212 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
upon the wound; even those at the point of death were revived by it.18
An
amulet set with a bezoar stone is said to have possessed such a power
to prevent bleeding that when a Malacca prince was killed in a battle
with his rebellious subjects, no blood was flowing from any of his
numerous wounds. On stripping the body a golden armlet set with a
bezoar came to view, and the moment this was removed blood began to
flow freely from the wounds.18*
Mercato
writes of a marvellous Occidental bezoar, sent from Peru to Borne in
1534, as a gift to Pope Gregory XIII. It weighed no less than fifty-six
ounces, although it was defective, since a large portion of the
exterior crust was missing, the second layer was partly broken away,
and even the third layer was damaged in some places. This wonderful
concretion had been dedicated to one of the Peruvian gods, as a rare
and precious object, and it was taken away by the Spaniards when they
spoiled the temple. Mercato says that this bezoar was "of a truly
monstrous size, unheard of in all previous centuries, and it is still
the largest in the whole realm of nature." 19
The bezoars of the New World seem to have
differed considerably from those of India. They had a rough surface,
were usually of a gray color, of various sizes and forms, and composed
of a number of superimposed, coalescing layers, much thicker than those
of the Oriental, or Indian, bezoar. They were usually of considerable
size, either hollow within or containing seeds, needles and similar
substances. They came from the "West Indies, especially from Peru, and
were brought thence by the Spaniards and Portu-
"
F. Nix, in Tijdschrift voor Ind. Taal, Land en Volk, vol. v, p. 151.
»»Julii Reichelti, "De Amuletis," Argentorati, 1676, p. 75. "Mercati,
"Metallotheca Vaticana," Romse, 1719, p. 175.
