ON THE VIRTUES OP FABULOUS STONES 165
so
well. The miracle is all the greater that the stone is so small, and
that the exterior surface has not the form of a toad, the image showing
through it as though inclosed within/
As
we see, the stone of Erasmus contained the form or image of a toad.
This was not usually the case with the concretions that bore this
name, and it appears probable that the "crapaudine" of the shrine at
Walsingham owed its peculiarity rather to art than to nature. A rather
farfetched explanation of the origin of these substances is given by
Ambrosianus, who relates that, in order to investigate the quality and
character of toad-stones, he killed a number of toads and took out
their brains. Although these were not hard when extracted, they became,
in time, as hard as stones.8
A
toad-stone which appeared to represent the form of this animal was
preserved as an heirloom in the Lemnian family. It exceeded the size of
a walnut and was often seen to dissipate the swelling caused by the
bite of a venomous creature in any part of the body, if it were rubbed
quickly over the swelling. It, therefore, seemed to possess the same
quality as was attributed to the animal from which it was taken,
namely, to draw out and annul all poisons. If any neighbor of the
Lemnian family were bitten by a mouse, a spider, a dormouse, a wasp, a
beetle, or any such creature, he soon sought the aid of this stone.9
We
have noted De Boot's unsuccessful attempt to secure a toad-stone, but
he does not seem to have used the orthodox method for obtaining it.
According to one authority,10 the creature should be placed in a cage covered with a red cloth
'
Erasmi, " Colloquia," Lipsise, 1713, p. 596. *Aldrovandi, "Museum
metallicum," Bononiœ, 1648, p. 814. •Lemnii, "De miraculis occultis
naturae," Francofurti, 1611, pp. 212, 213. M Mizauld, " Hundert curieuse Kunst-stiicke," in Martius' " Unterricht Ton der Magiœ Naturali," Leipzig, 1717, p. 290.
