 8
Section 94 cards
What distinguishes white magic from black magic in the chapter?
The chapter states that black magic denotes conjurations or spells in which the sorcerer sought aid from powers of darkness, the Devil and his demons, while white magic was performed by harmless and innocent means, sometimes even by religious rites. The text adds that white magic sometimes approached religious miracle so closely that distinguishing the two conceptions of supernatural action in the material world becomes difficult.
Chapter 9
What causes the cat's-eye effect in certain quartz gems?
The chapter explains that when quartz containing brilliant stibnite inclusions is cut en cabochon across the ravalette inclusions, a cat's-eye effect is produced. The yellow quartz cat's-eye of Ceylon and the green of Haff, Bavaria, are of this type. The text also notes that a Gibsonville, North Carolina specimen with densely set green actinolite inclusions was believed by its finder to be an emerald.
Chapter 9
What are Venus's hair stone and chrysothrix?
Venus's hair stone is quartz traversed by filaments of rutile, or red oxide of titanium; the French also call it Flèches d'Amour, or Cupid's Arrows. Chrysothrix, literally golden hair, appears in the Orphic poem Lithica, which describes two varieties: one resembling crystal, identifiable with quartz, and another said to look like chrysoberyl, perhaps a yellower variety.
Chapter 9
How does the chapter explain fluid cavities in quartz and agate?
The chapter says fluid cavities arise from cavernous structures formed during mineral growth, when crystalline substances avoid the caverns and enclose the liquid of crystallization instead of filling them solid. In agate chalcedony, walls of gas-pores thicken by silica deposition until the aperture is sealed, creating a kind of nature's water-bottle; such specimens, called enhydros by Pliny, can be shaken so the water rattles.
Chapter 9
Section 104 cards
How did Laplanders use three pebbles to diagnose and cure illness?
They gathered three pebbles—one from water, one from earth, and one from the air (ground surface)—heated them red-hot, and threw them into water. The stone that sizzled most was believed to belong to the element causing the illness. The body or afflicted part was moistened with the water, and each stone was carefully returned to where it was found.
Chapter 10
What properties are attributed to the Herkimer County, New York rock-crystals?
Found in cavities in calciferous limestone near Middleville, these unusually perfect hexagonal prisms with eighteen polished faces are considered the purest rock-crystals in the world. Wearing one is believed to bring fair weather and fair sailing on the sea of life, hence the name 'fair-weather stones.' Some are so small that 250,000 would weigh an ounce.
Chapter 10
Why do Tasmanian rain-makers dip white stones in a young girl's blood?
The rain-maker uses white stones in magical rites, but the stone alone is not considered effective—it must be dipped in a young girl's blood for added power. The blood-steeped pebbles are tied in bark strips and sunk in a deep water-hole said to house a diabolical spirit. Natives assert rainfall soon follows, though the same belief holds that women must not look upon the stones.
Chapter 10
What is catlinite, and how was the pipe-stone quarry regarded by Indians?
Catlinite, or pipe-stone, ranges from deep red to ashy and was used for pipe-bowls; its chief quarry lies some three hundred miles west of the Falls of St. Anthony. It is named for George Catlin, who visited in 1836. Catlin states the quarry was guarded with religious reverence, Indians calling the red stone 'a part of their flesh,' though he allows this may have voiced fear of losing a valuable material.
Chapter 10
Section 113 cards
How did a New York theatre manager use Virginia 'Fairy Stones' for a souvenir performance?
The manager of a New York theatre gave a souvenir performance of a dramatized version of John Fox, Jr.'s tale "Trail of the Lonesome Pine," presenting one of the staurolite "Fairy Stones" from Patrick County, Virginia, to each lady in the audience. The chapter says the gift was in rapport with the play and appreciated by recipients, few of whom were not unconsciously influenced by the symbolic half-religious, half-mythical quality ascribed to the gem.
Chapter 11
What ritual was required at Canna's Stone and well to cure ague?
The chapter states that near Canna's Stone in Carmarthenshire, Wales, is Flynon Canna, a well whose waters were believed to cure ague. To make the cure effective, the patient, after imbibing the sacred water, had to sit for a time in Canna's Stone; if he dozed there, this promised speedy recovery. The combined treatment was often repeated for several successive days and occasionally prolonged for two or three weeks.
Chapter 11
What powers were attributed to the green stone of Arran and the blue stone of Fladda?
On the island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, a green stone of roughly spherical form was reputed to heal pains in the side when laid on the seat of the trouble. Oaths were taken upon it, suggesting animistic belief that a spirit in the stone would punish a perjuror. It was also said to bring victory if a leader bore it and cast it into enemies' ranks, as the Lord of the Isles is said to have done. A blue stone on Fladda had like healing power and also received oaths.
Chapter 11
Section 124 cards
What legend explains the black mark on the quartz at Jerbourg, Guernsey?
The Chronique de Normandie recounts that around 797 A.D. the Devil, disguised as a beautiful maiden, lured Duke Richard to the seashore, induced him into a boat, and spirited him to Guernsey. At the landing spot where the Devil seized him stands the quartz mass, its deep black splash popularly believed to be the mark left by the devil's claws.
Chapter 12
Why did the God of Thunder turn a bridal procession into a rock in North Germany?
A bridal procession was crossing a heath when a violent thunderstorm broke out. The musicians ignored the storm and kept playing their gay festive music, and as punishment for this lack of respect the God of Thunder changed the whole party into an immense rock, a solitary boulder now standing on the heath.
Chapter 12
What does legend say about the Devil and the Teuffelsstein in the River Ferse?
The Teuffelsstein is an erratic boulder in midstream, reachable only by swimming, measuring 26¼ feet in circumference above water and 8¼ feet from the stream bed. One version says the Devil tried to hurl it at the church tower at Peplin but dropped it when bells rang for early mass; another says he threw it but it fell short.
Chapter 12
What is the Kiowa taimé and why has it not been seen since 1887?
The taimé is a sacred stone suggesting the head and bust of a man, long considered a palladium of the Kiowa tribe. It is kept in a rawhide parflèche box and was shown only once a year at the annual Sun Dance. Since that dance has not been performed since 1887, not even the custodian has opened the box.
Chapter 12
Section 134 cards
What power did Wales's Expanding Stone supposedly have for those who entered it?
Popular tradition held that the natural cavity in the rock of St. Gowan's chapel adapted itself to the size of anyone entering it, and could bring to pass the wish of a person who entered, provided he did not change his wish while turning around inside. A legend told of a fugitive Christian during Pagan persecutions whom the rock opened to receive and closed to hide from pursuers.
Chapter 13
How did New Caledonians choose stones as talismans for fruit trees?
The natives of the French colony of New Caledonia valued stones for their fortuitous shape, each form suggesting a use such as protection from famine, madness, or death, or bringing sun, rain, or luck in fishing and sailing; color sometimes mattered too. For fruit trees a stone resembling the fruit or its markings was chosen, as with a black-lined stone for the cocoanut palm. Sometimes a small stone figured unripe fruit and was later replaced by a larger one.
Chapter 13
How did ejected peasants in Fermanagh, Ireland, use stones to curse a landlord?
The peasant piled small boulders on his hearth as he would pile turf sods, petitioning that bad luck and misfortune befall the landlord and his descendants to remote generations. He then carried the stones off and scattered them in bog-holes, pools, or streams so they should never be brought together again, evidently in the belief that the curse could only be raised by a counter-invocation over the same collection of stones.
Chapter 13
What are lusus Naturæ, and how did the author explain their fascination?
They are mineral specimens bearing natural likenesses of human faces or forms, such as agates and flints in the Hope and Hodgkin collections sold at Christie's in 1914. The author argues their fascination stems partly from a half-distrust as to whether nature shows intelligence akin to our own; mineralogists explain the markings as fortuitous stratifications and juxtapositions, yet they strike us as analogous to human art.
Chapter 13
Section 144 cards
What did a miner find inside a two-pound iron ore clump in 1669?
On October 8, 1669, a miner at the Innesberg mines split open a clump of ore weighing about two pounds and saw a design he took to be the Blessed Virgin on the upper half; the same design appeared on the other half. The find was reportedly recorded in the mine book, and the stone was delivered to German imperial inspectors.
Chapter 14
How did Athanasius Kircher explain designs found on stones?
Kircher first showed experimentally that chemical agents could impress figures on stones. He then hypothesized that pictures made on wood or soft material by primitive miners had been left in the mine, slipped into rock crevices over time, and impressed their design on the contact-rock; alternatively, the original material might have been converted into marble by unknown means. He cited a stone slab in St. Peter's resembling the Virgin of Loreto.
Chapter 14
What did Dutch children observe about tourmaline crystals, and what names resulted?
In Amsterdam, Dutch children noticed bits of ash and straw being attracted to tourmaline crystals brought from the Orient. Dutch lapidaries learned of this and for a time called the stone Aschentrekker, or "Ash-Attractor." The modern name tourmaline derives from turmali, the name given the stone by the natives of Ceylon.
Chapter 14
What did Pliny say about the lychnis stone's peculiar power?
Pliny described the lychnis as a gem of which the finest examples came from India; one kind resembled the carbuncle or ruby, another was called Ionia because its color was like the violet. Its most striking peculiarity was the power to attract straws or bits of paper once it had been heated by the sun's rays or by hand-friction. The chapter suggests some lychnis may have been tourmaline.
Chapter 14
Section 154 cards
Who first clearly attributed tourmaline's attraction and repulsion to electric properties?
The German physicist Franz Ulrich Theodor Aepinus, who communicated his conclusions to the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1756. He experimented on two Ceylonese tourmalines supplied by Lehmann, a fellow Academy member who first drew his attention to the stone's electric action. Earlier, Lémery had reported the attractions in 1717 but leaned toward magnetic influence as the explanation.
Chapter 15
What distinguishes tourmaline's electricity from that of many other potentially electric substances?
Both friction and heat develop tourmaline's electric energy, positive and negative, whereas for many other potentially electric substances friction alone is effective. Haüy's experiments showed that excessive heat interrupted the phenomena and cooling diminished their intensity, and that a fragment broken from the positive side retained positive electricity while soon developing negative electricity too.
Chapter 15
How did Franklin explain failures to observe tourmaline's negative electricity?
In a June 7, 1759 letter to Dr. William Haberden, Franklin suggested the failure could stem from defective cutting, with the positive and negative planes perhaps placed obliquely. He recommended accurately determining the positive and negative sides before cutting. He kept the larger specimen, mounted it on a pivot in a ring, and noted that his finger's natural heat sufficed to charge it.
Chapter 15
What does the author claim makes a fine tourmaline the ideal talismanic gem?
The author argues that no single gem-mineral equals tourmaline in coloration, especially colors combined in bands or concentric circles within one crystal, a variety surpassing even the corundum gems. Adding its peculiar electric qualities, the author says a fine tourmaline better answers the idea of a talismanic gem or amulet than any other crystal. Fine examples come from Minas Geraes, Brazil, and Maine and California.
Chapter 15
Section 164 cards
What is the Peace Stone and what colors combine in it?
The Peace Stone is a tourmaline crystal uniting green and red tourmaline with an intervening white band. The white zone results from manganese (source of red) and iron (source of green) neutralizing each other. A Maine crystal from Mount Mica even shows blue, white, pink, and grass-green together. The author presents it as a symbol of unity and universal peace.
Chapter 16
How does the author interpret the Peace Stone symbolically for peoples?
The author argues that the stone symbolizes the consoling fact that marked differences between any two peoples need not cause enmity but may become sources of peace and bonds of union. Each people's characteristic talents supplement and complete the other's, so working together in harmony they accomplish far more for each other and humanity than either could alone.
Chapter 16
What was Tacitus's theory of amber's origin, and what error did it contain?
Tacitus held that amber is a juice of trees, since winged creatures are often found enclosed in it, entangled in the liquid and inclosed when it hardened. He compared it to incense and balsam exuded in the remote East, forced out by the sun in the West's groves and islands, flowing into the sea and washed up on the opposite shore. His chief error, per the chapter, was believing amber was of very recent formation.
Chapter 16
What medicinal and practical uses of amber does the chapter describe?
Pliny reports peasant women of the Po valley wore amber necklaces as ornaments and for throat and tonsil diseases, possibly including goiter. Golden amber, called chryselectrum, was said to cure fevers worn on the neck, help dim vision powdered with honey and rose oil, and remedy stomach ailments. An amber cup was said to reveal poison in liquid. Romans also held amber balls to cool their hands.
Chapter 16
Section 174 cards
What did Rev. C. W. King claim about wearing an amber necklace?
King claimed that wearing an amber necklace keeps off erysipelas attacks in a person subject to them, saying this was proved by repeated experiments beyond doubt. He could not explain this action, but attributed the necklace's protection of the throat against chills to amber's extreme warmth on the skin and the circle of electricity maintained.
Chapter 17
How did the old Russian Jewess and her family explain their longevity?
The woman reportedly reached one hundred and six years and ascribed her longevity to a necklace of very large amber beads given by her mother, who also lived past a hundred. Shortly before dying, she gave the heirloom to her daughter, since it was generally believed gems' virtues depend largely on being received as gifts.
Chapter 17
What did Palladius relate about the loadstone islands called the Maniolæ?
Palladius said loadstone was produced on the Maniolæ islands on the route to Taprobane (Ceylon). Any ship with iron nails approaching was drawn by the loadstone's power and its course arrested, so voyagers to Taprobane used ships put together with wooden pegs. Procopius's view was that wood was used because iron was scarce and expensive.
Chapter 17
What did Robert Norman's poem 'The Magnes or Loadstones Challenge' argue?
The poem tells glittering diamonds, rubies, and sapphires to give place, since their beauty and gleam are all the virtue for which they are valued. The loadstone claims that without its help the best gems might lie in Indian seas, that it guides the pilot's course, and that no ship could sail aright nor compass show the way without it.
Chapter 17
Section 183 cards
How did seventeenth-century Belgium reportedly cure ruptures using the loadstone?
The patient was given a dose of iron filings reduced to a very fine powder, and then a plaster of crushed loadstone was applied externally to the affected part. This was said to produce a cure within eight days. The plaster was probably believed to draw the iron filings, or some emanation from them, through the affected parts toward the surface.
Chapter 18
What ill effect could medicinal loadstone cause, and what was the prescribed antidote?
Loadstone used medicinally sometimes produced melancholia. The antidote was the emerald: a solution made from this stone was to be taken three times a day for nine consecutive days, after which the melancholia would pass away. The chapter presents this as a claim of the period rather than established fact.
Chapter 18
How did Khusrau II use the shahkevheren, and what was the stone reputed to do?
The shahkevheren, or 'King of Jewels,' was a Persian stone reputed to attract all other precious stones as the loadstone attracts iron. Khusrau II (590–628), the greatest Sassanian monarch, lost a valuable ring in the Tigris near where Bagdad was later founded. He attached a shahkevheren to a line and fished for the ring, which was reportedly recovered.
Chapter 18
Section 194 cards
What did Alexander's daystones do to animals carrying them?
According to legend, daystones attached to the necks of horses or beasts of burden kept the animals mute, so the army's passage would not be revealed to the enemy. Night-stones produced the opposite effect, causing animals to cry out unceasingly. The chapter notes it is not told that Alexander used the night-stones as martial music.
Chapter 19
What happened to the Wanikas' meteorite worship after the Masai attack?
Shepherd boys found a stone that fell north of Zanzibar, and the Wanikas treated it as a god, anointing it with oil, clothing it, decorating it with pearls, and building a temple. Three years later the Masai burned their villages and massacred many inhabitants; the Wanikas then lost respect for the stone and were glad to part with it, since it had failed to show divine power.
Chapter 19
How did Rome obtain the stone of Cybele from Pessinus?
During the second Punic war, fearing Hannibal's invasion and terrified by a shower of stones, the Romans consulted the Sibylline books, which said a foreign enemy could be driven from Italy if the Idaean mother were brought from Pessinus. King Attalus at first refused, then yielded after an earthquake and a voice declaring Rome a worthy place for any god.
Chapter 19
What did Emperor Maximilian do with the Ensisheim meteorite?
A 300-pound stone fell at Ensisheim, Alsace, on November 16, 1492. Maximilian, then in Basel, had it brought to a neighboring castle and summoned a state council to interpret the divine message. The council decided it signified an important occurrence in the coming French-Turkish conflict, and the stone was suspended in a church with strict orders not to remove it.
Chapter 19
Section 204 cards
What did Arnobius's description of the Cybele stone suggest about its nature?
Arnobius described the stone as of a deep brown color, resembling lava, and ending in a sharp point. Its light weight, which Arnobius emphasizes, and its peculiar form led M. Falconnet in 1770 to conjecture it might be a fossil of the type called hysteriolithus rather than a meteorite. The stone was surrounded by a silver rim and, on arrival at Rome, was entrusted to Roman matrons who passed it along to the Temple of Victory.
Chapter 20
What is the origin of the term baetylus and what did it signify?
The name baetylus, given to meteorites by Greeks and Romans, derives from the Hebrew bethel, meaning 'house of God.' This term indicates the ancient Hebrew belief that meteorites were animated by a divine essence. Long before the designation reached the Greeks, certain meteorites were already revered, such as the black Omphalos of Delphi, said to be the stone Rhea substituted for the infant Zeus.
Chapter 20
How did the Chinese explain polished stone artefacts found after thunderstorms?
Chinese writers regarded polished stone artefacts as 'thunderbolts.' Chien Tsang-Ki, in an eighth-century Materia Medica, said such objects were found by people who dug three feet into ground over which a thunderstorm had swept, some with two perforations. They were named pi-li-chen, 'stones originating from the crash of thunder.' Chang (232–300 A.D.) and Shen Kun (1030–1093 A.D.) applied similar designations to stone axes and wedges.
Chapter 20
What did Babylonian astrologers predict from a meteor's passage?
Babylonian royal astrologers taught that a meteor's passage, whether east to west or north to south, was a good omen portending victory and success for royal projects. A brilliant meteor with a trail like a scorpion's tail foretold joy for the ruler and the whole country: evil overcome, righteousness supreme, prosperity prevailing. Such a meteor was recorded when the elder Nebuchadnezzar laid waste Elam about 1150 B.C.
Chapter 20
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What does the Book of Joshua say about stones from heaven in the Amorite battle?
The Book of Joshua (x. 11) relates that during the Israelites' battle against the Amorites and their allies, "the Lord cast down great stones from heaven" upon the Amorites, killing more of them than the Israelites' weapons did. The author notes that, admitting the account's historical character, this fall of meteorites probably occurred in the twelfth century B.C.
Chapter 21
How did the Chinese meteorite of 211 B.C. lead to many deaths?
The meteorite fell during the reign of the tyrannical emperor Chi Hoang-ti, who had angered the litterati by burning books. Someone cut an inscription on the stone predicting the emperor's death within a year. Hearing of it, he ordered the stone split up and all the inhabitants of the place where it was found put to death, apparently as a conjuration of the spell.
