User:Lawrence Cohen/work/Toadstone/draft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] History
The Toadstone (not unlike the batrachite) is a mythical stone or gem thought to be found in, or produced by, a toad, and is supposed to be an antidote to poison. There were originally formed, however, as a fossil from Lepidotes, an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous era. The formation of what would be called toadstones were actually the fossilized teeth of the fish, which appear as stones that are perfect in form.[1] At some point, humans began to associate the fossils with jewels that some believed to form in the heads of toads due to supernatural causes, and appeared in recorded history originally during the lifetime of Pliny the Elder, who was born in AD 23 and died AD 79.[1]
According to Paul Taylor of the Natural History Museum, "Like tonguestones, toadstones were considered to be antidotes for poison and were also used in the treatment of epilepsy".[1] As early as the 14th century, people began to adorn jewelry with toadstones for their magical abilities.[1]
[edit] Derbyshire
Among the geological substrata of Derbyshire are common materials such as limestone, shale, and clay, but also what texts refer to as three layers of "toad-stone" across approximately 51,500 square acres. The toad-stone in question is in six alternating layers with limestone, in a section between Grange Mill and Darley Moor.[2]
[edit] Use and function
According to a 1569 work, Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature, as translated by Edward Fenton from the original French by Pierre Boaistuau,
| “ | There is found in the heades of old and great toades a stone, which they call borax, or stolon: it is most commonly found in the head of a hee toade, of power to repulse poisons, and that it is a soveraigne medicine for the stone.[3][4] | ” |
A toadstone was required to be removed from an old toad while the creature was still alive, and as instructed by the 17th century naturalist Edward Topsell, could be done by setting the toad on a piece of red cloth.[1] In some published works, the toad may not yet have touched water.[5] Another method of retrieving a toadstone was to hold a stone before a toad, where the animal could see it; if the toad leapt at the stone, it would be demonstrated as a desirable toadstone due to the display of the toad "envying" the stone.[6] Toadstones were said to be a whitish brown color, or black, with a "bluish eye".[7]
To be used, in folklore circa 1652, an individual would wear the toadstone with it touching their skin, and the stone would sweat in the presence of poisons.[7] The toadstone was said to have additional abilities to protect its wearer, including protecting the kidneys from disease and keeping newborn infants and their mothers safe from faeries.[8] If working properly, the toadstone would change color.[5]
As early as 1776, however, it was observed that the "fancied powers" of the toadstone were forgotten about once users learned that they were nothing more than fossilized teeth.[6]
[edit] Allusions in literature
The toadstone is alluded to by Duke Senior in Shakespeare's As You Like It, in Act 2, Scene 1, lines 12 through 14:[9]
"Sweet are the uses of adversity;
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head".
[edit] Various other names
Some various other names of the toadstone are:
|
|
|
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Brand, John; Ellis, Sir Henry, Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard (1849). Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain. Great Britain: Henry G. Bohn, 50-51.
- Fenton, Edward (1569). Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature. Translated from Boaistuau, Pierre (1560). Histoire prodigieuses.
- Hazlitt, William Carew; Brand, John (1905). Faiths and Folklore: A Dictionary. Scribner.
- King, C.W. (1867). The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones. Bell & Daldy. ISBN 978-0548209271.
- Lewis, Samuel (1831). A Topographical Dictionary of England, 29-30.
- Nicols, Thomas (1652). Lapidary, Or, The History of Pretious Stones, Part II, Chap. XXXVI, pp. 158-159. Online excerpts, University of Chicago.
- Scarisbrick , Diana (2004-10-29). Historic Rings: Four Thousand Years of Craftsmanship. Kodansha International, 50. ISBN 978-4770025401.
- Shakespeare, William. The Project Gutenberg's Etext of Shakespeare's First Folio. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- Widdowes, Daniel (1631). Naturall Philosophy: Or Description of the World, and of the Severall Creatures therein contained, Viz. Angels, Mankind, Heavens, Stars, Planets, Elements, with their order, nature and government: As also of Minerals, Mettals, Plants and Precious stones; with their colours formes, and vertues, 29. Online excerpts, University of Chicago.
- "Fossils: myths, mystery and magic", Independent UK, 2007-02-12. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
[edit] External links
- A collection of notes maintained by James Eason of the University of Chicago comprising excerpts from Thomas Nicols and other authors.
- New Oxford American Dictionary, under the entry "toadstone".
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by Crown Publishers Inc
- A collection of notes maintained by James Eason of the University of Chicago comprising excerpts from Thomas Nicols and other authors.
- New Oxford American Dictionary, under the entry "toadstone".
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by Crown Publishers Inc
- NY Times reference, October, 1890
- "Whitehurst and the Volcanic Origin of Toadstone, 1778"
- "Toadstones: A note to Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Book III, chapter 13"
