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Ch. 4: Fabulous Stones and Fossils

Ch. 4: Fabulous Stones and Fossils Page of 485 Ch. 4: Fabulous Stones and Fossils Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
182         THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
to have been a stone, but rather the cochleae of the animal, the small bones in the head which transmit the auditory vibrations to the sensorium. They were highly valued by the Indians for their remedial action in cramps and colic, and the Spaniards collected them and brought them to Spain to enrich their very miscellaneous pharmacopoeia. Some­times they were taken internally, but often they were set in rings or worn suspended from the neck as amulets. This stone, or bone, is described as oval in shape and of a hue
resembling that of ivory. When pulverized and dissolved, the solution was odorless and tasteless. They are in size often as large as a woman's clinched fist.54
The ear-bones of fish, almost invariably in pairs, are still used as amulets in Spain and Italy. One of their chief virtues is to protect children from the Evil Eye, as well as
" Valentini, " Museum museorum, oder Vollständige Schau-Bühne," Frank­furt am Main, 1714, Bk. Ill, cap. 27, §§ 1, 4.
Ch. 4: Fabulous Stones and Fossils Page of 485 Ch. 4: Fabulous Stones and Fossils
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