[177] This name occurs among the ancients, because it is the mother-dwelling or the palace, as it was said, in which the carbuncle or true ruby is produced and dwells.—Kobell, 274.
[178] Lib. viii. de Hist. Animal.
[179] Kobell.
[180] Nicols’ Lapidary, 56-7.
[181] Paus. viii, c. 14.
[182] The Imperial Treasury at Vienna possesses an emerald valued at £50,000.
[183] Nicols’ Lapidary, 85.
[184] And see Kobell’s Mineral Kingdom, 274.
[185] P. 86.
[186] Nicols.
[187] Nicols, 130.
[188] 1569, p. 51.
[189] Ib. 164.
[190] As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 1.
[191] First Book of Notable Things, 4to, vol. i.
[192] P. 158.
[193] This subject may allow us to mention what is called the “mad-stone,” a supposed antidote to hydrophobia. The following is from the New-York Tribune newspaper for July 4, 1854:
The Mad-Stone.—The reference of The Washington Union to the mad-stone (one of which is now in the possession of the family of the late Mr. John King Churchill, in Richmond, Va.) has drawn articles upon the subject from several of our cotemporaries. The Petersburg Intelligencer has been shown one, in the possession of Mr. Oliver, who resides in Petersburg, and, it is said, has several certificates of cases in which it has been successfully used for the bite of a mad dog. It is rectangular in shape, with parallel sides and polished surfaces, traversed by dark-gray and brown streaks, and about a size larger than half a Tonquay bean, except that it is not near so thick. Upon being applied to the wound of the patient, says The Intelligencer, it soon extracts the virus, which, it is said, may be distinctly seen in the water, into which it is repeatedly dipped during the operation. The Portsmouth Globe says: “We were raised—‘brought up’ is, perhaps, the word—in Petersburg, Va., and among our very earliest recollections is one concerning a cure from hydrophobia, made through the agency of a mad-stone. The person, whoever it was that was bit by a rabid dog, went to Williamsburg, in this State, where it was said that a mad-stone was located, and came back well, and was never troubled either with madness or its symptoms. Our next notice of the subject was when two individuals in Petersburg were bitten by mad dogs. One, we think, lived in Halifax street, and his father believing the mad-stone a humbug, refused to let his son go and try it. He was seized with the fits, after the usual medicinal agents had failed, and died in great agony. The other visited the mad-stone—still then at Williamsburg—and entirely recovered. The next case was this: We were travelling from Paineville, Amelia County, to Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va., and stopped at a blacksmith’s house to get dinner. In the course of conversation, he said he had been bit by a mad dog, that had destroyed by its bite a number of cattle, sheep and hogs, and that he hastened at once to Williamsburg; that, on the way, he had suffered much from the bite, but after the application of the stone, he had got relief and suffered none since. ‘That bite,’ said he, laying much emphasis on the cost, ‘cost me nearly a hundred dollars.’
“Such is all that we remember concerning the mad-stone.”
As a pendant, we give a “slip” from the Richmond (Virginia) Penny Post for August 12, 1854. The description, if it may be so called, of the stone referred to is remarkable: “as large as a piece of chalk,” and “almost indescribable:”
“An article which we inserted in the Penny Post some two months ago, has elicited remarks from the press in every quarter. We know from facts in our possession, that we were ‘rectus in curia.’ Mr. W. Bradly, who resides some half mile from the city, has left at our office the genuine Simon Pure mad-stone, which can be examined by the curious. We understand from Mr. Bradly that this stone has been in the Bradly family for more than one hundred years; and we are informed by gentlemen of intelligence from the counties of Orange, Green, Culpepper and Madison that they are cognizant of more than fifty cures of mad-dog bites, snake and spider bites. This is a most valuable discovery, and one which ought to be generally known. We mentioned facts some time since, with regard to Sale’s mad-stone, located in Caroline County, which excited only a sneer from the press; none are so blind as those who will not see. We who write this happen to know facts connected with this matter, and we have faithfully given them. This stone is rather a curious-looking affair; it is about as large as a piece of chalk, perfectly porous, and truth to say, almost indescribable. When applied to the wound either of a snake or mad-dog bite, it will draw until all its pores are saturated, then drop off, and if placed in warm water will soon disgorge and then be ready for action again. We shall keep this stone in our office for several days for the inspection of the curious. It ought to be purchased by the city for the use of the public. We understand that Mr. Bradly will sell it for $5,000; if it saves one valuable life, it will be cheap at double that price.”
