cases
of difficult parturition. Although no details are given, it seems most
probable that the stones were reduced to a powder from which some sort
of potion was concocted,41 this having no more action than so much ground shell or marble dust.
The alectorius or
"cock-stone" is one of the most famous of those real or supposed animal
concretions that were known in ancient times. From the age of Pliny—and
unquestionably long before his time—there was a popular belief that
this stone was only to be found in the gizzard of a cock which had been
caponed when three years old, and had lived seven years longer. This
was believed to allow the substance to acquire its boasted virtue, for
the longer it remained in the body of the capon, the greater its power.
Such a ' ' cock-stone ' ' never exceeded the size of a bean. From its
association with the pugnacious fowl, the alectorius became a
favorite stone with wrestlers, and the great and invincible Milo of
Croton is said to have owed many of his victories to the possession of
one, for if held in the mouth, it quenched the thirst and thus
refreshed the combatant.
Many
other virtues of this stone are recorded; it rendered wives agreeable
to their husbands, dissolved enchantments, brought new honors and
powers in addition to those already enjoyed, and helped kings to
acquire new dominions. How persistent was the faith in the virtue of
the alectorius is shown by the fact that the great astronomer Tycho Brahe
"Lemnii, "De miraculia naturae," Francofurti, 1611, p. 213.