Chapter 21
What did Daimachus report before the Ægospotami meteorite fell, and how does it relate to modern theory?
Plutarch quotes Daimachus's Treatise on Religion saying that for seventy-five days before the fall, a vast fiery body like a flaming cloud was seen in the heavens. The author notes this well describes a great comet and might be significant given the modern theory that meteors are detached particles of cometary aggregations. Pliny says the stone was wagon-sized and dusky, with a brilliant comet visible at its fall.
Chapter 21
How does the author characterize the sacred stones of Ephesus, Paphos, and Tyre?
The author argues these were likely meteorites venerated as divine images. The Ephesian Diana stone was said to have fallen from the sky (Acts xix. 35), rendered more literally as "that which fell down from the sky," showing it only faintly indicated human form. Tacitus describes the Paphos Astarte stone as an obscurely formed cone, not a human effigy. Sanchoniathon calls the Tyrian emerald a star fallen from heaven.
Chapter 21
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What did Suetonius report was found after a thunderbolt struck near a lake in Spain?
Suetonius reports that when a thunderbolt fell on the shore of a lake in the Basque provinces, a search turned up twelve axes, which were taken as an augury of Galba's elevation to emperor. The author notes that for archaeologists the axes instead indicate the site of a lake dwellers' village.
Chapter 22
What reasons does the author give for believing the Black Stone of the Kaaba is a meteorite?
The author states there are fairly strong reasons for this belief, and cites Burckhardt's description: an irregular oval about seven inches across, made of roughly a dozen joined fragments, smooth and worn by countless touches, appearing like lava with whitish and yellowish particles, deep reddish-brown to black. The author says this description supports the meteorite conjecture.
Chapter 22
What injuries did the Black Stone suffer according to the chapter?
A fire early in the Mohammedan era broke it into three pieces, which were repaired. Around 926 A.D. the Carmates sacked Mecca and carried the stone to Hedjez, breaking it into two pieces; they returned it voluntarily after failing to attract pilgrims. In 1022 A.D. Hakem's emissary struck it with a club, breaking off three pieces that were pulverized.
Chapter 22
What does Mohammedan tradition say about the Black Stone's origin and its role in building the Kaaba?
Tradition teaches the stone was sent from heaven and was once pure and brilliant, growing black only because of men's sins. Legend says Abraham stood on it while building the Kaaba, whose stones came cut and polished from the Mountain of Arafat. The stone complained to Abraham about being unused, and he promised it would be honored above all other stones, kissed by men in procession.
Chapter 22
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What did the Khalif Moti Lillah do with a fragment of the Black Stone in 951 A.D.?
He had it brought to Bagdad and inserted in the threshold of the main entrance to the royal palace. A tapestry from the Kaaba hung above, and all who entered were enjoined to touch their eyes with it and kiss the stone, which no one was permitted to tread upon. These details come from Khondemir's life of Abu Jafer Al Mostasem.
Chapter 23
Why does Dr. Snouck-Hurgronje doubt the Black Stone is the Kaaba's source of sanctity?
The author reports that Snouck-Hurgronje, one of the few Europeans permitted inside, believes the Kaaba's origin and sanctity were due instead to the well Zemzem, whose waters were already reputed therapeutic in early Islam. The author notes that if the well's purgative properties came from later contamination, the water's original purity might explain Arab reverence for it.
Chapter 23
In the Antar poem, how did the emir obtain and then test the magic sword?
He found a black stone that pierced a camel's body, recognized it as a meteorite or 'thunder-stone,' and had his smiths forge a sword from it. He clothed the smith in a robe of honor, then beheaded him with the new blade, both testing the weapon and ensuring it would not be duplicated. Antar later won the sword by slaying the oppressive brother.
Chapter 23
What did Hammer-Purgstall and Avicenna each say about meteoric iron in sword-making?
The author reports Hammer-Purgstall's opinion that forging swords from meteoric iron originated the characteristic surface of Damascus blades. A modern example is Von Widmanstädt's dagger for Emperor Francis I, though its lines were angular rather than wavy. Avicenna, however, reports an unsuccessful attempt to forge swords from a siderite that fell at Jurgan in 1009 A.D., for the Sultan of Khorassan.
Chapter 23
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How did the ancients interpret falling stars and meteorites?
The ancients supposed the stars to be the domiciles of the gods, and believed falling stars and meteorites signified the descent of a god or the sending of its image to earth. These envoys were received with divine honor, embalmed and draped, and worshipped in temples built for them. Coins were often struck in honor of the sanctuaries where aerolites were adored.
Chapter 24
What did Lavoisier's committee conclude about the 1768 Luce meteorite?
Three French scientists, including Lavoisier, investigated the stone that fell at Luce in 1768 and reported to the Academy of Sciences that accounts of the event must be erroneous, since thunder-stones did not exist. The author notes this was true but that they failed to consider stones might fall by some other means.
Chapter 24
What did the Mogul Emperor Jehangir do with the 1621 Lahore siderite?
A siderite fell twenty miles east of Lahore, India, on April 17, 1621, weighing about 3¼ pounds. The Mogul Emperor Jehangir ordered two sabres, a knife, and a dagger made from the iron and commanded that the fact be properly registered. The weapons were believed to possess quasi-magic power because of the celestial origin of the material.
Chapter 24
How did the Chinese respond to the 1622 stone rain after invoking Taoist priests?
During a severe drought in China in 1622, Taoist priests were asked to bring rain and performed invocations on a hill. Instead of rain, an immense shower of stones fell, destroying remaining crops and killing or maiming many people. The terrified Jesuits half-believed the Last Day had come, and when the panic subsided the people beat the unlucky priests soundly.
Chapter 24
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What did the Tartars believe about the Pallas iron meteorite?
Chladni reports in a 1794 pamphlet that the Tartars regarded the Pallas or Krasnojarsk iron meteorite as a sacred object fallen from heaven. The author argues this belief likely arose not from ancient tradition but from a primitive conviction that any unusual rock or metal differing from surrounding formations must have come from the sky, so primitive instinct often anticipates modern science.
Chapter 25
Why did the Cape York meteorites' true nature remain doubted for decades?
Captain Ross received iron knives from Eskimo in 1818, and nickel analysis suggested meteoric origin, but searches in 1840 and 1849–50 failed. Nordenskiold's 1870 finding that the Ovifak, Disko Island iron was telluric cast doubt on the Cape York iron's meteoric character and discouraged further searches until Peary located the masses in 1894.
Chapter 25
What are the dimensions and weight of Ahnighito, the largest siderite?
Ahnighito measures 10 feet 11 inches long, 6 feet 9 inches high, and 5 feet 2 inches thick, weighing over 36½ tons. It was found on a small island some six miles from the two smaller masses, on a terrace 80 feet above tide-water about 100 feet from shore, almost buried in rocks and sand. It is named for Peary's daughter.
Chapter 25
What did the Eskimo legend say about the Cape York meteorites?
The natives saw in the meteorites an Innuit woman who, with her dog and tent, had been hurled from the sky in a bygone age by Tornarsuk, the Evil One. 'The Woman' was said to have resembled a seated woman sewing, but chipping had nearly erased the form; Peary was told its 'head' had fallen off and a sledge party carrying it sank through the ice.
Chapter 25
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What did the skaif experiment of September 11, 1893, prove about the Cañon Diablo residuum?
Charged with the residuum from the meteorite, a diamond-polishing wheel running at 2500 revolutions per minute ground and polished a flat surface on a rough diamond in under fifteen minutes. Repeated trials on other diamonds succeeded, showing conclusively that the residuum contained many minute diamond fragments.
Chapter 26
How did Koenig and Moissan account for diamonds inside the Cañon Diablo iron?
Koenig announced microscopic diamonds in 1891, and Moissan's later work confirmed and extended this. The diamonds are held to have formed from carbon under high temperature and great pressure, analogous to Moissan's artificial diamonds made in an iron mass heated in an electric furnace and then rapidly chilled.
Chapter 26
What did Kansas farmers do with the Brenham meteorites before their value was known?
Found in 1886 in Brenham township, Kiowa County, Kansas, the meteorites were used to weight down haystacks or for other uses suited to small boulders. About twenty specimens were recovered, from 466 pounds down to one ounce, mostly from roughly sixty acres; the largest, called the "moon meteorite," lay three inches deep and broke a ploughshare.
Chapter 26
Which meteorite falls near people does the chapter describe, and what is the sole recorded human death?
Examples include Tourinnes-la-Grosse, which broke street pavement; Angers, which fell into a garden near a lady; and Brunau, which passed through a cottage roof. The chapter says there is but one credibly recorded killing of a human by a meteorite, said to have occurred at Mhow, India, with fragments in museum collections.
Chapter 26
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What did Welsh peasants believe happened to a meteor when it hit the earth?
Welsh peasants believed a fallen meteor was reduced to a mass of jelly, which they called pwdre ser, literally "star-rot." The author notes this fancy was quite general in Great Britain, where the substance was also called "star-slough," "star-shoot," and "star-gelly." The most plausible explanation offered is that such jellies are plasmodia of Myxomycetes, which appear in autumn, the season of most meteors.
Chapter 27
How did Australian medicine-men use the fear of falling stars?
In some Australian tribes, sorcerers or medicine-men exploited the aborigines' superstitious dread of falling stars. They pretended to have marked where a star fell and to have dug it up for their medicine-bag. These supposed "fallen stars" were sometimes quartz pebbles; in one case a European investigator was shown a piece of thick glass that the sorcerer insisted he had dug from the ground.
Chapter 27
What protective power was attributed to silver-encased arrow-heads?
Arrow-heads encased in silver were regarded as the solid contents of a lightning flash. They were thought to protect the house where they were kept from being struck by lightning, and this protection was believed to extend to seven neighboring houses. An example is a neolithic silex arrow-head set in silver in modern times, from Pesca Costanzo in the province of Aquila, Italy.
Chapter 27
What explanation did an early writer give the Royal Society for "star-shoot" jelly?
An early writer, noting the belief that a white gelatinous substance was all that remained of a fallen star, declared he had clearly demonstrated to the Royal Society that the mass was composed of the intestines of frogs and had been vomited by crows, adding that other scientific men confirmed his opinion. Huxley conjectured from a description that it was nostoc, a gelatinous vegetable mass, though this seems doubtful.
Chapter 27
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In Iroquois myth, what does He-no carry and hurl at evil spirits?
He-no, the Iroquois thunder god, is venerated for aiding those he favors, directing rain to fertilize seed and helping harvesters. As he travels the sky he carries an enormous basket of huge chert boulders, which he casts at any evil spirit he meets. If a spirit dodges, the boulder falls to earth surrounded by fire—another version of the near-universal thunder-stone myth.
Chapter 28
How was a perforated thunder-stone used against bewitched cows in East Prussia?
When cows were believed bewitched so their milk was under a spell, East Prussians used a perforated thunder-stone—an ancient stone hammer with a central hole for a handle. The stone was held beneath the cow at milking time and the milk allowed to pass through the perforation. This broke the spell and made the milk harmless. Such stones were also used to protect houses from lightning.
Chapter 28
How did Moravian peasants use thunder-stones during Passion Week?
Slavonic-descended peasants in Moravia held great faith in thunder-stones. During Passion Week the stone could reveal the location of hidden treasures, and warts on man or horse would disappear if rubbed with such a stone before sunset. But the stone was not only healing: if hurled at someone and it struck him, it inflicted a mortal wound.
Chapter 28
What was the stone idol Neevougi on Inniskea, and what was asked of it?
The Earl of Roden reported that in 1851 Inniskea, off County Mayo, had a stone idol called Neevougi, said to be worshipped from time immemorial. It was wrapped in many folds of homespun flannel, a dress dedicated whenever aid was sought and sewn on by an old woman serving as priestess. Prayers were offered for cures; islanders sometimes asked for a storm to wreck a ship for profit, yet also expected fair weather for fishing.
Chapter 28
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How did Irish peasants use stone arrow-heads to cure illness?
The Irish believed prehistoric stone arrow-heads were shot by fairies. To cure diseases caused by evil spirits, the saigead ("arrow") was placed in water, which the sick person then drank. Cows wounded by "fairy-darts" were also made to drink this water. The stones were worn set in silver as amulets against fairy weapons, and similar beliefs existed in northern England.
Chapter 29
How did French Alpine shepherds use thunder-stones to protect their flocks?
Shepherds in the French Alps valued "thunder-stones" (peyros de tron) as precious heirlooms passed from father to son. When flocks were driven to pasturage, one stone was embedded in a tuft of wool on the back of the bell-wether, supposedly protecting the whole flock. Spanish peasants called such stones piedros del rayo, or "lightning-stones."
Chapter 29
How did the Burmese test whether a mo-jio was genuine?
The Burmese called stone celts mo-jio, believing they fell with lightning and worked back to the surface. To test authenticity, the stone was wrapped in cloth and shot at close range. If the shooter missed the cloth, the charm's power was established; if the stone fractured, it was deemed not a real mo-jio. Genuine ones were often chipped for medicine.
Chapter 29
What did the Manobos of Mindanao believe about lightning and stone implements?
The heathen Manobos of Mindanao, in the Philippines, called thunder the "speech of the lightning" and regarded lightning as a kind of wild animal. When lightning struck earth or a tree, they believed the animal had buried its teeth in the spot, so any stone implement found there was viewed as one of those teeth.
Chapter 29
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What did Sir John Hill conjecture about the medicinal virtues of gems?
In his commentary on Theophrastus, Sir John Hill suggested that if an active medicinal principle in gems really existed, it should be sought in the coloring matter, since his research on the causes of color led him there. He noted the reigning opinion held gem virtues largely imaginary, but argued a strict trial of the metallic particles responsible for color would settle the question.
Chapter 30
What remedies does Petrus Hispanus's 'Thesaurus Pauperum' recommend?
Written by Petrus Hispanus, later Pope John XXI (1276–1277), the treatise favors cheap peasant remedies: plants, herbs, and common animal parts. Among minerals, red chelidonius and powdered iris were prescribed for epilepsy, emerald or sapphire touched to the eye healed eye disease, cold stones bound on the temples stopped nosebleeds, and coral helped syncope. Stones were also used as amulets, such as loadstone to remove discord.
Chapter 30
What does the 'doctrine of signatures' mean according to Martius?
The doctrine of signatures held that nature marked certain objects to show their usefulness in curing diseases of particular body parts or neutralizing bites. Martius argued the signatures should not be sought in fanciful resemblance to the form of diseased body parts, but rather in an object's color, odor, taste, and composition.
Chapter 30
What meteorite anecdotes does the chapter recount?
The chapter reports that those who carried meteorites seemed to escape harm. An aviator credited surviving a fifty-foot fall to carrying a meteorite, and Harmon borrowed one before winning the Doubleday-Page aviation prize. Edward Heron Allen wore one and his roof fell everywhere except over his bed; a Boston lady who received it survived a runaway-truck collision and falling scaffolding unharmed.
Chapter 30
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What were theriaca preparations primarily used to treat in medieval medicine?
Theriaca, from the Greek therion meaning a poisonous animal or serpent, were primarily antidotes for poison. They were also freely administered for any form of blood-poisoning, malarial infection, and malignant fevers. Principal ingredients included Armenian stone (a blue carbonate of copper), pearls, charred stag's-horn, and coral. The Veronese physician Francesco India affirmed the remedy cured and prevented the plague, especially theriaca Andromachi, or Venice treacle.
Chapter 31
How was the crabstone used as an eye-stone, and what was it?
The crabstone, or crab's-eye, is a chalky concretion forming on either side of a crab's stomach during moulting. It was used to remove foreign bodies from the eye by being introduced under the eyelid. This produced a rapid flow from the tear-ducts that often washed the foreign bodies away, and the stone's passage across the eyeball occasionally helped by rubbing off the body.
Chapter 31
Why did Francesco India reject precious stones as internal medicines?
Writing in 1593, India excluded jacinth, emerald, sapphire, and similar stones from medicinal substances because, though reducible to powder, they could not be dissolved and so could not be absorbed by the human system. He attributed their original use for malignant fevers to the Arabs and argued no rational physician should administer them. He did recognize powdered hematite's astringent value for eye diseases and allowed that worn stones might have subtle effects.
Chapter 31
What did Robert Boyle argue about the internal use of gems in 1663?
Boyle disagreed with those who absolutely rejected internal use of leaf-gold, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds as unconquerable by stomach heat. He held the stomach has a subtle dissolvent beyond mere heat, noting he had drawn tinctures from gems in cold liquors. But he distinguished showing such action is possible from proving the stones actually possess the specific virtues ascribed to them, and suggested physicians substitute cheaper ingredients for poorer patients.
Chapter 31
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What did Johann Wolff suggest caused the deaths of Popes Leo IV and Paul II?
Wolff seriously discussed whether the great quantity of pearls and precious stones these popes habitually wore could have caused their mysterious illness and death, attributing the lethal effect to the coldness of such objects. Certain writers also cited the frigidity of precious stones as a chief reason for their remedial use in fevers.
Chapter 32
How were precious-stone remedies used at the Leyden Hospital in 1674-1675?
Lucas Schacht's lecture notes show they were used only as a last resort when the patient's condition was desperate, and death usually followed shortly. In the case of Ludovicus Carels, doctors waited until November 24 to give a compound with elixirs of jacinth and pearl; he died three days later. High fever or great weakness justified such remedies.
Chapter 32
What was Gascoign's Powder and how successful was it?
It was a famous cordial medicine named for the physician who compounded it, hugely popular in England toward the end of the eighteenth century. Its ingredients included Oriental bezoar (the most important), white amber, red coral, crab's eyes, powdered hartshorn, pearl, and black crab's claws. The physician reportedly earned over £50,000 ($250,000) from this single remedy.
Chapter 32
How did Pliny and later writers describe agate's medicinal uses?
Pliny distinguished Indian agates as a remedy for eye diseases from Egyptian and Cretan agates, used for spider or scorpion bites, likely because the stone was believed to cool the body. Damigeron directed powdering it onto wounds or dissolving it in wine. Held in the mouth, agate was thought to quench thirst, so it was recommended early for fevers and inflammatory diseases.
Chapter 32
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What powers did carbuncle wearers claim, and how did the stone warn of misfortune?
Carbuncles were said to let wearers resist poisons and be preserved from the pest. They dissipate sadness, control incontinence, avert evil thoughts and dreams, exhilarate the soul, and foretell misfortunes to man by losing their native splendor.
Chapter 33
Why do Italian peasant women wear milky white chalcedony beads, and what older find supports this?
Perforated, spherical beads of milky white chalcedony are worn today by Italian peasant women to increase the supply of milk, hence the Italian name pietra lattea. Perforated white steatite beads from the early Iron Age found near Perugia are believed to have been worn for the same purpose.