In connection with this, we add a letter from the Macon Journal and Messenger, (August, 1854:)
A Tale for the Curious.—We received the following communication from Major J. D. Wilkes, of Dooly County. He is a highly respectable citizen, well known to us, and we feel no hesitation in assuring the public that he would make no statements which were not fully reliable.
“Editors of the Journal and Messenger:
“Permit me to lay before your readers a few facts which may furnish matter of speculation for the curious, but may be doubted by some or ridiculed by others. They are, nevertheless, strictly true. Some twelve years ago I went out with a party on a deer hunt, and shot down a fine buck. While dressing him, I cut up the haslet for my hounds, and in doing so, I cut out a stone of dark greenish color, about where the windpipe joins the lights. It was from an inch and a half to two inches long, and quite heavy for its size, although it appears to be porous. I have heard of such stones from old hunters, and that they possessed the faculty of extracting poison, and other medical virtues, but they were seldom found. They were called beasle or bezoar stones. I have been a frontier man and killed many a deer, but have never found another of the same kind. I laid it by more as a matter of curiosity than having any faith in its virtues.
“On the 12th ult. I had a favorite dog bitten on the nose by a large rattlesnake. The dog at once commenced reeling and fell down. I was within a few feet of him, and immediately (as the only remedy at hand) forced a chew of tobacco down his throat. I got him home very soon and dissolved some alum, but found his jaws nearly set. I forced open his mouth, and poured it down his throat. I then recollected seeing in your paper of the 5th ult. the description of a stone and its virtue in extracting poison, in possession of some family in Virginia, which stone, I presume, was similar to the one I had taken from the deer. I got a bowl of warm water and applied the stone to the place bitten, and then dropped it into the water, when I could see a dirty, dark green substance shooting out of it. This I repeated three times with a similar result. The fourth time it seemed to show that all the poison had been extracted. In less than a minute the dog got up, vomited up the tobacco, and the swelling subsided immediately. In less than two hours he was perfectly well, and eating any thing that was offered him.
“Now I will not decide which of the three remedies—the tobacco, the alum or the stone—cured the dog; but from the fact that he was immediately cured on the application of the stone, should reasonably weigh in favor of that remedy. In the article published in your paper it is remarked that ‘We are not aware that the existence of such is known to the scientific world at all,’ and it is spoken of as its origin being a mystery, and wholly unknown. Now, will not the above facts reveal the mystery of their origin? I have now several highly respectable neighbors who were with me when I obtained the stone. I live about nine miles east of Montezuma, in Dooly County, where it may be seen or the use of it obtained, by any one who may need it.
“J. D. Wilkes.”
[194] Popular Delusions, ii. 298, 301; Harwood.
[195] Brande, iii. 329.
[196] P. 295.
[197] Ennemoser’s History of Magic, ii. 456, referring to the 29th book of Ammianus Marcellinus.
[198] Archæologia, xxi. 124.
[199] Solomon’s wisdom and happiness have become proverbial; and the fable of the rabbins and the heroic and erotic poems of the Persians and Arabians speak of him, as the romantic traditions of the Normans and Britons do of King Arthur, as a fabulous monarch, whose natural science, (mentioned even in the Bible,) whose wise sayings and dark riddles, whose power and magnificence are attributed to magic. According to these fictions Solomon’s ring was the talisman of his wisdom and power.—Ency. Amer., Art. Solomon.
[200] Johnston’s Josephus, Book viii. ch. 2.
[201] Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 164, (Ticknor’s edit.) In Chambers’s Collection of Scotch Ballads, this story goes under the name of Lammilsin.
[202] Vol. ix. p. 233.
[203] Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 187.
[204] Causes Célèbres (Dumas).
[205] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, iii, 319.
[206] Archæologia, xix. 411.
[207] Archæologia, xviii. 306.
[208] Egyptian rings in the form of a shell are not uncommon.
[209] Milligen’s Curiosities of Medical Experience, ii. 137.
[210] Archæologia, xxi. 25.
[211] Archæologla, xxi. 121.
[212] Plut., Act 4, § 3.
[213] Archæologia, xxi. 122.
[214] Vol. i. p. 76.
