OMINOUS AND LUMINOUS STONES 149
was thought to render the wearer invisible, this was only an added virtue of the stone.
The
eye-agates were sometimes used to form the eyes of idols. At a later
period some of these "agate-eyes" were removed from the statues and cut
with a glyptic subject on the lower side. Some of the most interesting
antique gems are of this kind. In Aleppo (and elsewhere in the East)
there is a certain type of sore known as the "Aleppo button" or "Aleppo
boil." The boil frequently does not appear for a long period after
infection has taken place. It often appears as a swelling surrounded
by a white ring, and there is a belief among the natives that there are
"Aleppo stones," these being the so-called "eye-agates" frequently
produced by cutting a three-layer, naturally pale yellow or pale gray
agate, with intervening white zones in such a way that it looks like an
eye or a double-eye, and such stones are used in alleviation of the
Aleppo sore. What beneficial influence they may have is due to the fact
that the agate is cold and furnishes a little relief for the time.
This
"Aleppo boil" or "Oriental sore" so prevalent in many parts of western
Asia, is produced, according to the best authorities, by a pathogenic
organism Leishmania tropica (Wright) 1903. As to the means by
which this organism is introduced into the human subject nothing very
definite is known, but mosquitoes or Phlebotomus have been suggested as possible transmitting agencies.8
The
eye of some invisible monster, the eye of the dragon, the eye of the
serpent, were all regarded as possessed of malign power. It is well
known that in the East Indies a peacock's feather is thought to bring
ill-luck,
8 Communication of Dr. Frederick Knab, citing Castellani and Chalmers, "Manual of Tropical Medicine," 1910.