Chapter 33
How were coral talismans used against fever and hydrophobia, and what did Gratius claim?
Coral and safran wrapped in cat skin, with emeralds added, would drive off a mortal fever but had to be attached to the patient's neck. For hydrophobia, Roman dog-collars were set with flint and Maltese coral; Gratius, a first-century contemporary of Ovid, asserted such collars appeased the gods and broke the charm cast by an envious eye.
Chapter 33
What did the Jawâhir-nâmeh say about rock-crystal, the diamond, and teeth?
The author of the Jawâhir-nâmeh, written about a century ago, states that similarity to rock-crystal led to belief the latter was an incomplete or unripe diamond, so crystal was called kacha, unripe, and diamond pakka, ripe. He notes the belief that a diamond in the mouth causes teeth to fall out, though some disputed this since diamond dust served as tooth-powder.
Chapter 33
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What does the chapter claim an emerald amulet does for children, and what happens if the disease is too strong?
The emerald is especially commended for amulets hung from children's necks, believed to preserve them from epileptic convulsions and the falling sickness. If the violence of the disease is such that the stone cannot overcome it, the emerald breaks up. Bound to a woman's thigh it is said to hasten parturition; worn at the neck it drives off vain fears and evil spirits.
Chapter 34
What Sanskrit names for the emerald does the chapter give, and what does each mean?
Besides the usual designation marakata, which Garbe believes derives from the Greek smaragdos, Sanskrit has distinguishing names: acmagarbhaja, 'sprung from the rock,' well describing the emerald in its matrix; and garalari, 'enemy of poison,' indicating the stone's great repute in India as an antidote for all animal, mineral and vegetable poisons.
Chapter 34
How did Galen treat inflamed eyelids with hematite, and how did he judge the powder's quality?
Galen recommends hematite for inflamed eyelids, following Egyptian medical teaching. Tumors on the eyelids were treated with hematite dissolved in white of egg, boiled with fenugreek if large; simple inflammation called for a water solution. Weak solution was poured into the eye through a glass tube, thickened if ineffective. Galen advises great care judging powder quality, though he admits he trusted his sense of taste.
Chapter 34
What did Ben Sina (Avicenna) teach about the jacinth's stimulant effect and its source?
Ben Sina noted a peculiarly stimulant and tonic effect exercised by the jacinth, to which he attributed its value as an antidote for poisons. He held this effect was not due to the stone's material composition but proceeded from the mass as the magnet's virtue does. Hence he opposed the theory that the body's natural warmth acted on the jacinth when taken internally, producing transmutation, dissolution and mingling of its substance with the volatile spiritual essence.
Chapter 34
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What restrictions did T'ao Hung Ching place on jade used as medicine?
T'ao Hung Ching directed that when powdered jade was prescribed, carved jade must not be used, nor unwrought jade that had been buried in tombs. The usual preparation was pounding jade into pieces the size of small pulse. Chinese physicians claimed the powder passed through unchanged while its essential virtue was absorbed, relieving heartburn, asthma, and thirst, and acting as a tonic that strengthened the voice and made hair glossy.
Chapter 35
Why did some Europeans oppose constantly wearing jade as a remedy?
Although many believed jade should be constantly worn to exert its full curative power against oedematous affections of the feet, some argued that constant and unremitting use weakened the effect. They reasoned that if the wearer were suddenly attacked by a disorder jade could cure, the system would have become so habituated to its action that the stone would no longer work as a remedy.
Chapter 35
How did Caspar Bertholin explain jade's failure to cure his own calculi?
Bertholin, writing in 1628, reported that four prominent Copenhagen citizens he recommended jade to could testify to its worth, adding that two could, since the other two were dead but not of the stone. He himself gained no relief despite sending for specimens to Venice, Nuremberg, and Batavia. Firm in his conviction, he asserted his calculi must have been exceptionally hard and flint-like, so they could not be broken up.
Chapter 35
How were varieties of jade matched to specific diseases by Aldobrando?
Cleandro quotes Aldobrando, a Bologna physician, who described jade as usually purple like porphyry with yellow figures of herbs, flowers, knots, and Arabic characters. Darker stones with yellow bands and black spots, resembling a section of the spleen, were used for spleen diseases. A purple stone with a yellow pitted stain figured a bile-spattered liver and treated bilious disorders; four grains dissolved in wine discharged bile. A reddish, blood-like variety treated blood disorders and hemorrhages.
Chapter 35
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Why did the imperial court stop jade shipments from the Raskam quarry?
The heir apparent fell ill after sleeping on a couch made of Raskam jade. Orders came from the imperial court forbidding further forwarding of jade from that quarry, and a block already en route near Kneha in Turkestan was left lying on the road. The author presents this as an example of how superstitions about jade explained away ill luck without abandoning the underlying belief in the stone's power.
Chapter 36
How did Alexander Trallianus prescribe the Hercules jasper amulet for colic?
The Greek physician Alexander Trallianus, who flourished in the first half of the sixth century A.D., recommended engraving Hercules strangling the Nemean Lion on a 'Median stone,' setting it in a gold ring, and having the patient wear it. The design was likely chosen because the constellation Leo was believed to rule the stomach and possibly the liver. The Ravenna amulet's reverse bears K K K, thought to stand for the Greek word for colic.
Chapter 36
What did De Boot report about red jasper and a woman in Prague?
De Boot relates from his own experience that red jasper best checks hemorrhages. A Prague woman had suffered hemorrhages for six years, and when De Boot advised wearing red jasper, the bleeding ceased as soon as the stone was attached. Whenever she laid it aside the hemorrhage returned, and it stopped again when she resumed wearing it, until she was cured and could give up the stone.
Chapter 36
What medicinal and magical virtues did Pliny attribute to jet?
Pliny held that jet's fumes cured hysteria and revealed a latent tendency to epilepsy, and later authors repeated a belief that the fumes could test virginity. Powdered with wine, jet relieved toothache; combined with wax, it made a salve for scrofula. It was also recommended as a dentifrice, and Bartholomaeus Anglicus says it benefited 'feeble teeth and waggyng.' Jet was thought to banish the hallucinations of melancholics, especially as rosary beads.
Chapter 36
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How did the Arabs distinguish lapis Armenus from lapis lazuli?
Arab medical writers, including Ibn Beithar, described lapis Armenus accurately under the name hajer Armeny and distinguished it from the similar lapis lazuli, with which it was often confused in ancient times. Ibn Beithar states that if properly prepared it would not provoke nausea, as was otherwise the case, and it was said to cause abundant evacuation of bile, making it a remedy for bilious disorders common in warm climates.
Chapter 37
What ingredients and form did the Egyptian 'blue amulet' against vertigo take?
The amulet combined shavings of elk's horn and human skull reduced to powder, peacock excrement, white agate, and lapis lazuli or lapis Armenus in enough quantity to give a sky-blue tint. The mass was softened with gum tragacanth, formed into heart-shaped tablets, dried in air, and smoothed on a lathe. The amulets were worn on the neck or arm, sometimes enclosed in silver or red sandal-wood and suspended from the neck.
Chapter 37
According to the Berlin Papyrus 3027, how were lapis lazuli beads used as amulets?
This record, dating from about the fifteenth century B.C., gives directions for using lapis lazuli, malachite, and probably red jasper as amulets. The stones were worked into beads, strung on a cord, and hung on a sick child's neck. A formula was then recited calling on the disease to pass through the beads and attach itself to the denizens of water and air. Erman does not translate the disease name nšw, suggesting possibly croup or a similar respiratory disease.
Chapter 37
What did Konrad von Megenberg say about the Median stone's powers?
In his Buch der Natur, Konrad von Megenberg wrote that the Median stone had powers of both good and evil. Dissolved in the milk of a woman who had borne a son, it restores sight to the blind and also cured gout and insanity. But if dissolved in water and drunk, it caused death by hasty consumption; merely bathing the forehead with the liquid robbed a person of sight.
Chapter 37
Section 384 cards
What power was the sardonyx talisman believed to exert, and what happened when it was loaned out?
The gem was believed to aid women in their confinements, so it was loaned out to those deemed worthy. One favored lady failed to return it after her need passed, keeping it until death and bequeathing it to her daughter, who arranged on her death-bed for the sardonyx to be returned to the Abbey. It reportedly bore the name Kaadman, which Thomas Wright regarded as a corruption of cadmeus or cameus, early forms of "cameo."
Chapter 38
What is the "pierre de santé," and what property was it believed to have?
It is a cut and facetted iron pyrite, known as marcasite (a bisulphide of iron), hard, highly polishable, and lustrous, cut in rose or brilliant diamond form and set in rings and buckles. In Geneva and neighboring regions it was called pierre de santé, or "health-stone," because it was believed to grow pale when the wearer's health was about to fail. It was much used under Louis XVI, later largely replaced by steel.
Chapter 38
What medicinal uses were ascribed to rock-crystal in the chapter?
Roman physicians of the first century attested a crystal ball acted on by the sun's rays was the best cautery. Germans called it Schwindelstein ("vertigo-stone") for warding off dizziness; powdered in dry wine it cured dysentery, and mixed with honey it supposedly helped mothers nurse. Ole Borch gave directions for a remedial tincture, and a magisterium was claimed as a remedy for gout and calculi; Dr. Bourgeois recommended calcined crystal as an astringent for diarrhoea.
Chapter 38
How does the chapter explain the legend of Loch-mo-naire's healing waters?
A local legend says a woman healer owned magic crystals that made water a curative potion; an envious neighbor feigned illness to steal them, she fled and threw the stones into the lake, crying the Gaelic word noire ("shame") and wishing the waters would cure the sick except members of the clan Gordon. The chapter notes the name is said to mean "Serpent Lake," not "Lake of Shame," so the legend lacks good foundation.
Chapter 38
Section 394 cards
How does the author scientifically explain cures attributed to relics and sacred springs?
The author argues such cures result from extraordinary stimulation of the nerve-centres caused by the rapt enthusiasm of religious faith. The relic or pure water serves as a concrete object about which faith crystallizes and which reacts upon the believer's mind. He compares this to a great shock or imminent peril suddenly restoring motion to the long paralyzed, and says this view need not exclude a religious interpretation, since divine will manifests through natural means.
Chapter 39
What medicinal properties did the Hindus ascribe to the sapphire?
The Hindus declared the sapphire bitter to the taste and lukewarm, with remedial action against phlegm, bile and flatulence. A potion made from it was said to help those bitten by a scorpion, those with intestinal ulcerations or growths in the eye, prevent boils and pustules, and heal ruptured membranes. It also shared with the emerald the power of strengthening sight; one authority claimed long, intent gazing protected the eyes from all injury.
Chapter 39
What was the medieval spider test of the sapphire's antitoxin quality?
A spider was placed in a vessel, and a sapphire was suspended at the vessel's mouth so it swung back and forth just above the spider. The supposedly venomous insect could not long resist the stone's power and fell a victim to its virtues. Wolfgang Gabelchover gravely asserts that this experiment had often been successful.
Chapter 39
What powers were attributed to the topaz, and what legend illustrates its thirst-quenching power?
The thirteenth-century Hindu physician Naharari states the topaz tastes sour and is cold, remedies flatulence, and is an excellent appetizer; wearing it assured long life, beauty and intelligence. Legend tells of a dying necromancer on a battlefield who threw his thirst-quenching topaz to a wounded soldier, telling him to place it on his heart; the soldier's thirst passed away, and the next day no trace of the benefactor's corpse could be found.
Chapter 39
Section 404 cards
How were renal or vesical calculi used as remedies, and on what theory?
Stones formed in the body by disease were used to counteract the disease that produced them. Renal or vesical calculi, for example, were recommended for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. The author notes this treatment was quite in accord with the popular idea of the homeopathic theory.
Chapter 40
What were glossopetræ believed to be, and how were they linked to thunderbolts?
Glossopetræ were fossil shark teeth, usually regarded as stones because of their peculiar form and often assimilated to belemnites and flint arrow-heads. All these flint artefacts were believed to have been precipitated to earth by electricity discharged during a thunder-storm, i.e., 'thunderbolts.' Those found on Malta were connected with St. Paul's visit to the island.
Chapter 40
What did De Boot conclude from his attempt to obtain a toad-stone?
De Boot recalls that as a boy he set an old toad on a red cloth to secure a toad-stone, since they say the toad will not give up its stone unless sitting on a red cloth. Though he watched the toad a whole night, it ejected nothing, and from then on he became convinced all tales concerning this stone were merely fond imaginings.
Chapter 40
What powers were attributed to the toad-stone, and how was it set to work?
The toad-stone was thought to be an antidote for poisons and to give warning of their presence by becoming very hot. To profit fully, the wearer was advised to have it set in a ring so it would touch the skin, ensuring timely notice if poisoned food or drink were offered. Thomas de Cantimpré also claimed a swallowed toad-stone carries off impurities.
Chapter 40
Section 414 cards
How was the Lemnian family's toad-stone said to cure venomous bites?
The heirloom toad-stone, larger than a walnut, was said to dissipate swelling from a venomous creature's bite anywhere on the body if rubbed quickly over the swelling. It was believed to share the toad's supposed power to draw out and annul all poisons, and neighbors bitten by mice, spiders, dormice, wasps, or beetles sought its aid.
Chapter 41
What methods were described for obtaining a toad-stone from a toad?
One authority said to cage the toad under red cloth in hot sun until thirst forced it to eject the stone, removed quickly before being swallowed again. Another cruel method enclosed the toad in a perforated pot placed in an ant-hill until only bones and stone remained. The author notes such stones may have been bony head concretions or swallowed pebbles.
Chapter 41
What were many toad-stones set in rings actually found to be?
The author states that while some so-called toad-stones may really have been concretions from the toad's head, by far the greater part were probably small pebbles sold to believers at a good price. Some set in rings as amulets were found to be the fossil palatal tooth of the ray, a species of fish.
Chapter 41
How did Thomas Nash compare the fate of a wit to the toad-stone?
Nash likened the wit's fate to the toad-stone, or "the pearl," said to be in the toad's head: it is of exceeding virtue yet enclosed with poison, while the wit is of no less value but compassed about with poverty. The author cites this to illustrate the small material prosperity of sixteenth-century English literary men.
Chapter 41
Section 424 cards
What power did the hyænia stone give, and where was it placed?
Pliny writes that the hyænia came from the eye of the hyena, and the animals were hunted to obtain it. Like rock-crystal and other decorative stones, it was thought to give the power to foretell the future if placed beneath the tongue. The hyena's habit of feeding on carrion and unearthing bodies from graves linked it with necromancy and evil spirits.
Chapter 42
What did Scaliger claim about the lacrima cervi, or stag's tear?
Scaliger denied it was a bezoar stone, maintaining it was a bony concretion formed in the corner of a stag's eye only after the animal passed its hundredth year. Since stags never reach that age, he effectively called the tear a fable, yet he described a specimen as smooth and light, with bezoar-like power against poison and plague when powdered and given with wine.
Chapter 42
How was the chelonia used to gain divination, according to the magicians?
Pliny said the chelonia was the eye of the Indian tortoise. Magicians claimed it was the most marvellous of stones: bathed in honey and placed in the mouth at full or new moon, it conferred divination lasting one entire day. The virtue was not unique to it; other stones placed in the mouth also stimulated prophetic utterance. A later writer attributed prophecy to the tortoise's uterine stone instead.
Chapter 42
What were the ætites' special virtues and its real nature?
Pliny said the ætites was found in eagles' nests, resisted fire, cured many diseases, and especially prevented abortion because it seemed pregnant, rattling a second stone inside. Its virtues supposedly existed only when taken from the nest. In reality these are hollow iron-stone concretions containing loose material, called bambino by Italians, found worldwide and valued as charms when small and polished.
Chapter 42
Section 434 cards
How was the ætites said to reveal a thief?
The chapter states that if the ætites is placed in bread or cooked with food, a person who has committed a theft cannot eat that food, thus unmasking the thief. It also claims the stone, taken with Cyprian wax or fresh olive oil, helps those suffering from rheumatism and paralysis.
Chapter 43
What did Bausch conclude about eagle-stones in eagles' nests?
Bausch rejected all explanations for the stones' presence in eagles' nests and denied that such stones were ever found there, despite having diligent searches made of nests encountered. He instead cited St. Jerome's commentary on Isaiah, which said the amethyst was placed with eagle young to protect them from venomous creatures.
Chapter 43
How were eagle-stones used in Italy, according to the chapter?
The chapter reports that in Italy eagle-stones, called pietre gravide or "pregnant stones," were considered nearly indispensable aids to parturition by many peasants. Owners rented them for the nine months they were worn, charging a fee of five lire (one dollar) and requiring a pledge worth a hundred lire ($20) before handing the stone over.
Chapter 43
What was found inside the Périgueux geode opened in 1846?
The chapter states that when this limonite geode found in 1846 at Périgueux, Dordogne, France, was opened, it contained some 200 silver coins dated to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, all encrusted with the material forming the enclosing mass. The author notes this as a curious case of the ætites acting like a savings-bank.
Chapter 43
Section 443 cards
According to Pliny-era belief, what conditions produced a genuine alectorius?
The cock-stone was believed to exist only in the gizzard of a cock caponed at three years old that then lived seven years longer; the longer it stayed in the body, the greater its virtue. It never exceeded the size of a bean. Because of its link to the pugnacious fowl, wrestlers favored it, and Milo of Croton supposedly owed victories to one held in his mouth to quench thirst.
Chapter 44
What powers were ascribed to the alectorius, and who notably valued one?
It was said to make wives agreeable to husbands, dissolve enchantments, bring new honors and powers, and help kings gain dominions. Tycho Brahe greatly valued a bean-sized specimen, believing it brought luck in gambling and love. Thomas de Cantimpré said the name means allurer or enticer, since the stone excites husbands' love for wives; it was held in the mouth to secure effect.
Chapter 44
What was the hen's sky-blue gizzard stone and its attributed effects?
The hen furnished a companion concretion from the gizzard, sky-blue in color, called in Arabic hajar al-ḥattaf. Worn by an epileptic, it was said to stop attacks; it favored procreation, nullified the Evil Eye, and kept children from bad dreams when placed beneath their heads while sleeping. Its effects thus differed from those ascribed to the alectorius.
Chapter 44
Section 454 cards
What did Oswald Croll prescribe for the hollow gold heart amulet against plague?
Croll recommended a gold heart amulet set with a blue sapphire and toad-stones or spider-stones in a cross pattern on top, and a jacinth beneath. The heart was to be hollow, and a living toad was suspended by its hind legs until it died and dried, then powdered, mixed with sharp vinegar, and placed inside the heart.
Chapter 45
What powers were attributed to the porcupine stone, and what did Tavernier pay?
The porcupine stone, usually found in the animal's head, was considered superior to the bezoar as an antidote against poison; steeped in water for a quarter hour it made the water extremely bitter. A stone from the entrails had like properties but did not lose weight in water. Tavernier bought three, paying up to five hundred crowns for one.