[215] Canto xi. v. 6, (Rose’s translation;) and see Hunt’s Stories from the Italian Poets.
[216] No. 243.
[217] See, however, Hospinian, referred to by Brande, vol. i. p. 151. As to Edward the Confessor’s curing the struma, see Archæologia, i. 162.
[218] London Gent.’s Magazine, vol. i., N. S., p. 49, referring to MS. Arundel, 275, fol. 23 b.
[219] Ib. 50, referring to MS. Harl. 295, fol. 119 b, cited by Ellis, i. 129.
[220] Ib. referring to MS. Cott. Calig. B. II. fol. 112.
[221] London Gent.’s Magazine.
[222] Brande’s Pop. Ant. iii. 300, referring to Gent. Mag. for 1794, p. 433, 648. Ib. 598, 889.
[223] Notes and Queries, i. 349.
[224] Ennemoser’s History of Magic, ii. 488.
[225] Notes and Queries, vii. 153.
[226] Archæologia, xxi. 25.
[227] Notes and Queries, vii. 146.
[228] Ib. 216.
[229] Vol. iii. p. 280, (Ellis’s edit.)
[230] Lupton, quoted by Brande, says: “A piece of a child’s navell string, borne in a ring, is good against the falling sickness, the pain of the head and the collick.”
“Annulus frigatorius. A ring made of glass (salt) of antimony, formerly supposed to have the power of purging.” Gardiner’s Medical Dictionary.
[231] Beckmann’s History of Inventions, i. 46, (Bohn’s edit.)
[232] See also Burton’s Anat. of Melancholy, (1621,) p. 476; Browne, ch. xviii.
[233] Archæologia, xxi. 122; Illustrated Magazine of Art, i. 11.
[234] Archæologia, (London,) xxi. 25.
[235] Ib. 117.
[236] London Gent.’s Mag. vol. lxxv. p. 801.
[237] Vol. xiv. of State Trials, case of Mary Norkott and John Okeman.
[238] Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 13.
[239] Ib. p. 79.
[240] Mem. de Petrarque, i. 210.
[241] Notes and Queries, i. 140.
[242] See Douce’s Illust. of Shakspeare, p. 69.
[243] Hone’s Every Day Book, i. 141.
[244] Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. 67.
[245] Crimes Célèbres.
[246] Crimes Célèbres, (Dumas.)
[247] Roman Antiquities, by Fuss, § 62.
[248] Blair’s Roman Slavery, 97; and see note 50, p. 241.
[249] Pliny, xxxiii.
[250] Lacrim. Etrus., (Sylv. iii. 3,) “lævæque ignobile ferrum.”
[251] Vol. i. book x.
[252] We write at a time when a subscription is going among the inhabitants of New-York for the purchase of this collection; and already have private citizens subscribed to the amount of $25,000. This tells well for republican individual enterprise and taste.
The author has to acknowledge the prompt kindness of Dr. Abbott, in allowing him to take impressions as well from the Suphis-ring as from many others in the Doctor’s collection.
[253] Genesis, ch. 1. v. 26.
[254] Pote’s Inquiry into the Phonetic Reading of the Ashburnham Signet. (Pickering, 1841.)
[255] See Wilkinson’s Manners of the Egyptians, iii. 374.
[256] On the tomb is the sculptured figure of a man bound hand and foot, with a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour him. No history could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den.—The (American) Family Christian Almanac for 1855.
[257] Fuss’s Roman Antiquities, § 435.
[258] Adams’ Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd’s edit.)
[259] Plutarch’s Timoleon.
[260] Introduction to English Antiquities, by Eccleston, 60, 61.
[261] Dugdale.
[262] Burke’s Extinct Peerage, “Plantagenet Viscount L’Isle,” 432.
[263] Hollingshed; Dugdale.
[264] Echard, 363.
[265] Biographia Britannica, art. Boyle.
[266] 1814; and see Notes and Queries, v. 589.
[267] Halliwell’s Life of Shakspeare, 334.
[268] Part i. p. 346, (Harper’s edit.)
[269] P. 92. And see Johnson’s Life of Coke, p. 147; Hume, Horace Walpole. The ring is said to be retained in the family of the Countess of Nottingham.
[270] Pictorial History of England, ii. 693.
[271] Histoire de Hollande, 215, 216; and also see the Biographia Britannica, vol. 5, art. Devereux.
