238 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
Dutch naturalist, Rumphius. After noting the old tale that the "natural" snake-stones came from the cobra de capello (Serpens pilosus), he
proceeds to relate the information he had been able to gather regarding
the "spurious" stones of this type. These were fabricated by the
Brahmins, the process being kept a profound secret; indeed, there were
those who asserted that the Brahmins themselves had lost the art, as
this had been possessed by but a single family which had died out,
leaving the secret unrevealed. Eumphius describes these artificial
stones as usually round and flat, the size varying from that of a
half-shilling piece to that of a two-shilling piece. Some were of
lenticular form and a few were oblong; all had a white spot in the
middle. In making the application, the bitten spot was first pricked
until it bled, whereupon the stone was immediately laid on and allowed
to remain until it dropped off of itself "just as a leech would do." So
intense was its absorbent activity that it would sometimes break, in
which case a substitute had to be quickly applied. The saturated stone
was placed in milk and the absorbed venom was thus drawn out, turning
the milk blue.66
One
of the tales of the Gesta Romanorum treats of a serpent-stone of
singular medicinal virtue. According to the story—which is, of course,
a mere legend—a certain Theodosius, who "reigned in a Roman city," was
a most prudent ruler, but was afflicted with blindness. In his care for
the welfare of his subjects he had decreed that when anyone who desired
justice rang the bell at the palace gate, a judge must forthwith appear
and try his case. Now it happened that a serpent had its nest near the
bell-rope, and one day, while the reptile was absent, a toad took
possession of the nest. Returning and finding the nest occupied,
" Rumphius, " D'Amboinsche Rariteitkamer," Amsterdam, 174I, pp. 303-305.