Chapter 45
What is the ambergris jewel in the Morgan collection, and what meanings were assigned to it?
It is described as the only preserved medieval specimen of its kind, carved with a woman and three children. Once believed to symbolize Charity, the later theory holds a less pure significance, denoting reproductive energies, since such ornaments were credited with aphrodisiac powers; they were also believed to cure stomachic disorders. It still emits fragrance when warmed in the hand.
Chapter 45
How was the lapis Judaicus described and used, and what did Galen observe?
The lapis Judaicus was an oval, olive-shaped, soft, friable white or gray fossil, identified as a pentremite or crinoid, said to come from Syria and Palestine and taken in solution for calculus. The larger male stones were deemed better for renal calculus, the smaller female ones for vesical calculus. Galen said he saw no effect on vesical calculi but found them efficient for renal calculi.
Chapter 45
Section 464 cards
What did Pliny and his sources believe glossopetræ were?
Pliny and his sources believed glossopetræ, actually fossilized shark teeth, were meteorites that fell from the sky when the moon was waning. This belief was common for all dart-shaped or pointed fossils and flints. Because of this supposed celestial origin, the glossopetræ were said to control the winds and even affect the motions of the moon.
Chapter 46
How were St. Paul's Earth tablets used as remedies?
St. Paul's Earth, said to come from St. Paul's Cave in Malta, was powdered and made into tablets stamped with the Maltese cross. Dissolved in wine or water, it was believed to be an antidote for poisons, to cure bites of venomous creatures, and to remedy many other ills. Purchasers were warned to guard against substitutes. Vessels made from the earth were filled with liquid that absorbed its virtues.
Chapter 46
Why were glossopetræ linked to St. Paul and Malta?
Malta became the chief source of these petrified teeth, so they were called lingues Melitenses, or Maltese tongues. Popular belief held they were petrified snakes' tongues and connected them to St. Paul's adventure on Malta, when he shook off a viper and suffered no injury. This was taken to mean the poison had been removed from all the island's snakes.
Chapter 46
What did fifteenth- and sixteenth-century people believe about glossopetræ and witches?
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a belief prevailed among the ignorant that fossil sharks' teeth were the teeth of witches called lamiæ, who sucked the blood of infants. The idea probably arose from confusion of names, since a species of shark was also called lamiæ. This dread only added to the repute of the glossopetræ, since the more feared an object, the greater the power credited to it.
Chapter 46
Section 474 cards
What were the fossils called entrochus later named, and what creature formed them?
The stem sections called entrochus by older writers were later named St. Cuthbert's beads, while lapis Judaicus was called the "stone-lily." Both were parts of a crinoid, a marine zoophyte described as half-plant and half-animal that usually twines its roots about a shell but can detach and creep along the sea bottom.
Chapter 47
What powers were attributed to hysterolithus and bucardites, and what were they?
The hysterolithus, formed from shell contents retaining the shell's shape, was used to cure various female diseases; it was thought identical to the autoglyphus of pseudo-Plutarch, found in the river Sagaris, whose shape symbolized Cybele. Bucardites, or "ox-hearts," were credited with increasing the wearer's courage. The name bucardites is already used by Pliny.
Chapter 47
What rules govern a valid and lucky sâlagrâma stone?
The sâlagrâma is a fossil ammonite or spiral univalve with a central perforation, revered as Vishnu's emblem. To be effectual the perforation must not exceed one-eighth of the total diameter. A black stone brings fame and a red one a crown, but an unduly large perforation causes family strife, irregular spirals portend misfortune, and a brown one causes the owner's wife's death.
Chapter 47
Who may own a sâlagrâma, and how is it venerated?
Only members of the three highest castes may own one; Sudras, Pariahs, and women are excluded. It is wrapped in linen, often washed and perfumed, and the wash water becomes a consecrated drink. The master of the house adores it daily, morning or evening, and it is held over the dying while water trickles through the orifice.
Chapter 47
Section 483 cards
In the Dietrich saga, why did King Nidung need his victory stone before battle?
Nidung despaired because he had left his "victory stone" in his castle far from camp on the eve of a battle his forces were likely to lose. He offered money and his daughter's hand to anyone who could retrieve it in time. Velint, on a horse of great strength and endurance, barely succeeded, and Nidung, wearing the stone, won the battle and kept his promise.
Chapter 48
What are Italian fossil-coral amulets called, and how are some decorated?
In Italy, especially the province of Aquila, fossil-coral amulets are called "witch-stones" (pietre stregonie). They resemble one type of the ancient and medieval "asterias" amulets. Many are incised or engraved with Christian subjects: one figured by Bellucci bears the head of Christ on the obverse and Christ on the cross on the reverse; others show the Virgin Mary.
Chapter 48
What does the Persian root padzahr reveal about the name bezoar?
Bezoar derives from the Persian padzahr (pad, expelling; zahr, poison), or a variant. The name was often used to designate any antidote for poison, so Arabs might say a substance was the bezoar for a particular poison. This should be understood to mean the stone received its name because it was regarded as a specially powerful antidote.
Chapter 48
Section 494 cards
What prices did bezoar stones command in Calcutta and Lower Germany?
A genuine stone was valued at 50 gold crowns (about $125) in Calcutta, and another reportedly brought 130 crowns ($325). De Boot states that a drachm of powdered stone was worth two ducats ($5) in Lower Germany and four ($10) in Upper Germany; the chapter notes he does not explain the difference.
Chapter 49
How was the Lapis Malacensis used as an antidote, and what was it?
Garcias ab Horto describes the Lapis Malacensis as found in the liver of the hedgehog and used as an antidote for poisons in Malacca. It was light purple, bitter, and smooth as a toad's skin. The custom was to steep the stone in water and give the water to the patient as a medicinal draught.
Chapter 49
What happened in Ambroise Paré's test of the bezoar on a condemned cook?
A cook condemned to death for stealing two silver dishes agreed to take poison and then powdered bezoar in exchange for liberty if he survived. He suffered violent retching and purging; Paré found him in agony with blood from nose, ears, and mouth, and he died within about an hour, wishing he had been hanged. The king ordered the discredited bezoar burned.
Chapter 49
How did Kaempfer explain Paré's failed bezoar test?
Kaempfer suggested Paré's bezoar may have been of inferior quality, and argued bezoars could not counteract mineral poisons but only vegetable ones, since the stone is largely vegetable in substance. He also held that inferior interior layers did not prove a stone spurious, as changed pasturage could account for them.
Chapter 49
Section 503 cards
In the Prague poison experiment, how long before bezoar was given, and what was the outcome?
A drachm of aconitum napellus was given to a prisoner, and five hours passed before five grains of bezoar in wine were administered. Symptoms included chest oppression, gastric pain, dim vision, vomiting, delirium, and eye inflammation. Eight hours after the poison, all symptoms passed; he recovered fully, and Emperor Rudolph II released and rewarded him.
Chapter 50
According to de Acosta, what did the Peruvian Indians believe about how bezoar stones formed?
De Acosta reports that the Indians held, from ancestral tradition, that in Xaura and other Peruvian provinces poisonous herbs and animals contaminated waters and pastures. The vicuña and other bezoar-producing animals instinctively knew and ate a certain poisonous herb, protecting themselves. The stone was said to form in their stomachs from this herb, giving it its antidote power and other marvelous properties.
Chapter 50
What powers were attributed to the bezoar found in a rhinoceros skull at Indrapura?
The stone was light, black, turning pale red against light, and hard enough to cut glass. Its owner believed it a panacea: held in the mouth for blood-spitting, rubbed on the affected part for rheumatism, bruises, or burns, and simply laid on wounds from venomous creatures. It was even said to revive those at the point of death.
Chapter 50
Section 514 cards
How did New World bezoars differ from Indian bezoars?
The chapter states New World bezoars had a rough surface, were usually gray, varied in size and form, and were composed of numerous superimposed, coalescing layers much thicker than those of the Oriental or Indian bezoar. They were often large, either hollow or containing seeds, needles and similar substances, and came from the West Indies, especially Peru, brought by Spaniards and Portuguese.
Chapter 51
Where did a sixteenth-century informant say the bezoar stones were found in the animals?
The letter describes animals like goats but hornless and so swift they had to be shot with guns. After killing many, the writer found no stone in the oldest animal's ventricle or elsewhere. A twelve-year-old Indian boy revealed a receptacle or "purse" receiving eaten herbs, which after churning pass into the ventricle; from one such pouch nine stones were taken.
Chapter 51
What evidence suggests South American natives valued bezoars before the Conquest?
The chapter notes doubt about whether aborigines valued bezoars before the Spanish Conquest, but cites a bezoar, probably from a llama, found in a tomb at Cojitambo in the Cañari region of Ecuador. The Quichua name illa meant luck-bringing stones, and Arriaga states Spaniards found bezoars stained with blood of sacrificial victims, suggesting religious or mystic significance.
Chapter 51
How did Sir George Carew's London jeweler Josepho assess a West Indian bezoar in 1594?
In a letter of October 10, 1594, to Sir Robert Cecil, Carew states he submitted a West Indian bezoar to the jeweler Josepho, who said that had it come from the East Indies he would value it as high as £100. Never having tried West Indian bezoars, he would not estimate, though he did not doubt they were as good, but would not buy before testing its virtues.
Chapter 51
Section 524 cards
What did the Chinese P'ing-chou-k'o-t'an say a bezoar ring could do against poison?
The twelfth-century Chinese work by Chu Yü states that the mo-so stone (bezoar) was worn in finger rings, and that anyone who feared he had taken poison need only lick the stone set in his ring to escape bad effects. The writer adds it could justly be called "a life preserver."
Chapter 52
How did the Dayaks of Borneo produce bezoars called guligas?
They shot an animal with an unpoisoned arrow; when the wound healed, the skin often hardened and a guliga formed, sometimes still containing the arrow point. Naturally formed guligas were frequently found between the flesh and skin of apes and porcupines.
Chapter 52
How were hedgehog bezoars valued and used in eighteenth-century Holland and Portugal?
Valmont de Bomare reports hedgehog bezoars, greasy and soapy with greenish or yellowish color, commanded the highest price. One Amsterdam specimen the size of a pigeon's egg was offered at 6000 livres ($1200), and such stones were rented in Holland and Portugal for one ducat ($2.50) a day to people exposed to contagion who believed wearing them as amulets gave protection.
Chapter 52
What did sixteenth-century medical authorities argue about human calculi versus bezoars, and what did Leyden's 1624 plague show?
Some sixteenth-century authorities held human calculi superior to bezoar, arguing man is the highest organized being and eats better food than the animals producing bezoars. When plague struck Leyden in 1624 or 1625 with no bezoars available, physicians used human gravel and found it an even more excellent sudorific than bezoar itself.
Chapter 52
Section 534 cards
According to Pliny, how was the ovum anguinum formed and captured?
Pliny said it was generated in midsummer from saliva and slime exuding from a knot of intertwined serpents; the moisture coagulated into a sphere that the hissing snakes tossed in the air. To keep its talismanic power, the finder had to catch it in a linen cloth before it touched the ground. Romans believed it brought success in disputes and the protection of kings.
Chapter 53
Why did Claudius condemn a Roman knight who carried an ovum anguinum?
The text states that Claudius is said to have condemned to death a Roman knight of the Vecontii simply because he had an ovum anguinum concealed in his bosom when he appeared in court during a lawsuit. This illustrates how greatly the Romans believed in the amulet's magical virtues, since possessing one could be treated as a serious offense.
Chapter 53
How does the Lapp account of obtaining the snake-stone mirror Pliny's legend?
The Lapps say the small white stone is thrown back and forth at the pairing place of snakes. The seeker must creep close, snatch it mid-air, and run to the nearest water; if he reaches water before the pursuing snake he owns the stone, but if the snake arrives first it is very dangerous. He should locate the water beforehand.
Chapter 53
What does the Greek poem Lithica recommend for a snakebite, and what stone is described?
The fourth-century B.C. poem Lithica says a snake-stone should be pressed closely on the bitten spot, and also recommends drinking undiluted wine in which the stone ostrites had been pulverized. The text says this shows the therapeutic value of alcohol as a stimulant was recognized then. The ostrites was round, hard, black, rough, and marked with wavy lines, resembling banded agate.
Chapter 53
Section 544 cards
What powers were snake-stones believed to have against poison and disease?
De Boot held that the serpent's egg protected the wearer from pestilential vapors and poisons. In Scotland, peasants hung perforated glass beads on children's necks as protection from whooping-cough and other children's diseases, and valued them as talismans for good fortune and against malevolent spirits. In Asia Minor, a stone applied to a snakebite was said to adhere for eight days, after which the bite was healed.
Chapter 54
How did Cornish lore say the snake-stone was made, and how was it used?
The Cornish called these objects milprey, or 'thousand worms.' They claimed a snake could be forced to fabricate the stone by thrusting a hazel-wand into the spirals of a sleeping reptile. In another version, a ring grows around a hazel-wand when a snake breathes on it; water in which this ring was dipped, given to a bitten person or animal, was believed to ward off all ill effects as a powerful antidote.
Chapter 54
What tests determined whether a snake-stone was genuine?
Two tests are described. One was to place the stone in the mouth: if genuine, it would cling so closely to the membrane or palate that considerable force was needed to remove it. The other was to place it in a glass of water: if not sophisticated, the water would begin to seethe, with small bubbles rising from the stone to the surface. Tavernier reports both methods.
Chapter 54
What happened when snake-stones were scientifically tested on cobra bites in 1867?
Dr. John Schrott excited six cobras to bite a number of pariah dogs and applied the snake-stones to the wounds without delay. The stones proved absolute failures, and death resulted as speedily as though nothing had been done. The chapter also notes that many Oriental snake-stones were probably stag's antler or similar material, and Tavernier suspected the brahmins who sold them actually made them.
Chapter 54
Section 554 cards
What did Thevenot claim the 'Stones of the Cobra' were made from?
Thevenot, a French traveler who visited India in 1666, asserted that the famous 'Stones of the Cobra' were manufactured in Diu, in Guzerat, from the ashes of burnt roots mingled with a kind of earth, then burnt again with that earth and made into a paste from which the stones were formed. He added that if not freed from absorbed venom the stones would burst.
Chapter 55
What did Dr. J. Davy find when he analyzed some snake-stones?
Dr. J. Davy examined and analyzed some of these 'stones' and found one to be a piece of bone partially calcined, which adhered firmly when applied to the tongue or any moist surface. Another stone, which lacked all absorbent or adhesive power, was said to have saved the lives of four men, showing that some stones had possible curative virtues while others rested only on superstitious belief.
Chapter 55
What experiment did Redi and the Pisa academy substitute for testing snake-stones?
Because vipers could not be obtained in the cold season, the learned men of the Academy of Pisa substituted an experiment: oil of tobacco was introduced into a rooster's leg by drawing an impregnated thread through the punctured wound. A monk applied the stone, which behaved as described, but the bird did not recover; it survived eight hours, to the admiration of the monks and spectators.
Chapter 55
What does Kunz propose most Hindu snake-stones actually were?
Kunz proposes that many, if not most, Hindu snake-stones were tabasheer, a variety of opal found in the joints of certain bamboos in Hindostan, Burma, and South America. It adheres strongly to the tongue and emits rapid streams of minute air bubbles in water, matching Tavernier's account. Brewster says tabasheer forms only in diseased or injured bamboo joints or stalks.
Chapter 55
Section 564 cards
What did the author's examination of many so-called madstones reveal them to be?
The author examined a large number of so-called madstones and found they all proved to be an aluminous shale or other absorptive substance. He notes that tabasheer has even greater absorptive properties than any other mineral substance he examined, and remarks it is strange tabasheer was never mentioned as an antidote. He says it may be confidently recommended to anyone who wishes to believe in a madstone.
Chapter 56
How were artificial snake-stones used and restored, according to Rumphius?
Rumphius describes the artificial stones as usually round and flat, with a white spot in the middle, made secretly by the Brahmins. The bitten spot was pricked until it bled, then the stone was laid on until it dropped off of itself like a leech. If it broke, a substitute was quickly applied. The saturated stone was placed in milk, drawing out the venom and turning the milk blue.
Chapter 56
What did Dr. White's analysis and experiments show about the deer madstone?
Dr. H. C. White's chemical analysis showed the chief component of the deer madstone was tricalcic phosphate. Experiments demonstrated it would absorb water to 5 percent of its own weight, but blood or other fluid only to 2.3 percent. Immersed in water after use on a wound, the absorbed liquid was given out and found to be of toxic quality. However, experiments with animals bitten by snakes failed to show any curative effect.
Chapter 56
What does the Gesta Romanorum tale say the serpent did for the blind Emperor Theodosius?
In the legend, Emperor Theodosius was a prudent ruler afflicted with blindness. A serpent whose nest was taken by a toad rang the palace bell for justice by winding its tail about the rope; the emperor ordered the toad expelled and killed. Later the serpent entered the palace carrying a small stone, crawled onto the emperor's couch, and dropped the stone on his eyes, restoring his sight.
Chapter 56
Section 574 cards
What did the writer describe about a white opaque hydrophane from Colorado in 1887?
The author described a white opaque variety of hydrophane with a white, chalky or glazed coating from a Colorado locality. Its absorbent quality is remarkable: when water drops on it, it first becomes very white and chalky, then gradually perfectly transparent. The finder proposed the name "Magic Stone" and suggested using it in rings, lockets, and charms to conceal photographs, hair, and other objects.
Chapter 57
How did the Boer farmer's snake-stone case in South Africa end?
An English hunter's daughter was bitten by a snake, and her father sent a man on horseback to borrow a Boer farmer's snake-stone amulet. Hours elapsed before it could be applied. The girl recovered after its use, but the wound did not heal satisfactorily, which was attributed to the long delay between the snake attack and the use of the remedial stone.
Chapter 57
How does the chapter explain the greater prominence of angels among Jews after the Babylonian Captivity?
The author argues it was not solely due to Babylonian or Persian influence. Earlier, popular worship of foreign gods satisfied superstitious inclinations, preserving the national religion's purity. The Captivity deported the nation's elite, whose sufferings strengthened faith in Yahveh and his Law. The returned remnant made Judea a stricter theocracy, so Judaism became the religion of the whole people.
Chapter 57
Which four angels surrounded God's Throne of Light, and what did each represent?
According to Numeri Rabba, God surrounded his Throne of Light with four angels: Michael ("Who is like God?") at the right, Gabriel ("Might of God") at the left, Uriel ("Splendor of God") before it, and Raphael ("Salvation of God") at the west. They represented divine attributes: Michael goodness and mercy, Gabriel punitive justice, Uriel God's majesty, and Raphael his providence.
Chapter 57
Section 584 cards
What did the Council of Laodicea (363 A.D.) decree about angel worship?
