224 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
elements of Pliny's old recital touching the "serpent's egg," come
out in the account given of it by this primitive race, in general so
far removed from any notion of classical tradition. Anyone in search
of this stone must resort, according to the Lapps, to the pairing
place of snakes, for here they throw the stone, which is small and
white, back and forth to one another; he must steal along quietly until
he is quite near to the snakes and then snatch the stone as it flies
through the air, and run away with it as fast as he can to the nearest
piece of water. Should he reach the water before the snake does—for the
reptile pursues him—he gains the ownership of the stone; if, however,
the snake first reaches the water, this is very dangerous for the man.
Hence he should carefully search out the nearest water before snatching
the stone, and as the snake will not immediately know what has become
of it, and will hunt for it awhile before starting in pursuit of the
thief, the latter will have time to come first to the water.39
Tertullian
writes that the wearing of stones taken from the head of a dragon or of
a serpent was especially reprehensible in the case of a Christian ;
for how could a Christian be said to "bruise the head" of the Old
Serpent (Gen. iii, 15) while wearing such a stone about his neck or on
his head, and thus testifying to a kind of serpent worship?40
The Greek poem "Lithica," belonging to the fourth century b.c., also
celebrates the virtues of a "snake-stone," which is to be pressed
closely on the bitten spot ; but besides this application, the drinking
of undiluted wine in which the stone ostrites had been pulverized, is recommended. This shows that the therapeutic value of alcohol as a stimulant to
"Johann
Turi, "Muittalue samid birra; en bog om Lappernas liv."; text, and
Danish trans, by Emilie Demnant, Kjobenhavn, 1011, p. 184 (p. 62 of
text).
• Tertulliano " Opera Omnia," Parisiis, 1879, vol. i, coL 1425, De colta feminarum.
