ON THE VIRTUES OF FABULOUS STONES 161
human
body also. Here the tendency has been to use these stones to counteract
the disease which produced them. Renal or vesical calculi, for
instance, were recommended for diseases of the kidneys and bladder, a
treatment quite in accord with the popular idea of the homeopathic
theory.
Another
class of animal substances, namely, the fossil teeth of the shark,
enjoyed a tremendous vogue at one time, and were known by the name of glossopetrœ. These
were usually regarded as stones, and because of their peculiar form
were frequently assimilated to the belemnites and even to the flint
arrow-heads and other prehistoric flint instruments, which were dug up
in many places. All these flint artefacts were believed to have been
precipitated to the earth by the discharge of electricity during a
thunder-storm; in other words, they were "thunder-bolts."1 The same idea was frequently held as to the origin of the glossopetrœ, and those found on the island of Malta were brought into connection with an incident of St. Paul's visit to that island.
In
many different countries, especially in the north of Europe, these
flint arrow-heads and the fossil remains of similar form, were called
fairy-darts or elf-shots, and were believed to be the enchanted weapons
of the elves and fairies, who, in the old folklore, are represented as
beings of a very different quality from the fairies and elves of the
tales of our childhood. In some parts of Europe at the present day, for
example in Ireland, the peasantry talk with bated breath of the doings
of the "good people," for they shrink from using the word ' ' fairy ' '
lest it might offend these mysterious and generally malevolent beings.
The designation "good people" is therefore used to placate and flatter
them.
Various
shell fossils were also used as talismans. Here the form generally
determined the virtues they were supposed to possess. Some of these
strange forms lent them-
» See Chapter II, pp. 106-116.