It proclaimed that Christians should not render worship to angels outside the church, or in private assemblies or associations. Those found guilty of such practices, called idolatry, were pronounced anathema, since they were considered to have turned away from the Lord Jesus Christ and worshipped idols.
Chapter 58
What did the First Council of Rome (492 A.D.) forbid regarding talismans?
It expressly forbade the wearing of talismans inscribed with names which, as the council put it, were "not of angels as they pretend, but rather with those of demons." This shows the Church's concern that angel-names on amulets were really demonic in disguise.
Chapter 58
According to the Cologne manuscript, what benefits came from thinking of specific archangels?
Thinking of Gabriel during thunder meant no harm would befall you; Michael on awakening brought a happy day; Orihel (Uriel) against an adversary brought victory; Raphael at meals brought abundance; Raguhel on a journey brought prosperity; Barachahel before a judge clarified your case; Pantasaron at a banquet made guests delight in you.
Chapter 58
What is the legend of the book "Sepher de-Adam Kadmah" attributed to Raziel?
Legend states it was engraved upon a sapphire and given by the angel Raziel to Adam when he was driven from Paradise. Handed down through generations, it came to Solomon. Raziel means "secret of God," and the book was supposed to protect any house containing it from all danger of fire. Scholars date it to the twelfth or thirteenth century at earliest.
Chapter 58
Section 593 cards
In the cited angel/tribe/sign list, which angel is assigned to Judah and which sign to Judah?
The list assigns the angel Asmodel to the tribe Judah, and Judah is matched with the sign Gemini. The table pairs each of the nine orders of angels, twelve tribes, and twelve zodiac signs in parallel columns, so Asmodel and Gemini both correspond to Judah in this frequently cited authoritative list.
Chapter 59
What did Luther assert about the rank and ability of guardian angels?
Luther asserted that angels assigned to men differed in rank and ability as the men themselves did. He held that a prince has a larger, stronger, shrewder angel than a count, and a count's angel exceeds that of a common man. The higher the rank and vocation, the larger and stronger the guarding angel holding the Devil aloof.
Chapter 59
Which angel names does the chapter say have Biblical warrant, and which are added by IV Esdras?
The chapter states that Biblical warrant exists only for Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, the last mentioned in the Apocryphal Book of Tobit. To these, IV Esdras, which is not a canonical book, adds Jeremiel and Uriel, names the chapter says were not admitted by the Church.
Chapter 59
Section 604 cards
What does the chapter say the earliest martyrs in the list are?
The earliest martyrs mentioned in the list are SS. Perpetua and Felicitas, who died in 202 A.D. The chapter notes that this means all definite memory of the many martyrs of the first and second centuries seems to have been lost. It also observes that even heretics do not appear to have been excluded, since the Novatians carried away the body of Silanus.
Chapter 60
How does the chapter explain the origin of saints' specialized curative powers?
The chapter states that many saints are credited with curative powers, usually specialized so each is invoked against a different disease or defect. With very few exceptions, some circumstance in the saint's history or legend is the origin of these beliefs. The author treats St. Anthony of Padua and St. Anne as exceptions, since their interventions seem more generalized and independent of any recorded legend.
Chapter 60
What does the chapter report about pilgrim numbers at St. Anne de Beaupré?
The chapter states that pilgrimages to the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré, about 20 miles from Quebec, continued at the time of writing and increased rapidly over the previous thirty years. In 1880 pilgrims numbered 36,000; in 1900, 135,000; and in 1910, 188,266. The author presents this as proof that devotees were increasingly convinced St. Anne's relics had great healing virtue.
Chapter 60
How did the St. Anne de Beaupré shrine originate?
The shrine stands on the site of a small wooden sanctuary erected about the middle of the seventeenth century by Breton mariners. While navigating the St. Lawrence and in imminent danger of shipwreck, they vowed to build a chapel to St. Anne, patron saint of their native province, at the spot where they should first come to land. St. Anne was regarded in French Canada as patroness of seafarers.
Chapter 60
Section 614 cards
Why is St. Apollonia believed to cure toothache and teeth diseases?
The chapter explains that St. Apollonia of Alexandria (feast February 9) is said to cure toothache and all diseases of the teeth because at her martyrdom all her beautiful teeth were pulled out. The author notes that Spaniards of three centuries ago considered reciting her formula a cure for toothache, a practice referenced in Don Quixote and persisting to modern times.
Chapter 61
Why is St. Nicholas invoked against robbers and thieves, and why patron of children?
The chapter states St. Nicholas (December 6), Bishop of Myra in Lycia, was invoked for protection against highway robbers and thieves. Legend relates he restored to life three boys murdered at an inn by a wicked innkeeper who killed guests and used their bodies to enrich his menu. This tale accounts for St. Nicholas, under the familiar name Santa Claus, being patron saint of children.
Chapter 61
Why is St. Barbara invoked against lightning and firearms?
St. Barbara (December 4), born in Heliopolis, is appealed to for protection against lightning and injury by firearms; for this reason the gun-room on a ship is called in French the sainte-barbe. The legend says her heathen father was killed by a stroke of lightning because he denounced his daughter as a Christian to Roman authorities and then executed judgment on her himself.
Chapter 61
How did St. Lucia's legend lead to her curing eye diseases?
The chapter relates that a young man fell passionately in love with St. Lucia of Syracuse and wrote that her eyes pursued him in dreams. Moved by the Scripture text 'If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,' and longing to save him from sensual passion, Lucia cut out her eyes, sent them on a dish to her lover, and asked to be left in peace. She is therefore believed to cure all diseases of the eye.
Chapter 61
Section 624 cards
Why was St. George's body covered with asbestos before burning?
Metaphrastus relates that the executioners feared the flames of the pyre might be extinguished because of the saint's virtue, so they covered his body with a garment of amiantos (asbestos), believed to burn inextinguishably. The precautions were vain: the fire went out contrary to nature and no hair of his head was injured. The tale reflects a misunderstanding of the name asbestos, which means inextinguishable.
Chapter 62
How did St. George thalers gain their reputation as amulets?
The St. George thalers, coined by the counts of Mansfeld in Thüringen, were reputed amulets for soldiers. The belief is said to have originated when a soldier sewed one into the lining of his coat over his heart; a bullet that would otherwise have killed him was diverted by striking the coin. Hungarian St. George thalers were also regarded as amulets for sailors as well as soldiers.
Chapter 62
What is the Sainte Foy statuette and how is it adorned?
The most interesting treasure at Conques is a seated statuette about 33 inches high, probably representing an ecclesiastic, supposedly Sainte Foy. It is encrusted with uncut emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, cameos and pearls offered by pilgrims over time. Built of wood covered with gold plates, it is stiff and conventional, and lacks the youthful grace expected of a virgin martyr.
Chapter 62
Why did St. Enimie pray to lose her beauty, and what followed?
St. Enimie, daughter of King Clotaire II, wished to serve Christ, but her father insisted on marriage. She prayed that her beauty be destroyed, and was stricken with leprosy. An angel directed her to bathe in the Fountain of Boule; she was cured there but the malady returned whenever she left, so she stayed, built a monastery, and became prioress.
Chapter 62
Section 634 cards
Why did the Comtesse d'Eu lend Santos-Dumont the St. Benedict medal?
After Santos-Dumont suffered a terrible fall while experimenting with his new airship in the Rothschild park near Paris, the Comtesse d'Eu, daughter of Dom Pedro of Brazil, loaned him the Braganza family's medal of St. Benedict. She told him to always wear it, assuring him no further harm could befall him. He had many narrow escapes but no serious injury, until a thief picked it from his coat pocket in a Paris machine-shop.
Chapter 63
How did the goldsmiths' guild of St. Eloi combine commerce and charity?
Although goldsmiths' shops normally closed on Sundays and feast-days, a special exception let the Confrérie de St. Eloi, the goldsmiths' guild, open one shop (not always the same one) on each Sunday and feast-day. The profits from sales were devoted to providing a dinner on Easter Day for the poor of the Hôtel Dieu. The chapter notes this blend of commercialism and philanthropy has parallels in the present day.
Chapter 63
What powers were attributed to St. Donato in the Abruzzi region?
In the Abruzzi, especially Teramo province, St. Donato's intercession was thought so powerful against epilepsy that the disease was called the malady of St. Donato. He was also believed to cure hydrophobia, prevent ill effects of the Evil Eye, and thwart witches' enchantments. His image was added to many amulets, often surmounting lunar crescents, whose horn-like shape was itself regarded as protection against the Evil Eye.
Chapter 63
How was Aqua Tofana disguised, and what did the 1659 investigation reveal?
Aqua Tofana, apparently an arsenic preparation, was concocted by a woman named Tofana of Palermo who settled in Naples and sold it in Naples, Rome and elsewhere. She marked her vials 'Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari' with the saint's image to divert suspicion. Most clients were said to be women seeking to rid themselves of husbands. In 1659 Roman authorities investigated and found a secret society of women poisoning husbands; its leader and many members were executed, but Tofana was not molested.
Chapter 63
Section 643 cards
Why does the author regret how American holidays are celebrated?
The author argues that many beautiful and symbolic Old World rites and observances have been lost in America, and that the modern popular idea of celebrating holidays is confined to carnivals of noise and disorder. He attributes this largely to a lack of intelligent guidance, believing that if a beautiful and adequate symbolism were presented in concrete form, the masses would quickly grasp its significance.
Chapter 64
Which saint's days were tied to the solstices by distichs?
St. Barnabas' Day (June 11) was remembered as 'the longest day and the shortest night,' the summer solstice in England before the Old Style calendar reform of 1752. St. Thomas' Day (December 21) was 'the longest night and the shortest day,' the winter solstice in the modern calendar. The Barnaby verse is probably the earlier of the two.
Chapter 64
What weather lore attaches to St. Swithin's and St. Bartholomew's Days?
According to Denham's collection, if it rains on St. Swithin's Day (July 15) it will rain for forty days, and if fair, it will rain no more for forty days. Inwards adds that St. Bartholomew's dusty mantle (August 24) wipes dry all the tears St. Swithin can cry; Ray notes St. Bartholomew brings cold dew.
Chapter 64
Section 654 cards
Who are the four Latin Fathers named in this chapter, and what is Jerome patron of?
The chapter names Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa (d. 430), and Jerome (342–420) as two of the four Latin Fathers, with Jerome listed as patron of scholars. It also identifies Athanasius as one of the four Greek Fathers (d. May 2, 373). Augustine is given as patron of theologians and learning.
Chapter 65
Which saints does the chapter list as patrons of shoemakers and of goldsmiths?
Crispin and Crispinian, feast October 25, are named patrons of shoemakers (died 284). Eloy (Eligius), feast December 1 (588–659), is named patron of goldsmiths. The chapter also assigns Clement (November 23, died 100) as patron of farriers and blacksmiths, keeping the metal trades grouped together.
Chapter 65
What does the chapter say about the relics of Babylas and the oracle at Delphi?
Babylas, Bishop of Antioch (237–250), is commemorated September 1 (14) in the Eastern Church and January 24 in the Western Church. The chapter states his relics are said to have silenced the revived oracle of Apollo at Delphi during the reign of Julian the Apostate. The wording 'said to have' marks this as reported tradition rather than asserted fact.
Chapter 65
Which saints does the chapter name as patrons against disease, and of what ailments?
Blaise (February 3), Bishop of Sebaste in Cappadocia (died 316), is patron of those afflicted with throat diseases. Catherine (November 25) is appealed to against diseases of the tongue. Lucy (Lucia, December 13) is patron of Syracuse and against eye-diseases. Roche (August 16) is patron of prisoners and the sick, especially the plague-stricken.
Chapter 65
Section 664 cards
What problem complicates identifying stones in the Old Testament?
The chapter states that identification depends mainly on the Greek Septuagint, made in the Alexandrian period near the time of Theophrastus, so its names may be fairly correct equivalents of the Hebrew. The real difficulty is translating classical names into English, because ancient nomenclature was unscientific: one name was used for stones that look alike but are now distinguished by chemical and physical differences.
Chapter 66
What did Bellermann believe about the Urim and Thummim and high-priest oracles?
Bellermann held that Urim and Thummim meant the breastplate stones worn on the ephod and should be rendered "perfectly brilliant," citing Ezekiel's "fiery stones." He rejected revelation through changes in the stones' brilliancy, casting lots, or mystical use of the Tetragrammaton. Instead, the author notes, Bellermann believed the answer came to the high-priest by an inner voice, an inspiration like that of the prophets.
Chapter 66
What did Arab historians report about the mummy of Cheops?
Arab historians said Cheops's mummy was decorated with a precious-stone pectoral. Abd er-Rahmân, writing in 829 A.D., described Al Mamoun finding a green stone statue containing a body covered with gold and gems, a priceless sword, and a ruby like a hen's egg. Mariette Bey thought the details credible but believed the stones were paste imitations.
Chapter 66
What does the chapter say about biblical precious stones used as amulets?
The chapter finds traces of precious stones used as amulets in the Bible. Proverbs xvii, 8 is translated as a gift being like a precious stone in the owner's eyes, and the breastplate stones were amulets in a sense, possibly oracles. The author suggests the Hebrews likely shared the surrounding peoples' belief, though orthodox opposition to magic kept them from detailing such practices.
Chapter 66
Section 674 cards
What symbolic meanings does the chapter assign to the tribal stones of Reuben and Simeon?
The carnelian, gem of Reuben, could symbolize "dignity" and "power," echoing Jacob's blessing of "excellency of dignity" and "excellency of power," though the birthright was taken from Reuben for a heinous sin. To the peridot or chrysolite dedicated to Simeon, whose name means "Hearing" or "Hearkener," could appropriately be assigned the meaning "good tidings."
Chapter 67
How does the chapter link Judah's ruby and Issachar's lapis lazuli to their names?
Judah's name means "praised," which fits the dignity of the glowing ruby, long a favorite for royal crowns, since from Judah sprang Israel's royalty and the sceptre was promised not to depart from Judah. Issachar means "reward" or "the rewarded," suggesting "success" and "fruition" for its stone, the lapis lazuli—the sapphire of the ancients—typical of heaven because valued specimens had golden spots like stars.
Chapter 67
What does the chapter say about the stones of Joseph, Dan, and Gad?
Joseph's name means "May God add," and its probable stone, the sapphire (called hyacinth anciently), was a good omen bringing increase of health and wealth. Dan means "judge"; its amethyst could signify "judgment" and "craft," fitting Jacob's serpent and adder metaphors. Gad's beryl, used for crystal-gazing spheres, suits the tribe of "good fortune," the probable meaning of the name, signifying "good luck" and perhaps "coöperation."
Chapter 67
What does St. Jerome say about jasper, including the grammatias variety?
Jerome calls jasper an emblem of strength and fortitude, saying the Holy City's bulwarks were strengthened by jasper, which overthrow proud attacks against the knowledge of God and subject falsehood to truth; the best debater fortified with Scripture is such a bulwark. The grammatias variety, marked like letters, was believed talismanic against phantoms and apparitions, its markings thought a potent spell written by nature's hand.
Chapter 67
Section 682 cards
Why did Thomas de Cantimpré say St. John placed the emerald fourth among foundation stones?
Thomas de Cantimpré asserted that St. John placed the emerald fourth in the list of foundation stones because the four evangelists are constant in their praise of chastity. The chapter presents this as an example of the ingenuity of ancient commentators in finding hidden meanings in the simplest things.
Chapter 68
Why is rhodonite called the 'Easter Stone' and how is it used in Russia?
Rhodonite, a silicate of magnesia named from the Greek rhodon, 'a rose,' for its rose-pink hue, is a great favorite in Russia and often cut into egg-shaped ornaments, sometimes with a halo and moonstone effect. For those unable to afford rhodonite eggs, yellow fibrous gypsum or satinspar, jade, or rock-crystal may be substituted.
Chapter 68
Section 694 cards
What is the reliquarium of Wittekind, and where is it now?
It is considered probably the most important surviving specimen of early Frankish goldsmith-work, richly set with precious stones including ancient gems. It is a small portable satchel for relics, dated to the late eighth century A.D. and conjectured to be Charlemagne's gift to the Saxon King Wittekind on his conversion in 807. It is now in the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Berlin.
Chapter 69
What stones adorn the reverse of the twelfth-century Guelph treasure cross?
On the reverse side of this crutch-cross reliquary are set four large and beautiful sapphires, with a remarkably brilliant topaz in the centre. The front is set with many pearls, and the form of these settings is a chief argument for attributing the work to the maker of the so-called Crown of Charlemagne in Vienna.
Chapter 69
What does the chapter say about rosary beads and their blessing?
Beads blessed by the Supreme Pontiff or a Church dignitary are considered endowed with a special virtue for the individual for whom the blessing is imparted. If that person loans the beads to another intending to share the blessing, they lose their virtue. Beads should be made of stone, glass, or other durable material not easily broken.
Chapter 69
What legend is conjectured as the source of the word rosary?
A popular medieval legend tells of a pious youth who daily wove a garland of roses for the Virgin's statue. After becoming a monk and being told to recite 150 aves daily instead, he once forgot and prayed in a forest, where the Virgin appeared and drew fifty roses from his lips, making a garland for his head. The chapter says this legend is conjectured as the source of the term.
Chapter 69
Section 704 cards
What is the earliest literary allusion to rosaries in India, and what does its name mean?
The first literary allusion to rosaries in India appears in a Jain treatise written around the beginning of the common era. The Prakrit name used there, ganettiya, is equivalent to the Sanskrit ganayitrika, meaning "counter," and it is listed among the ten utensils of a Brahman ascetic. The chapter adds that no mention of rosaries has been found in Indian Buddhist literature.
Chapter 70
What was a custodia, and which are the two examples described?
The custodia, or monstrance, was a large shrine, generally shaped like a church tower, in which the Holy Eucharist was carried through the streets on Corpus Christi day; it was publicly shown only at that time. The oldest surviving example is in the Cathedral of Gerona, completed in 1458 by Francisco de Asís Artau. Another fine specimen, by Enrique d'Arphe for Charles V, is in the Cathedral of Toledo.
Chapter 70
What does the Duchesse d'Abrantès claim about Marshal Lannes and the treasures of Zaragoza?
Seeking to exonerate her husband Marshal Junot from charges of spoliation during the French occupation of Spain, the Duchesse d'Abrantès argues that Marshal Lannes was a far worse offender. She asserts that after the siege of Saragossa in 1809, Lannes took the treasures of the church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, valued at nearly $1,000,000, then told Napoleon he had brought only "a few colored stones of little value."
Chapter 70
What did the Buddha accept from the four kings of heaven, and why?
In a Buddhist legend current in India in the seventh century A.D., the four kings of heaven offered the Buddha vases in succession: gold, silver, rock-crystal, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amber, ruby, and other precious materials. The Buddha refused each, saying one who had renounced the world could not use such costly vases. He finally accepted four stone vases, violet and transparent, because they were not of precious material.
