s, which renders its
possessor invincible if it has been taken out of the stomach of a cock
caponized four years before or if it has been ripped out of the
ventricle of a hen, Porta informs us that chalcedony wins law suits,
that carnelian stops bloody flux 'and is exceeding useful to women who
are sick of their flower,' that hyacinth protects against lightning and
keeps away pestilence and poison, that topaz quells 'lunatic' passions,
that turquoise is of advantage against melancholy, quartan fever, and
heart failure. He attests finally that sapphire preserves courage and
keeps the members vigorous, while emerald, hung about one's neck, keeps
away Saint John's evil and breaks when the wearer is unchaste.

"You see, antique philosophy, mediaeval Christianity, and sixteenth
century magic do not agree on the specific virtues of every stone.
Almost in every case the significations, more or less far-fetched,
differ. Dr. Johannes has revised these beliefs, adopted and rejected
great numbers of them, finally he has, on his own authority, admitted
new acceptations. According to him, amethyst does cure drunkenness; but
moral drunkenness, pride; ruby relieves sex pressure; beryl fortifies
the will; sapphire elevates the thoughts and turns them toward God.

"In brief, he believes that every stone corresponds to a species of
malady, and also to a class of sins; and he affirms that when we have
chemically got possession of the active principle of gems we shall have
not only antidotes but preventatives. While waiting for this chimerical
dream to be realized and for our medicine to become the mock of lapidary
chemists, he uses precious stones to formulate diagnoses of illnesses
produced by sorcery."

"How?"

"He claims that when such or such a stone is placed in the hand or on
the affected part of the bewitched a fluid escapes from the stone into
his hands, and that by examining this fluid he can tell what is the
matter. In this connection he told me that a woman whom he did not know
came to him one day to consult him about a malady, pronounced incurable,
from which she had suffered since childhood. He could not get any
precise answers to his questions. He saw no signs of venefice. After
trying out his whole array of stones he placed in her hand lapis lazuli,
which, he says, corresponds to the sin of incest. He examined the stone.

"'Your malady,' he said, 'is the consequence of an act of incest.'

"'Well,' she said, 'I did not