"
To many a gift divine this Stone lays claim ; Surpassing which the
power that makes its fame Is,—when conjoined with Herb of title quaint,
Same as its own; whilst, spoken by a saint Are incantations, hoty, and
a spell Invoked,—with words the pious tongue can tell; Of Gem, and
Plant combined, the wearer then Becomes invisible to eyes of men."
The Bloodstone is
found abundantly in India, Bokhara, Siberia, and Tartary ; likewise in
the Island of Rum, in the Hebrides. There is a tradition that at the
Crucifixion of our Saviour the sacred blood which followed the
spear-thrust fell upon a dark green Jasper which was lying at the foot
of the Cross ; and from that circumstance sprang the Bloodstone variety
of the Jasper. In the Middle Ages the red specks observable in this
Stone were thought to represent the Blood of Christ; and the Stone was
believed to exercise the same medicinal, and magical virtues as the
Jasper proper. In a Boolce of the Thinges tliat are brought from the West Indies, published
in 1571, (and translated from the Spanish, 1780) we may read : " they
doo bring from the New Spain a Stone of great virtue, called ' the
Stone of the. Blood.' This Bloodstone is a kind