Chapter 70
Section 714 cards
Why do Buddhist images of Buddha bear gems like moonstones?
The chapter says the reason is not only that precious objects suit sacred images, but also that it implies a belief in the magic or quasi-sacred character of the gem itself. Moonstone is most frequent, though ruby or other gems are sometimes used.
Chapter 71
What does the Saddharma-Pundarîka say the celestial stûpra was made of?
The chapter quotes this sacred Buddhist book describing a stûpra of seven precious substances: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, musaragalva, emerald, red coral, and Karketana stone. Gods strewed it with mandârava flowers, and a voice issued from it praising Lord Sâkyamuni.
Chapter 71
What happened to the Portuguese expedition seeking Ceylon temple treasures?
A force of 150 Portuguese and 2000 Lascars sought a treasure pagoda but did not know its exact location. Their native guides led them astray; five successive guides showed signs of madness and were put to death, and the Portuguese abandoned the quest. The chapter calls it fidelity or terror of violating the temple.
Chapter 71
What did Marshall's Taxila excavations reveal about Buddhist relic caskets?
Dr. J. H. Marshall's excavations at Taxila, the ancient city captured by Alexander the Great, uncovered Buddhist remains about 2000 years old. A steatite relic casket from a dagoba contained a golden box with a bone fragment, presumably a Buddha relic, surrounded by pearls, engraved carnelians, and other precious stones.
Chapter 71
Section 724 cards
How did the Persians believe genuine coral could be distinguished from imitation?
The Persians held that genuine coral had the smell of sea-water, which served as a trustworthy means of discriminating it from imitation coral. They also believed pink and red coral acquired its beautiful color after removal from the water. The Chinese and Hindus prized coral highly because it was used to adorn images of the gods.
Chapter 72
What dimensions did Emperor K'ien-lung establish for the ts'ang pi jade disk?
By a regulation of Emperor K'ien-lung, the disk's diameter was set at 6.1 inches and its thickness at 7/10 of an inch, with a perforation diameter of 4/10 of an inch. The quality of jade was not especially determined, though the name ts'ang implies bluish jade, and the veined type was regarded as peculiarly adapted for this purpose.
Chapter 72
What was notable about the tse-boum incense vessel at the Dalai Lama's Potala chapel?
The elaborate tse-boum used by Buddhist priests at the chief altar of the Royal Chapel on Potala Hill, Lhasa, was a product of modern Parisian art made about ten years before the book. The Dalai Lama sent a high-priest to Europe to choose artists and to Leghorn to select coral, and removable dragons honored the Chinese.
Chapter 72
Why did the chalchihuitl's talismanic value depend on hue rather than mineral character?
The name chalchihuitl most frequently designated jadeite but was sometimes applied to other green or greenish-blue stones, even turquoise. Its talismanic value seems to have depended on hue and rarity rather than mineralogical character. Among primitive peoples, stones of similar color but different composition often bore the same name and were thought to share virtues.
Chapter 72
Section 734 cards
Why did Brantôme view the loss of Cortés's pearl as a punishment?
Brantôme held that the inscription Cortés had placed on the pearl—"Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major," a reference to John the Baptist—was sacrilegious when applied to a simple product of nature. He saw the pearl's loss at sea as punishment for this and as an omen of the death of Emperor Charles shortly afterward.
Chapter 73
What five inlaid objects did Montezuma send as gifts to Cortés?
Among Montezuma's gifts were a mask incrusted with turquoise forming two intertwined serpents; a crozier with turquoise mosaic ending in a serpent's head; a pair of large ear-rings of serpentine form decorated with the chalchihuitl stone; a mitre of ocelot skin surmounted by a large chalchihuitl and turquoise mosaic; and a staff of office with similar inlays.
Chapter 73
What was the Sacred Well at Chichen Itzá used for?
Located some three hundred yards from the great temple pyramid, at the end of the Sacred Way, the Well received ornaments and trinkets thrown in by priests as peace-offerings to offended divinities during times of tribulation, pestilence or famine. Inanimate and animal sacrifices being deemed insufficient, prisoners of war and fair maidens were also cast into its waters.
Chapter 73
What does the La Plata lapis lazuli find suggest about ancient New World religious use?
Twenty-eight carefully formed cylindrical beads of lapis lazuli were found in very ancient deposits on La Plata Island, Ecuador. The deposits' character indicates they did not belong to permanent dwellers, so the beads were likely left by mainland visitors who came to the island for sacred rites and ceremonies, showing lapis was favored for religious use as in ancient Egypt.
Chapter 73
Section 744 cards
What offerings were made to the Virgin of Santo Domingo at the annual Fiesta?
At the Fiesta, a carved wooden image of the saint, said to date from the 1692 conquest, is carried to a tent of Navajo blankets and placed on an altar. Offerings include strings of choice turquoise beads hung from its ears and neck, and a turquoise-encrusted marine clam-shell on its breast; the author saw one there on August 4, 1890.
Chapter 74
Why did Central American natives favor emeralds and green stones, and what did gold symbolize?
The author states green stones were most favored among primitive Central Americans because green symbolized the verdure of field and forest, hence youth and vigor. When set in gold, the stones gained symbolic value, since gold's sun-like color was regarded as typical of force, courage, and vitality.
Chapter 74
What ritual at Lake Guatavita gave rise to the name El Dorado?
At semi-annual festivals, Caciques and chiefs were paddled to the lake's middle, determined by ropes from four temples, and cast in gold-dust and emeralds. The Cacique of Guatavita, his body coated with adhesive clay and sprinkled with gold-dust, plunged in and washed it off. Spaniards called him El Dorado, a name still used for gold-rich regions.
Chapter 74
How did attempts to drain Lake Guatavita for treasure fare?
Efforts to drain the lake met only partial success. Antonio de Sepulveda obtained a Spanish concession; José Ignacio Paris tried around 1823–24 with Captain Cochrane's aid. Paris raised $8,000 from sixteen shareholders plus $12,000 of his own, yet 33 feet of water remained. One early attempt recovered treasure yielding a government 3 percent share of about $170,000.
Chapter 74
Section 753 cards
What did Sir Thomas Browne argue about amulets and their emissions?
The author notes that the seventeenth-century physician Sir Thomas Browne argued that if amulets work by emanation without losing weight, producing real effects through "imponderous and invisible emissions," it may be unjust to deny efficacy to gold that emits no weight. The author observes Browne does not expressly state belief in such emissions but does not deny them.
Chapter 75
How did Babylonians select and wear amulets against the demon Labastu?
The Babylonians feared the female demon Labastu chiefly as an inducer of disease and recommended many amulets, some using precious stones. Color was likely decisive in choosing a stone, reinforced by the color of its wrapping and cord. Stones were wrapped in colored wool, hung on matching cords, combined with eye-stones and parê, and bound to the right or left hand or foot.
Chapter 75
How did Persian pilgrims at Mecca use sheep eyes and turquoises as amulets?
During the annual pilgrimage ceremonies at the shrine of Mecca, many sheep are slaughtered. Certain Persian pilgrims secure some of the eyes of their sacrificial victims and embed turquoises in them, firmly believing this composes an infallible amulet against the Evil Eye. The author presents this as an example of sympathetic magic, associating an animal eye with a turquoise.
Chapter 75
Section 764 cards
What was the amethyst necklace sent by Flinders Petrie to the Boston Museum, and who owned it?
Dr. Flinders Petrie sent one of the finest ancient Egyptian goldsmiths' works he had seen to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, on behalf of the Egyptian Research Account Society. It is adorned with amethysts set in gold as powerful amulets, and the wearer is believed to have been Princess Sat-Hathor-Ant of the Twelfth Dynasty, wife of the heir to the throne. It came from tomb No. 154 at Haragh.
Chapter 76
Which stones does the Book of the Dead assign to Chapters XXVI and XXVII?
Chapter XXVI, 'whereby the Heart is given to a person in the Netherworld,' was to be inscribed on or recited over a figure in lapis lazuli. Chapter XXVII, 'whereby the Heart of a person is not taken from him in the Netherworld,' was to be inscribed on or recited over a figure in green feldspar.
Chapter 76
What does the 160th chapter of the Book of the Dead say about the green stone column?
The chapter was to be inscribed on a small column of green stone (Renouf translates 'green feldspar'). The text reads: 'I am the column of green feldspar which cannot be crushed, and which is raised by the hand of Thoth.' Injury is an abomination for it; if it is safe, the speaker is safe. The material must have been exceptionally hard and tough, since the amulet's virtue was to make the body as indestructible as itself.
Chapter 76
What animal forms did Egyptian amulets take, and what materials were used?
Most Egyptian amulets represented living creatures. The most usual type is the bull's head, cut from carnelian, hematite, amazon stone, lapis lazuli, or quartz. Prehistoric amulets include the fly (slate, lapis lazuli, serpentine), hawk (quartz or limestone), serpent (lapis lazuli or limestone), crocodile, and frog. Carnelian was freely used in earlier historic times for the hand, fist, eye, lion, jackal-head, frog, and bee; silver or electrum replaced it in the Middle Kingdom.
Chapter 76
Section 772 cards
What did Mas'ûdi report about precious stones near Alexandria in the tenth century?
In his 'Meadows of Gold,' Mas'ûdi reports that in his time, the tenth century A.D., there was what he calls a 'fishery for precious stones' on the sea-coast near Alexandria. He offers two legends to explain it: that the stones came from Alexander the Great's decorated vases, broken and cast into the sea by his mother after his death, or that Alexander himself threw a mass of jewels into the sea near the Pharos so the area would never be deserted.
Chapter 77
How does the chapter describe the tomb jewels found by de Morgan near Susa?
M. Henry de Morgan found them on February 10, 1901, about six metres below the surface near Susa, in a bronze sarcophagus holding a woman's skeleton, with gems heaped on the breast and about the head and neck. From coins and the relics' character he dates the interment to between 350 and 330 B.C., just before Alexander's invasion of Persia. The finds include a gold torque weighing 385 grams with lions' heads, matching bracelets, and a three-row pearl necklace with 238 pearls preserved of an original 400 to 500.
Chapter 77
Section 784 cards
Why were fallen Maccabean patriots' deaths seen as divine justice?
According to 2 Maccabees, when Judas Maccabaeus collected the bodies of patriots who fell before Odolla, idolatrous amulets were found beneath their tunics—a custom strictly forbidden to Jews. Their deaths were viewed as a signal instance of divine justice that "had made hidden things manifest," and Judas urged the people to guard themselves from sin.
Chapter 78
What happened to the valuable magic books at Ephesus?
After hearing St. Paul's discourses attacking Ephesian superstitions, many owners of magic books burned them, worth 50,000 pieces of silver—about $9,000, perhaps $90,000 allowing for ancient purchasing power. The author notes the small literary value of surviving such writings suggests the loss to posterity was not very considerable, though much information is now lacking.
Chapter 78
How was the Abracadabra charm meant to be written and used?
Serenus Sammonicus's third-century Latin medical poem recommends Abracadabra as a remedy for "demitertian" fever, written on paper and hung by a linen thread from the patient's neck. For full efficacy the word is written as many times as it has letters, removing one letter each time, forming an inverted cone. De Foe later notes it was still used during London's 1665 plague.
Chapter 78
What is the SATOR square charm and where has it been found?
The five-word Latin charm (sator, arepo, tenet, opera, rotas) reads backwards or forwards and upwards or downwards. It survives in Greek and Coptic as well as Roman characters, with examples cut in a marble slab above the chapel of St. Laurent at Rochemaur, France, and in a plaster wall of an old Roman house at Cirencester, England. A fourteenth-century Italian manuscript recommends it for speedy delivery.
Chapter 78
Section 794 cards
What is the Talisman of Charlemagne composed of, and what lies enclosed between the sapphires?
The Talisman consists of two large cabochon sapphires, one oval (front) and one square (back), joined by a gem-studded band. Enclosed between them is a cross made from wood of the Holy Cross, said to have been found in Palestine by St. Helena, mother of Constantine. The cross is visible only when looking through the oval sapphire in front.
Chapter 79
How did Empress Josephine obtain the Talisman of Charlemagne?
In summer 1804 Josephine visited Aachen and on August 1 visited Charlemagne's tomb. Napoleon, who joined her September 3, had already authorized the Cathedral chapter to part with certain relics and give them to Josephine. The chapter's authorization was effectively a command, and the most prized object she secured was the talisman.
Chapter 79
According to the tenth-century Anglo-Saxon treatise, what powers did agate possess?
The treatise, owned by a leech named Bald, credits agate with power over the demon-world. Shavings taken in liquid supposedly reveal hidden demonic possession. Wearers were said to be guarded against lightning and venom, and liquid 'extract of agate' was claimed to produce smooth skin and immunity from snake bites.
Chapter 79
Why were disks cut from trephined human skulls believed to have magic power?
Trephining was performed mainly on infants, believed to cure epilepsy, which was thought to stem from an indwelling evil spirit. If the child survived, the spirit was thought to have escaped through the opening. After death, disks cut near that hole were believed to retain some of the spirit's diabolic power.
Chapter 79
Section 804 cards
What was the main-de-gloire believed to do, and what was it made from?
The main-de-gloire, or "hand of glory," was the desiccated hand of a person who had died by hanging. It was much favored in France during the Middle Ages because it was believed to give its owner the power to discover hidden treasures. Catherine de' Medici's talismanic bracelet included a gold representation of the main-de-gloire among its ten settings.
Chapter 80
What virtues did Thomas de Cantimpré attribute to the jacinth?
Thomas de Cantimpré described the jacinth as a hard yellow stone, very cold especially when held in the mouth. He said it protects from melancholia and poison and makes the wearer beloved of God and men. It also acts as a barometer, growing dark and dull in bad weather and clear and bright in fine weather. Cardano, however, said it became dull in fine weather and ruddy before a tempest.
Chapter 80
What did the eleventh- or twelfth-century German writer claim about the amethyst?
According to a German writer of the eleventh or twelfth century, the amethyst, if worn by a man, attracted to him the love of noble women and also protected him from the attacks of thieves. The stone was always prized for its beautiful color, though never as rare or costly as some others. Some authorities asserted that the amethyst induces sleep, which may explain how it cured inebriety.
Chapter 80
What did Burton write about the sapphire in his Anatomy of Melancholy?
Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, where precious stones are rarely mentioned, wrote that the sapphire "is the fairest of all precious stones of sky colour, and a great enemy to black choler, frees the mind, mends manners." The chapter also notes that the sapphire has always been a favorite with lovers of precious stones and was attributed a chastening, purifying influence upon the soul.
Chapter 80
Section 814 cards
What did Pascal reportedly keep on his person, and what did it commemorate?
Pascal is stated to have always kept an amulet on his person, moving it from the lining of an old garment to a new one when the garment was replaced. Its strange introduction referred to a vision of fire he had on the night of November 23, which has been explained as resulting from a severe nervous shock six months earlier when his carriage horses bolted near the Seine at Neuilly.
Chapter 81
Why was giving coral to new-born infants forbidden in Bamberg in 1708?
The giving of corals to new-born infants was expressly forbidden in 1708 in the bishopric of Bamberg because of the superstition connected with it, even though Christian painters of the fourteenth century often showed the child Jesus holding corals. Belief that coral safeguarded the wearer from the Evil Eye persisted, and the statesman Crispi is said never to have attended a parliamentary sitting without a coral amulet.
Chapter 81
What legend explains the double footprints on Hindu amulets of Vishnu?
A legend says that when a dispute over superiority arose among Brahma, Siva and Vishnu, Bhrigu was chosen to test them. He failed to salute Brahma and Siva, enraging both, then kicked the reposing Vishnu. Vishnu calmly arose, saluted and thanked Bhrigu, and said the kick had left on his breast a mark of good augury, explaining the two footprints.
Chapter 81
What was the seven-jewelled jade girdle pendant of the Chou dynasty?
During the Chou dynasty (1122–249 B.C.), jade girdle pendants with talismanic quality were favored. The typical pendant was seven-jewelled, each ornament made of a choice jade variety: a top-piece or brooch, a circular central plaque (yü) flanked by two square ornaments (kü), a segment-form centre-ornament, and a bow-shaped jewel on either side. Swinging jades made musical notes, and the ornaments signified love, office, or craft.
Chapter 81
Section 824 cards
What Siamese ceremony marks a girl's passage into womanhood?
In Siam, girls' heads are shaved except for a top-knot of hair. On the fourteenth anniversary of her birthday, this top-knot is cut off in a solemn religious ceremony marking her passage into womanhood. The family gathers all the jewels it can secure to adorn the "new woman," and friends supply ornaments if the family is not wealthy enough.
Chapter 82
What is believed about turquoise losing color in Tibet?
The Tibetans share a general belief that turquoise grows pale in sympathy with the wearer's present or prospective fortune and health. Loss of color is considered portentous of coming evil, so such stones are discarded and replaced with brighter ones. Dealers buy the discolored stones cheaply and treat them with blue dyestuff to restore color superficially.
Chapter 82
How does Liceti explain coral's power against lightning and hail?
Fortunio Liceti offers an ingenious but far-fetched explanation: coral, being of a warm quality, overcomes the coldness of the atmosphere, which produces lightning by the attraction of contraries and hail by its own quality. The author presents this as a specimen of attempts to find plausible physiological reasons for gem powers, noting writers never hesitated to accept popular beliefs.
Chapter 82
What are hkoung-beht-set talismans in Burma?
In Burma, certain talismans called hkoung-beht-set are inserted in the flesh beneath the skin. They are usually of gold, silver, or lead, or of tortoise-shell, horn, etc., but sometimes rolled pebbles and occasionally precious stones. Their power owes much to inscriptions in mystic characters, and some natives wear one or more rows across the chest. Jailers cut them out from prisoners lest they bribe guards.
Chapter 82
Section 834 cards
How do Arabs of Arabia Petraea explain the Evil Eye's effect on an envied animal or child?
They believe that when someone casts longing, covetous eyes on another's animal, part of his soul enters the animal, dooming it if it stays with the rightful owner. The same idea applies to an envied or unduly admired child. If the spell-caster is known, stealing a piece of his garment and rubbing it on the animal or child may render the spell harmless.
Chapter 83
What protective gestures and objects against the Evil Eye are described in North Africa?
In the Sahara, ox horns or skulls with horns are set over dwelling entrances; in Tunis and Algiers, boars' tusks serve similarly. The favored defense is outstretched fingers, often all five, with the words Khamsa fi aïnek, "five (fingers) in your eye!" Thursday, the fifth day, is thus deemed apt for pilgrimages to protective saints' shrines.
Chapter 83
How is the hand depicted at the Alhambra interpreted, and what explanation does the author reject?
