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176 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
Syriac: Abno dneshre.
Chaldaic : Abno dinesbar, or abno denishra.
Hebrew: 'Eben ha-nosher.
Some
said that this stone might be found not only in the eagle's nest, but
also in that of the stork. This idea was, however, entirely erroneous
in Bausch 's opinion, for though he had caused diligent search to be
made by all those who encountered such nests, no "eagle-stone" could
ever be found. To the supposed ' ' stork-stones ' ' had been given the
name lychnites, as they were believed to be luminous, their light serving to frighten off any snakes which might be seeking the new-laid eggs.39
Bausch enumerates and rejects a number of explanations to account for the supposed presence of the œtites in
the nests of eagles. One theory was that these stones served to give
stability to the nest, and enabled it better to resist the assaults of
the wind; others asserted that the coolness of the stones lowered the
unduly high temperature of the eggs and of the parent bird's body;
others again were inclined to attribute to them a mysterious formative
and vivifying power exerted on the eggs, or else a talismanic power
protecting these from injury. While rejecting all these notions, as we
have stated, and indeed denying the truth of the assertion that such
stones were ever found in eagles' nests, Bausch cites the authority of
St. Jerome, in his commentary on Isaiah, chap, lxvi, that the amethyst
had been found with the young of the eagle, being placed with them in
the nest to protect them from venomous creatures.40
That
the ' ' eagle-stones ' ' were not always hollow is shown by a specimen
owned in the eighteenth century by the English family Postlethwayte.
This was solid, and had been cut into the shape of a heart, a hole
being pierced at the
" Ibid., pp. 9, 10. »Ibid., pp. 11, 12.
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