[272] Biographia Britannica, art. Devereux.
[273] Lives and Letters of the Devereux Earls of Essex, by the Honorable W. B. Devereux.
[274] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 181.
[275] Gent’s Mag. vol. xxxv. p. 390; Archæologia, vol. xxxiii.
[276] Willis’s Current Notes for February and March, 1852.
[277] P. 184, (note.)
[278] Gent.’s Mag. for 1852, p. 407.
[279] Anecdotes and Traditions, published by the Camden Society, (London, 1839.)
[280] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, iii. 279.
[281] Mackenzie’s Lives and Characters.
[282] Father Garvasse.
[283] Burke’s Extinct Peerages, “Carey,” 111.
[284] Collins’s Baronage, 421, (4to.)
[285] Hillier’s Narrative of the attempted escape of Charles the First, etc., p. 79. And see Gentleman’s Magazine, N. S., p. 28.
[286] Gent.’s Mag., vol. xli. p. 450, and ib. for June.
[287] Notes and Queries, vii. 184.
[288] See Gent.’s Mag., vol. xli. p. 512.
[289] Collins’s Peerage, v. 68, 5th edit.
[290] Household Words, ix. 277.
[291] Burnet; and see note to Life of Lord Keeper North, vol. ii. p. 13.
[292] Knight.
[293] P. 33, et seq.
[294] North, 100.
[295] Lord Halifax, who is described by Dryden under the character of “Jotham” in Absalom and Achitophel, was at the head of the party called Trimmers; and in his “Preface to the Character of a Trimmer,” thus explains the term: “This innocent word Trimmer signifies no more than this: that if men are together in a boat and one part of the company would weigh it down on one side, another would make it lean as much to the contrary, it happens that there is a third opinion, of those who conceive it would be as well if the boat went even, without endangering the passengers. Now, ’tis hard to imagine by what figure in language or by what rule in sense this comes to be a fault; and it is much more a wonder it should be thought a heresy.”
[296] Miss Mitford’s Recollections, 425, (Am. edit.)
[297] Notes and Queries, ii. 70.
[298] Hone’s Year Book, 1022.
[299] Biographia Britannica, Art. Crichton.
[300] London Gent.’s Mag., N. S., ii. p. 195.
[301] Moore’s Life of Byron, vol. i. p. 458.
[302] Beattie’s Life of Campbell, ii. 287.
[303] Dublin Penny Journal, 208.
[304] The Death Warrant, or Guide to Life, 1844. (London.)
[305] Hone’s Every Day Book.
[306] 1690, p. 122.
[307] Gent.’s Mag. for 1852, p. 640.
[308] Ib. vol. xxxv. N. S. 390; Burgon’s Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham, i. 51.
[309] Poetical Rhapsody.
[310] Polyglot Dictionary, by John Minshew, (1625,) art. Ring-Finger.
[311] Reflections on the Causes of Unhappy Marriages, etc., by Lewis, p. 84.
[312] Shelford on Marriage, 17, 31.
[313] Sat. VI. verse 27.
[314] Macrob. Sat. VII. 15.
[315] Wilson’s Archæological Dictionary, art. Ring.
[316] Archæological Album, by Wright, p. 138.
[317] Illustrations of Ancient Art, by Trollope, p. 49.
[318] Wilkinson.
[319] Ch. 35, v. 22.
[320] Uxor Ebraica, Lib. ii. ch. 14.
[321] Kohl’s Reminiscences.
[322] Hamilton’s Marriage Rites, p. 188.
[323] Ib. 194.
[324] Bourgoing’s Travels through Spain.
[325] Act 2d, sc. 2d.
[326] Douce, 24.
[327] Book iii.
[328] The People’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. Rings.
[329] Douce’s Illustrations of Shakspeare, p. 69.
[330] The beautiful architectural design in this picture is said to be copied, but very much improved, from a picture by Perugino, the master of Raffaelle. As the latter had a genius beyond copying and as Perugino made use of the talents of his pupil, it is fair to suppose that Raffaelle composed the building and afterwards claimed its outline by inserting it, with improvament from reflection, in his own painting, Lo Sposalizio. The general form and proportions are to be found in Brunelleschi’s design for the octagon chapel of the Scholari annexed to the church Degl’ Angeli at Florence. See Kugler’s Hand Book of Painting, by Eastlake, p. 332.