A representation of a hand over the Alhambra's entrance gate in Granada is regarded as a talisman against the Evil Eye, comparable to the "Fatima's Hand" Arabs paint on doors or door-posts. The author, however, rejects the idea that the Moorish "horse-shoe arch" is connected to belief in the luck-bringing horse-shoe.
Chapter 83
How does a tepo pohque in Milpa Alta treat disease using chalchihuitl?
After invocations of Christ, the Virgin, and patron saints, the healer selects a chalchihuitl bead and pretends to extract the "air" from the patient, touching temples, head, stomach, and the affected part while noisily drawing in breath. Two eggs may supplement the stone, a different chalchihuitl type is used per disease, and the part is finally moistened with alcohol and massaged.
Chapter 83
Section 844 cards
What were huacanqui and cuyancarumi, and what power did they supposedly have?
They were South American Indian stone love-amulets depicting two embracing figures. Magicians claimed these stones were formed by nature rather than cut, and that they attracted the love of a chosen person to the wearer. They were said to be found buried where a thunderbolt had struck, making them a class of "thunder-stones," and they commanded a high price.
Chapter 84
How did Araucarian medicine-women use quartz crystals, and why hide them?
According to Rev. Charles Sadleir, Araucarian medicine-women carried a quartz crystal or rolled river-bed quartz fragment. They affirmed a mighty spirit from a volcano (called pillan) had entered the crystal, inspiring them with knowledge to advise and forecast the future. They never showed the crystal because, as a spirit's abode, it must not be seen.
Chapter 84
How did the Pima treat the loss of a turquoise, and what was the remedy?
The Pima of southern Arizona considered losing a turquoise a most ominous event, portending serious illness or physical disability for the owner, curable only by a medicine-man's magic rites. The remedy was placing slate, a turquoise, and a crystal in a vessel of water and administering the liquid in regular doses, the threefold remedy counteracting the evil of the lost stone alone.
Chapter 84
What was oyaron, and how was a youth's oyaron object determined?
Oyaron was the Iroquoian name for the magic power dwelling in Indian fetishes; each person or kindred had a special oyaron controlling their fortune. A youth was taken by an old man to a wilderness lodge, blackened to symbolize lack of spiritual enlightenment, made to fast, and told to note vivid dreams. Wise men judged whether the dreamed object housed his oyaron, and it was then sought and treasured.
Chapter 84
Section 854 cards
What are the three classes of medicine-men among the Ojibway?
The Midêwiwin (often miscalled the "Grand Medicine Society") is the large association of shamans to whom the Ojibway look for help and health. Two smaller classes exist: the Wâbeno, "Men of the Dawn," and the Jessakid, "revealers of hidden things," who operate singly and are feared as malevolent sorcerers able to draw out a man's soul, causing insanity or death.
Chapter 85
What does the painted cross in the Medicine Lodge symbolize?
At the end of the lodge opposite the entrance stands a painted wooden cross with a four-square base, each side colored differently: white for the East, source of light; green for the South, source of rain and verdure; red for the West, where sunset glows and departed spirits go after death; and black for the cold, pitiless North, origin of disease, famine, and death.
Chapter 85
What test of a magic pebble was reported at Leech Lake in 1858?
A Jessakid wagered $100 that, if bound hand and foot with stout rope while his black stone rested on his thigh, he could free himself unaided. Left alone in his tent, he soon called out that the rope would be found at a nearby spot. It was found with knots undisturbed, while he sat calmly smoking a pipe, stone still on his thigh.
Chapter 85
How were Röntgen rays used on a prehistoric throwing stick?
Cushing conjectured that turquoise pieces, thought to be hearts of fetishistic birds, were hidden beneath the brown yarn binding the finger-loops of a prehistoric throwing stick in the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Because the object was too valuable and fragile to examine, Röntgen rays were used instead, revealing four stone beads, presumably turquoise, as Cushing had predicted.
Chapter 85
Section 863 cards
Why do Eskimos attach fallen bird-rock stones to their dogs?
The Eskimo attach stones that have fallen from a bird-rock to their dogs, reasoning that because these pieces traversed the air with tremendous rapidity in falling from a great height, they will transmit the quality of fleetness to the dogs. This illustrates the broader belief that an acquired quality of a stone can pass to the one wearing or bearing it.
Chapter 86
What is the battê ha-nephesh mentioned by Isaiah, and what does it mean?
Some scholars find a trace of the soul-guardian belief in the term battê ha-nephesh used by Isaiah (chapter iii, verse 20). The Revised Version calls these feminine adornments 'perfume boxes,' but the literal meaning is 'houses of the soul (or life).' The idea is that an owner's soul could be transferred to an amulet, which is easier to conceal and protect than the human body.
Chapter 86
Why did jade amulets become fashionable in England, according to the chapter?
The popularity of hei-tiki amulets made from New Zealand nephrite ('green-stone') in England is ascribed by many to Queen Alexandra wearing New Zealand jade ornaments, and to reports that every member of the 'All Blacks' football team carried a jade trinket while playing. Faith in 'lucky jade' was corroborated by stories that Lord Rosebery and Lord Rothschild each wore jade amulets when their horses won the Derby.
Chapter 86
Section 874 cards
What are peigha necklaces in New Caledonia, and why are they valued?
Peigha are necklaces of perforated jade beads, sometimes alternating with small oliva shells and hung with a steatite oudip (slung-shot) pendant. The natives highly prize them, probably because of their supposed talismanic powers. Jade ornaments found in the Loyalty Islands were all brought from New Caledonia, where demand was so great that Loyalty Islanders often traded young girls for jade objects.
Chapter 87
How did the Fijian medicine-man obtain and lose his magic crystal?
A spirit told him to fetch a small crystal wrapped in calico from a tree, then strictly forbade him to let anyone see it, saying he need only look into it to wish for anything. One glance revealed remedies for the sick, earning him fame as a medicine-man. When two young men saw him consult the crystal, they told the European doctors, and he was imprisoned for two years and the crystal confiscated.
Chapter 87
How does the doctrine of sympathy appear in the Banks Islands?
If a native finds coral shaped by the waves like a loaf of bread, he takes this as a sign of affinity with the bread-fruit tree and buries it under such a tree, confidently expecting the tree's fruit-bearing to be enhanced. If chance seems to confirm his belief, he lets neighbors bury stones near his so some of the virtue may pass into them.
Chapter 87
What happened to the Kalmuck Khan whose life depended on a talisman?
The Khan hid a talisman on which his life depended and made finding it a test for a visiting wise man. The sage found it while the Khan slept but irreverently clapped a bladder on the sleeping Khan's head. Enraged, the Khan ordered his execution, so the sage cast the talisman down and broke it; blood spurted from the Khan's nostrils and he died.
Chapter 87
Section 883 cards
What two purposes do Madrid jet fig-hand amulets serve, and how do Toledo women wear them?
Madrid's jet fig-hand amulets are believed efficacious against the Evil Eye and also for preserving the hair. Madrid women are said to carry them on any part of the person, but the women of Toledo place them in the hair itself so the desired effect may be more immediate. The hand form is often so highly conventionalized it is barely indicated.
Chapter 88
How do southern Russian peasants refer to the Evil Eye, and what carnelian bead virtue is noted?
The common people hold the Evil Eye in such awe that they do not dare use the word 'evil' of it, calling it 'the good eye' instead. Carnelian beads said to come from Palestine command three roubles each and are favorites with Jews especially, one supposed virtue being to prevent abortion. Imitation wolf's-tooth bone rings are also used, though natural teeth are preferred.
Chapter 88
What turquoise ritual is believed in Hampshire and Sussex, and on what day?
In Hampshire and Sussex it is believed that when two persons station themselves on opposite banks of a frozen stream or pond on Christmas Day and each slides a turquoise to the other over the ice, both will be blessed with good fortune for the following year and prosper in all their undertakings. The author notes success might also prove considerable dexterity.
Chapter 88
Section 894 cards
What three rings does the Duc de Guiche wear, and what is engraved on each?
On his right hand he wears three chased rings: a sardonyx engraved with an eagle, a topaz engraved with a falcon, and a coral bearing a man holding a drawn sword. The chapter says the stones and designs accord with the oldest talismanic lore and match the duke's birth date and baptismal name.
Chapter 89
What talismanic features adorn the sword given to Crown Prince Constantine in 1913?
The sword, made by Tiffany & Company, has a magnificent star-sapphire set in its hilt, intended as a talisman for good fortune, long life, and state prosperity. It also bears an inlaid didrachm of Alexander the Great, since ancient and medieval writers recorded that this monarch's coins were often treasured as amulets.
Chapter 89
What does the chapter say about the opal's reputation and Queen Victoria's role?
The chapter states the opal has emerged from disfavor caused by the erroneous fancy that it was associated with ill-luck, an idea possibly rooted in the gem's fragility. Queen Victoria was a consistent, earnest opponent of this notion, and her influence did much to make opals fashionable; they later became favorite bridal gifts.
Chapter 89
What amulet did Annie Yeamans request in her will, and how does the author interpret such attachments?
The actress Annie Yeamans directed that a little amulet on a gold chain she constantly wore be left on her body and buried with her. The author argues this may be called superstition or sentiment, but that people have an almost invincible tendency to associate lost loved ones with inanimate objects, and that such objects really do condition the awakening of feeling.
Chapter 89
Section 904 cards
What three keys did the Besançon jewel represent, and what did each open?
The ornament consisted of three keys: the Key of Love, which opened the knight's heart to the maiden's image; the Key of Good Fortune, which opened the church door for her as a happy bride; and the Key of Heaven, which unlocked the gates of Paradise at life's end. The design was inspired by a legend from the Crusades, in which a fairy gave a Provençal maiden an ivory casket holding three jewelled keys.
Chapter 90
How were gem initials used on watch bracelets to spell names?
On watch bracelets, stones were sometimes chosen for the first letters of their names read in sequence, so that any name or endearing epithet could be expressed. The chapter's example spells DEAREST: Diamond, Emerald, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Agate, Ruby, Amethyst. This decorative practice combined beauty and utility, letting a wearer display a name or term of affection through the gems set on the bracelet.
Chapter 90
What did the Bretons believe powdered agate in beer could test?
The Bretons reportedly used powdered agate dissolved in beer as a test of virginity: a young girl unable to retain the mixture was thought impure. The author argues this ability proves a strong stomach rather than a clear conscience. He also describes rainbow agate, whose prismatic effect comes from fine layers of quartz and chalcedony and from minute interference lines, not internal fractures as with quartz iris.
Chapter 90
How did the Venetian envoy profit from Jacopo Cola's carbuncle?
The vine-grower Jacopo Cola found a glowing stone at the foot of a vine and showed it to friends, including a Venetian envoy who recognized it as a carbuncle. The envoy bought it for only ten scudi and fled Rome, later selling it in Constantinople to the Sultan for 100,000 scudi—a profit of 10,000 percent. The author argues the light was merely a reflection striking the stone at a certain angle.
Chapter 90
Section 914 cards
What did analysis reveal in the 1874 poisoning attempt on Colonel Phayre?
Colonel Phayre, British Resident at Baroda, noticed a strange taste in his usual sugared lime-water and had it analyzed instead of drinking it. The analysis found arsenic in a quantity sufficient to cause death, along with diamond dust. The chapter notes that, as in the case of Sir Thomas Overbury, the innocuous diamond material accompanied an actual poison.
Chapter 91
What did the Spanish traveler report about Indian emerald-working skill?
An early Spanish traveler praised the Indians' ingenuity in working emeralds from Manta and Atacames, found in Indian tombs and superior in beauty, size, and hardness to those of Santa Fé. They were shaped into spherical, cylindrical, conical, and other forms with perfect accuracy, and pierced with delicate holes despite steel and iron being unknown to them.
Chapter 91
Why did Arabs conceal emerald finds near Berenice, according to Pocock?
Ptolemy vouched for emeralds near Berenice, and the mines were entered on the patriarch's map; Arabs are said to have dug for them. Pocock writes that since all stones found belong to the Grand Signior, the Arabs were well satisfied that emeralds not be suspected, because he would take the profit and inhabitants might be forced to work the mines for very small consideration.
Chapter 91
What does the chapter say about hematite artefacts found in the United States?
The number of ancient hematite artefacts in the United States indicates the material was used there more largely than anywhere else, though some exceptions exist. Many were probably amulets and valued objects, since cutting them with primitive tools required much time and patience. Most specimens came from Missouri, southern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky, and only relatively few were taken from burials or graves.
Chapter 91
Section 924 cards
How are the marriage sword and sheath used in Chinese wedding ceremonies?
The priest carries a marriage sword about twelve or thirteen inches long, its sheath often studded with pink stones such as tourmaline, rubellite, or rose-quartz, with green jade usually set as a boss at the hilt. At the ceremony the bridegroom holds the sword and the bride the sheath; as the wedding ring is placed on the bride's finger, sword and sheath are brought together.
Chapter 92
What was the ju-i wand, and what does its name mean?
The ju-i is a small curved jade wand, sometimes with a trefoil termination, or teakwood adorned with jade medallions. It served as a sceptre of office, held in both hands before the emperor, and its name means "may all be," a wish that everything turn out fortunately. In modern times it is carried as a lucky charm, though its official significance is not forgotten. The author notes it was said to come from India during the Buddhist propaganda.
Chapter 92
What did Señor Emilio Montés find in an Inca grave, and where is it now?
Montés found a large mass of lapis lazuli in an Inca grave in Peru and exhibited it at the Centennial Exhibition of 1913. Except for one chipped corner, the block is symmetrical, measuring 24 × 14 × 9 inches and weighing 312 pounds, with a smoothed surface showing careful native polishing. It is now in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The author suggests its "celestial hue" made it fitting as a memorial offering to the dead.
Chapter 92
How is so-called "black onyx" produced, and how has the jet industry changed?
Black onyx is a chalcedony impregnated with carbonic matter, such as blood or a sugar solution, whose carbonate is charred by sulphuric acid, giving a rich velvety black that takes a high polish. It has almost entirely replaced jet, though some Whitby Jet is still mined and worked near Whitby, England. The author notes that only fifty people now work in that industry, which fifty years earlier employed 1,500.
Chapter 92
Section 934 cards
What did John Eldred observe about nose-rings in Mesopotamia in 1583?
Eldred, an English traveller who crossed Mesopotamia in 1583, found that women of the Arab town near ancient Babylon wore gold nose-rings set with a pearl and a turquoise. The custom was so general, he wrote, that they did this "be they never so poore."
Chapter 93
What did Kunz find when he examined the Thiers pearl necklace?
Kunz examined the necklace of pearls given by President Thiers to his wife and bequeathed to the French Government, and found the pearls in good condition. He had the director of the Louvre confirm in writing that the pearls had not sickened or died and were as "healthy" as ever.
Chapter 93
How did Kunz explain reports of pearls losing their lustre?
Kunz states that in every case he encountered, pearls said to have suffered this way were actually old and poor when purchased. The story of their decline, he argues, was started as an excuse to cover the defect and to suggest the pearls had once been remarkably beautiful and valuable.
Chapter 93
What did the director of the Musée de Monaco say about the luminous pearl?
Kunz went to the source and was told by the director of the Musée de Monaco that there was no such luminous pearl in the collection and that he had absolutely no faith in the luminosity of pearls. Kunz thus sets the legend aside as false.
Chapter 93
Section 944 cards
According to the Arab proverb, what does the rain of Nisan bring forth?
The Arab proverb states that the rain of the month of Nisan brings forth pearls in the sea and wheat on the land. The chapter notes that this spring month was, and still is, when pearl-fishing begins in the Orient, reflecting the belief that rain-drops caused pearls to grow in the pearl-oyster.
Chapter 94
What does the Tonquinise legend say about the origin of pearls?
The Tonquinise legend holds that pearls sprang from the blood of a young princess slain by the king, her father, for betraying to her husband the secret of a magic bow whose arrows always hit their mark. As she was beheaded, she prayed her blood become pearls; the prayer was heard, and the finest pearls are found where she died.
Chapter 94
What curative powers did Bartolomæus Anglicus attribute to the sapphire?
Bartolomæus Anglicus attributed to the sapphire calming and cooling powers: it reduced fever temperature, checked bleeding (attached to the temples it stopped nose-bleed), controlled an excited heart, and checked profuse perspiration when worn. He also held it reconciled discord and was an antidote to poison, citing a spider that died in a box with a sapphire.
Chapter 94
How did Mohammed Ben Mansur classify the yakut, and what did Pseudo-Aristotle define?
Ben Mansur grouped the corundum varieties—Oriental ruby, sapphire, topaz—under the single term yakut, which he divided six-fold: red, yellow, black, white, green or peacock-hued, and blue or smoky-hued. Pseudo-Aristotle (7th–9th century A.D.) was the first to define clearly the three leading corundum gems—ruby, Oriental topaz, and sapphire—as the same mineral differing only in color.
Chapter 94
Section 953 cards
What did the Chinese symbol for crystal, three suns, attempt to represent?
The Chinese word for crystal, ching, was originally written with a symbol of three suns. The chapter states this was an attempt to figure the refraction and dispersion of light by the crystal. The Chinese also believed crystal was a transformation of water, a kind of fossil ice, a view shared by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Chapter 95
What did the Burmese legend say about the origin of rubies?
A Burmese legend current in the Ruby Mines region says that in the first century of our era a female naga, or serpent, laid three eggs. From the first came Pyusawti, a king of Pagan; from the second came an Emperor of China; and from the third were emitted the rubies of the Ruby Mines.
Chapter 95
How did Hindus test the fineness of rubies, according to Barbosa?
Duarte Barbosa reports that Hindus touched rubies with the tip of the tongue, the coldest and densest being judged best. The examiner then attached a little wax to the finest point, picked it up, and looked through it against a bright light so any blemish would become apparent. The rubies came from the river of Pegu and elsewhere, but were cleaned and sent to Palecote and Narsynga for cutting.
Chapter 95
Section 964 cards
What did Ceylonese natives in the sixteenth century call a sapphire with ruby-like coloration?
They called it nilacandi, which Kunz renders as sapphire-ruby. These stones appear purple-red by daylight, but artificial light kills the blue so they look red. They are often termed phenomenal sapphires or alexandrite sapphires.
Chapter 96
How did Al-Berûnî classify the colors and values of yakut (corundum) crystals?
Al-Berûnî lists red yakut (ruby) hues: pomegranate-colored safran (henna), purple, flesh-colored, rose-colored, and pomegranate-blossom shade. Other yakut colors were yellow (Oriental topaz), gray, green (Oriental emerald), white (white sapphire), and black. A henna-colored yakut of one mitqal (about 24 carats) was valued at 5000 dinars ($12,500); half that weight at 2000 dinars ($4500); for 2 mitqals no definite price could be given.
Chapter 96
What was the Maxwell-Stuart Topaz, and how was it cut?
It was brought from Ceylon to England with inferior rubies and sapphires for watchmaking and was believed to be quartz, selling at auction for only £3 10s. ($17.50). After its true quality was recognized, it was cut in brilliant form over twenty-eight consecutive days with a diamond-wheel, yielding a pure white stone of 368 31/32 carats. A 'feather' was removed by reversing table and culet.
Chapter 96
What evidence exists for pre-Columbian dental inlays of precious stones?
Burials in Ecuador, plus remains from Mexico and Central America, show the practice was not rare. Mayans favored jadeite; Mexico yielded hematite in Oaxaca, turquoise in Vera Cruz, and rock-crystal and obsidian elsewhere. Enamel was cut or rubbed away and the shaped stone set as an inlay; gold inlays also appear, possibly as fillings. Some specimens show replacement teeth, and the teeth's good condition suggests tight-fitting inlays.
Chapter 96
Section 973 cards
What jewelry did the chapter say matches a glowing red costume?
The chapter states that with a costume of glowing red, the ruddy ruby would be chosen, part of a fashionable fad of matching jewelry stones to the color of one's gown. Sky-blue calls for sapphire, golden-yellow for topaz, brown for darker topaz, and grass-green for tourmaline. Opals, with their play of color, are said to accord with all hues.
Chapter 97
What did the old London trades account say a jeweler must be able to do?
The old account says a jeweler ought to be an elegant designer with quick invention for new patterns, arranging stones to give each other luster and to create trade. It notes a new fashion takes with ladies in jewels as in anything else, so whoever furnishes the newest whim most often has the best chance for their custom.
Chapter 97
Which stones does the chapter pair with brown and grass-green costumes?
For the 'new brown' then in vogue, the chapter prescribes topaz of a slightly darker shade as the complementary stone. A grass-green costume suggests one of the many beautiful shades of tourmaline, and jewelry of pink tourmaline is called appropriate to garments of that color.
Chapter 97
Section 984 cards
What does the chapter index suggest about the range of sources Kunz cites?
The index lists sources spanning ancient Egyptian texts such as the Ebers papyrus and the "Book of the Dead," classical writers like Dioscorides and Callistratus, medieval authors such as Thomas de Cantimpré, and later figures including Robert Boyle and Benjamin Franklin, alongside museum collections in Boston, London, and Chicago.
Chapter 98
Which stones does the index associate with curative use, and for what conditions?
The index groups a section on the curative use of gems, noting coral's curative use and its ominous change of hue, the diamond's curative use, the emerald's curative use, and the carbuncle's curative use. It also records coral used against hydrophobia in dog-collars and gems used against the "Black Death" plague.
Chapter 98
What does the index say about meteorites and their veneration?
It lists the Cañon Diablo meteorite with diamonds in it, the Cape York meteorites with their chemical composition, the image of Cybele as a meteorite, and the Omphalus of Delphi as probably a meteorite, indicating that certain sacred stones were identified with fallen celestial bodies.
Chapter 98
Which biblical and sacred figures are linked to specific stones in the index?
The index connects the carnelian to Reuben and the emerald to Levi as stones with symbolical meaning, notes an emerald engraved with the head of Christ, and records an uncut diamond in the "Sacred Shrine" of Chartres, tying gems to biblical tribes and Christian relics.
Chapter 98
Section 991 cards
How was jade used in Chinese mortuary practices according to the chapter?
The chapter records that jade was used as a preservative of the dead body, and that the Chinese made mortuary tablets of jade. It also mentions Chinese girdle pendants and wands of jade, and a jade disk in the Temple of Heaven at Peking, showing jade's broad ritual and ceremonial role in China.
Chapter 99
Section 1004 cards
What does the chapter say about meteorites and swords made from them?
The chapter lists many meteorites by place of origin, including Ensisheim, the Black Stone of Mecca, and Cape York, and notes accidents caused by meteorites. It also records that swords were made of meteoritic iron, citing examples such as the 'Verwünschte Burggraf' of Elbogen.
Chapter 100
What powers did the Malays' Mesticas possess, and what was the Ojibway Midêwiwin?
The Mesticas of the Malays conferred invulnerability. The Midêwiwin, or Great Medicine Society of the Ojibways, had a magic stone and used a medicine-bag. The chapter also notes an Oyaron as an Indian amulet-control.
Chapter 100
How does the chapter describe rain-making stones and their users?
Rain-making stones are attributed to Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Karmania, African, and Australian tribes, and to Noah. Rock-crystal served as a rain-stone, and stone crosses were also used for rain-making.
Chapter 100
What does the chapter record about the Sâlagrâma-stone of the Hindus?
The Sâlagrâma-stone is an emblem of Vishnu, and the chapter states that neither Sudra nor Pariah may wear it. It is listed alongside other sacred and religious stones, such as the sacred stone of the Kiowa Indians.
Chapter 100
Section 1013 cards
What does the chapter say about the tourmaline's Dutch name and origin?
The chapter notes that tourmaline was brought to Holland from Ceylon and was named Aschentrekker by the Dutch. It also records experiments on tourmaline by Aepinus and by Lémery in 1717, a letter of Franklin on the stone, and its occurrence at Mount Mica, Maine.
Chapter 101
How is the turquoise described in relation to Tibet and other cultures?
The chapter states the turquoise was a favorite stone in Tibet, where it received religious favor, and notes a large pendant of turquoise on a Buddha statue. It also mentions Pueblo Bonito amulets, Mexican mask inlays, ancient Persian jewels, Shylock's turquoise, and that the Pima Indians of Arizona valued it.
Chapter 101
What does the chapter record about the shamir?
The chapter describes the shamir as a mysterious Hebrew stone, citing its appearance in the Bible and in Rabbinical legend, and noting an Arabic legend regarding it. It lists the shamir among the entries spanning pages 7 to 10.
Chapter 101
Section 1023 cards
What does footnote 19 cite as its source for 'The Questions of King Milinda'?
Footnote 19 cites 'The Questions of King Milinda,' translated by T. W. Rhys Davids, published in the Sacred Books of the East series, volume xxxvi, Oxford, 1894, at pages 14 and 303.
Chapter 102
Which two works by Kunz himself are cited in these footnotes?
Footnotes 48 and 58 cite Kunz's 'Gems and Precious Stones of North America' (New York, 1892 and 1890 respectively), and footnote 50 cites his 'Gems, Jewelers' Materials and Ornamental Stones of California,' California State Mining Bureau Bulletin No. 37, Sacramento, 1905, pp. 71–73.
Chapter 102
Which sources does footnote 41 cite for white quartz pebbles?
Footnote 41 cites Nona Lebour's 'White Quartz Pebbles and their Archæological Significance,' a reprint from the Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, January 30, 1914, page 11. Footnotes 42 and 43 continue from the same work, pages 13–14 and 12, citing Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1860–1.
Chapter 102
Section 1034 cards
What did the author suggest about Pliny's lychnis stone?
The author notes that in his own "Curious Lore of Precious Stones" he suggested Pliny's lychnis might have been a spinel. He qualifies this: while some of these "ardent stones" may have been spinels, those displaying the phenomenon of attraction must have been tourmalines.
Chapter 103
What German name was given to the stone with attracting power?
The Germans called it Aschenzieher, as stated in footnote 90. This name appears in the chapter's notes on stones credited with the power of attraction, a topic the author links to Pliny's "ardent stones" and to tourmalines.
Chapter 103
What was the stone of Emesa, and what did its name signify?
Footnote 155 explains that the name El Gabal signifies "Mountain-God," and the emperor's assumption of it marked his devotion to the worship of the divinity animating the stone of Emesa. Elagabalus conveyed this stone to Rome, where it remained until 222 A.D.; it was regarded as a miniature representation of the sacred mountain near Emesa.
Chapter 103
Which ancient authors are cited for meteorites or fallen stones?
The footnotes cite several sources on meteorites and fallen stones: Miers's "Fall of Meteorites in Ancient and Modern Times" in Science Progress (1898), Chladni's "Verzeichniss der herabgefallenen Stein- und Eisenmassen," Plutarch's "Vitæ" (Lysander, 12), Pliny's "Historia naturalis," Tacitus's "Opera," and Philostratus's "Apollonius of Tyana."
Chapter 103
Section 1044 cards
Which scientists does Kunz cite for research on diamonds in the Cañon Diablo meteorite?
Kunz cites Henri Moissan's 1893 study of the Cañon Diablo meteorite in the Comptes Rendus, and Kunz's own 1893 paper with O. W. Huntington on diamond in Cañon Diablo meteoric iron and the hardness of carborundum, published in the American Journal of Science. Kunz also refers readers to his 1907 lecture on diamond and moissanite for the full literature.
Chapter 104
What earlier source does Kunz note as the basis for Megenberg's 'Buch der Natur'?
Kunz notes that Megenberg's 'Buch der Natur,' edited by Pfeiffer (Stuttgart, 1861), is based on Thomas de Cantimpré's 'Liber de natura rerum,' written about 1240. This shows the medieval text Kunz cites was itself derivative, transmitting earlier natural-history material rather than original observation.
Chapter 104
Which works does Kunz cite on stones said to have fallen from the clouds?
Kunz cites King's 'Remarks Concerning Stones said to have Fallen from the Clouds' (London, 1796), at pages 4 and 26. He also draws on E. F. F. Chladni's 'Neues Verzeichniss der herabgefallenen Stein- und Eisenmassen' and Gilbert's Annalen der Physik, using a copy with the author's manuscript notes and emendations.
Chapter 104
Whose account of the Willamette Meteorite does Kunz reference?
Kunz cites Henry A. Ward's article 'Willamette Meteorite' in the Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science, volume iv, pages 137–148, with plates 13–18. He also cites Edmund Otis Hovey's guide leaflet on the Foyer Collection of Meteorites, published by the American Museum of Natural History in December 1907.
Chapter 104
Section 1054 cards
What correction does the footnote make about the "emerald of Mexico"?
Footnote 269 states that the emerald of Mexico was evidently jade or the piedra del hijada, not a true emerald. The note offers this identification as an explanation rather than a documented fact, and it is the only editorial remark of its kind in this run of citations.
Chapter 105
Which classical medical authorities are cited for stone remedies in these footnotes?
The footnotes cite Galen's Opera omnia (De simplic. med., lib. vii) for medicinal simples, Dioscorides' De materia medica, Pliny's Naturalis historia, and Avicenna's Liber canonis. These classical and medieval authorities are invoked repeatedly as sources for the curative or symbolic properties attributed to stones.
Chapter 105
Which sources does the chapter cite on the nephritic stone (lapis nephriticus)?
Footnote 278 cites Jacobi Wolff's Curiosus amuletorum scrutator, drawing principally on Bartholini's De lapide nephritico. Footnote 279 cites Axel Garboe's cultural-historical studies of gems, which in turn cite Caspar Bertholini's De lapide nephritico opusculum of 1628. Both chains trace the nephritic stone literature through Bartholini.
Chapter 105
What does footnote 277 cite as a Chinese source on jade?
Footnote 277 cites T'ang Jung-tso's Yü-shuo, a discourse on jade, translated by Stephen W. Bushell in Investigations and Studies in Jade, The Bishop Collection, New York, 1900. This is the chapter's explicit Chinese-language source on jade, given in English translation within a collection volume.
Chapter 105
Section 1064 cards
What does the author say about the derivation of the name 'allectorius'?
A footnote in the chapter states that the writer erroneously derives the name from the Latin verb allectare, while the true derivation is from the Greek ἀλέκτωρ, meaning a cock. The chapter thus corrects an earlier etymological claim rather than endorsing it.
Chapter 106
Which ancient authors are cited for the callimus stone and its ring figures?
Gesner's De figuris lapidum (1565) is cited with figures of a ring, and the chapter notes that Pliny already mentions the callimus in Naturalis historia, book xxxvi, chapter 39. The callimus material is thus traced back to Pliny and illustrated by Gesner.
Chapter 106
What is the 'Laece Boc' and who edited it?
The chapter cites Rev. Oswald Cockayne's Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early England (London, 1865), volume ii, page 307, corresponding to book iii, chapter i of the Laece Boc. This is the early English leechbook source used for the chapter's material.
Chapter 106
Which manuscript source preserves Borch's 1685 lectures on gems?
The chapter cites a manuscript of Borch's lectures of 1685 held in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, Thottske Collection, 744, as quoted in Axel Garboe's Kulturhistoriske Studier over Ædelstene (Copenhagen and Kristiania, 1915), page 215. The citation is thus secondhand through Garboe.
Chapter 106
Section 1074 cards
What does Footnote 395 identify the fossilized horny tail part as?
Footnote 395 states that this object is the fossilized horny part of the tail of an extinct cuttlefish. It adds that numerous specimens have been found in the marl of New Jersey as well as in many other places, tying a curious stone-like relic to a known fossil animal rather than to mineral formation.
Chapter 107
Which authors and works are cited for bezoar stones in Footnotes 409 and 411?
Footnote 409 cites Nicolo Monardes, 'Delle cose que vengono portate dall'Indie occidentali' (Venice, 1575), pages 95–6 and 104–5. Footnote 411 cites Caspar Bauhini, 'De lapidis bezaaris ortu natura' (Basel, 1625), page 3. Both are early modern sources on the bezoar stone.
Chapter 107
What does Footnote 403 cite as a source on the salagrama stone?
Footnote 403 directs the reader, regarding this stone, to Oppert, 'Der Salâgrâma-Stein,' published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, XXXIV Jahrgang, Berlin, 1902, pages 131–137. This is the chapter's cited reference for the salagrama stone.
Chapter 107
Which manuscript collection does Footnote 433 cite, and for what?
Footnote 433 cites the Historical Manuscripts Commission, MSS. of the Marquis of Salisbury, Part V, London, 1894, page 3. It is one of the chapter's archival references, pointing to a published calendar of the Salisbury manuscripts rather than to a printed treatise.
Chapter 107
Section 1083 cards
What did Davy's analysis of the snake-stone appear in, and what other sources discuss it?
Davy's "An Analysis of the Snake-stone" appeared in Asiatic Researches, vol. xiii, p. 318. Kaempfer's "Amoen. Exit." pp. 395–397 also treats the subject, and both are cited in Yule-Burnell's "A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Other Phrases," London, 1886, pp. 643, 644.
Chapter 108
Who conjectured that Eleazar of Worms may have written part of a work, and in what book?
Zunz, in "Die gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden" (Berlin, 1832, p. 167), conjectures that Eleazar of Worms (1176–1238) may have written a portion of this work. The attribution is presented as Zunz's conjecture, not established fact.
Chapter 108
Which sources are cited for the chemical and physical characters of so-called mad-stones?
Dr. H. C. White's "The Chemical and Physical Characters of the So-called 'Mad-Stones'" appeared in the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 73d Report, Meeting of 1903 at Smithfield, London, 1904, p. 605. Lancet, vol. 164, Jan.–June, 1903, p. 343, is also cited.
Chapter 108
Section 1093 cards
What does Gesenius conjecture the Hebrew lehâshîm may have been?
Gesenius, in his Hebrew Dictionary, conjectures that the lehâshîm may have been shells. When such shells were held to the ear they gave forth sounds that were believed to have an ominous significance. The conjecture is cited in a footnote to Kunz's chapter on jewels and charms, and is presented as a scholarly suggestion rather than an established fact.
Chapter 109
Which two works by Berthold Laufer are cited in this chapter's footnotes?
Two works by Berthold Laufer are cited: "Jade, a Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion" (Chicago, 1912, p. 157), and "Notes on Turquois in the East," published in the Field Museum of Natural History Anthropological Series, vol. xiii, No. 1 (Chicago, July, 1913, p. 11). Both are scholarly sources on precious stones in East Asian contexts.
Chapter 109
Whose embassy to Siam in 1750 A.D. is described in a cited account?
The account describes King Kirti Sri's embassy to Siam in 1672 Saka, equivalent to 1750 A.D. It was translated from Sinhalese by P. E. Pieris and extracted from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii, No. 54 (1903). The footnote supplies the source for this diplomatic mission.
Chapter 109
Section 1104 cards
What does Kunz cite as his own earlier work on precious stone folklore?
Kunz cites his own "Folk-lore of Precious Stones," Chicago, 1894, a reprint from the Memoirs of the International Congress of Anthropology, referring readers to p. 269. He also points to his "Curious Lore of Precious Stones," published by J. B. Lippincott Company in Philadelphia and London, 1913, pp. 87–90, for further details on strange ornaments.
Chapter 110
Which works by Berthold Laufer does Kunz cite in this section?
Kunz cites two works by Berthold Laufer: "Notes on Turquois in the East," Field Museum of Natural History Publication 169, Anthropological Series vol. xiii, No. 1, Chicago, July 1913, referencing the text opposite the frontispiece plate; and "Jade, a Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion," Chicago, 1912, pp. 194 and following.
Chapter 110
Who supplied Kunz with information about Siam, and when?
The information was communicated by Dr. Charles S. Braddock, formerly physician to the court of Siam, under the date of February 13, 1903. This is cited as a personal communication rather than a published source, distinguishing it from the bibliographic references surrounding it.
Chapter 110
What sources does Kunz cite for Spanish amulets?
Kunz cites two articles by W. L. Hildburgh in the journal Folk Lore: "Notes on Spanish Amulets," vol. xvii, 1906, pp. 454–472, with Plate VIII, fig. 29 opposite p. 462; and "Further Notes in Spanish Amulets," vol. xxiv, No. 1, March 31, 1913, pp. 63–74, with two plates.
Chapter 110
Section 1114 cards
What scholarly journal published Wright and Lovett's study of British mascots and amulets?
A. E. Wright and E. Lovett published "Specimens of Modern Mascots and Ancient Amulets of the British Isles" in Folk Lore, vol. xix (1904), pp. 288–303. The same article is cited again at p. 303, and its Plate V, fig. 1 is referenced for a specific specimen. The authors also cite Bratly's "The Power of Gems and Charms" (London, 1907).
Chapter 111
Which work by Kunz himself does the chapter cite for further lore on precious stones?
The chapter repeatedly cites the author's own "The Curious Lore of Precious Stones" (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London, 1913), pointing to p. 125 and also pp. 68 and 96, and again at p. 41 alongside Jentsch's 1706 dissertation on gems. The author thus cross-references his own earlier book for additional material.
Chapter 111
What source is cited for a note on jade from Jahangir's memoirs?
The note on jade is copied from the Tûzuk-i-Jâhangiri, or memoirs of Jahangir, translated by Alexander Rogers (London, 1909), p. 146, in the Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vol. xix. The same translation is cited again at p. 238 for another reference.
Chapter 111
Which authors are cited for turquoise lore in the East?
Berthold Laufer's "Notes on Turquois in the East" (Chicago, 1913), vol. xiii, No. 1 of the Field Museum's Anthropological Series, is cited at p. 50 and again at pp. 5 and 8. The p. 50 citation draws on a Chavannes and Pelliot translation, "Un traité manichéen retrouvé en Chine," published in Journal Asiatique in 1912.
Chapter 111
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