Snakestones in Early Modern Medicine and Society

the physical characteristics of snakestones, their various ONLINE CONTENT compositions, and evaluates the medical eff ectiveness of this treatment, which involved the placing of a stone Snakestones in early modern medicine over the area of a venomous bite; it would adhere to the and society skin, purportedly extracting the toxins. Th is contribu- tion also considers the worldwide distribution of snake- Rachael Pymm stones and explores their value and popularity. Th e body of evidence also aff ords the opportunity to explore Abstract the role of snakestones in society; in particular, it pro- Snakestones were exotic, manufactured pharmaceutical vides insight into the social and academic interest in items used to treat snakebite. Drawing on a spectrum ‘exotic’ medicines, an opportunity to explore some of of accounts, and building on my previous work, this the factors driving the choice or otherwise of snake- article explores the role of snakestones in early modern stones as a treatment, and the persistence of popular European society. Forming part of the gift-giving cul- medical beliefs associated with them. Snakestones thus ture, snakestones were also subject to empirical trials provide a lens through which diff erent aspects of the by natural philosophers who sought to challenge estab- changing scene of early modern medicine can be ex- lished medical philosophy and advance the study of plored. snakes and venom. Th eir high cost and limited medical use in comparison with remedies such as theriac and Snakestones prior to the seventeenth century bezoar, resulted in snakestones having minimal eff ect Th e concept of a snake with a powerful stone in its head on the British medical market, in contrast to other ex- can be traced to ancient India.3 Its dissemination otic imported pharmaceuticals. through European thought and literature was due in large part to inclusion by Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) Introduction in his Historia Naturalis (Natural History), which Snakestones were one of many medicinal ‘stones’ which formed the bedrock of early European natural philoso- formed part of the therapeutic arsenal against ill health phy. Th e concealment of precious stones inside the bod- in the early modern period and were part of the subset ies – particularly the heads – of animal hosts is a com- of ‘animal stones’ thought to naturally occur in the mon feature of other precious animal stones. Stones bodies of their animal hosts. Other such stones include were said to be found in toads, fi sh, birds and porcu- toadstones (bufonites), cock-stones (alectorius), and be- pines,4 amongst others; a number are referenced in zoars; although generally not aesthetically pleasing, Pliny’s work. they were valued for their supposed magical or medici- Snakestones were also recorded in the Greek work nal virtues.1 Th e author has previously classifi ed ‘ser- Kyranides, a compilation of magico-medicinal texts as- pent stones’ into fi ve broad types.2 Th is work considers sembled in the fourth century AD. Kyranides indicated one of these types, the snakestone, a stone said to be that snakestones were to be found in the water serpent extracted from the head of a snake, in further detail. ydros: ‘Ydros, is a water snake […] Th is has a Stone in Th e snakestone became famous as a universal remedy its Head, if any catch the Serpent alive, he will fi nd the for snakebite and was known by a variety of appella- Stone if he charm it, it will vomit up the stone’.5 Ydros tions, many of which refl ected its supposed ophidian is likely synonymous with hydrus, a taxonomically non- origin: pierre de serpent, piedra de cobra, slangensteen, specifi c serpent which lived near water.6 Hydrus was re- pamboo kaloo and schlangenstein. Th e snakestone’s sup- corded as early as circa 750 BC by Homer.7 It later fea- posed origin is entirely fabulous; such a concretion does tured in medieval bestiaries, in which the hydrus was not form inside the head of a snake. Experimental anal- ascribed antipathy towards the crocodile and, covering yses of snakestones with a view to revealing their true itself in mud, it would enter the crocodile’s maw, slip composition were undertaken throughout the eight- down its gullet, and burst out through its side, causing eenth and nineteenth centuries. Consideration of these the crocodile’s death.8 Th e imagery was likened to fi ndings provides an insight into the question of natural Christ’s victory over death (Figure 1).9 versus manufactured therapies in this period. Snakestones were also recorded in the works of Th is paper briefl y outlines the history of snake- ninth and tenth century Islamic alchemists such as Ibn stones in medicine and the sudden interest in them Washiyya al-Nabaţī (Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin ‘Alī al- which developed in the mid-seventeenth century. It Kasdānī, fl . 10th century) and Al-Biruni (Abū Rayḥān draws on a spectrum of accounts and expands on my Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Al-Bīrūnī, 973-1050, also earlier overview of serpent stones to consider in detail known as Alberonius).10

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 129 seventeenth century. Th e details are typical of early modern snakestone accounts: the stone was said to come from the head of a snake and was dark in colour, apart from the centre. Used as a snakebite remedy, it would be placed over the bite, to which it would adhere, ostensibly extracting the venom. It would fall off either when all the venom was extracted, or when it was full, in which case it could be cleaned, detoxifi ed and then re-used until it failed subsequently to adhere. After application, the stone was to be placed in milk; some accounts stipulate that human breastmilk should be used, others substitute water. Th us steeped, the stone would purportedly expel the poison it had absorbed into the liquid, which was sometimes said to bubble, or to change colour as a result. Th ereafter, the stone was considered fi t for re-use.

Figure 1. A hydrus slithering into a crocodile’s mouth and out of its side. (© British Library Board, MS Royal 12 C. xix, f. 12v, British Library, London)

Snakestones appeared occasionally in later works as their authors drew from and replicated the text of earlier authorities directly, or from derivative works. Th e snakestone might have gradually faded into obscurity had it not been the subject of an upsurge of interest in the mid-seventeenth century. At this time, compelling tales of the snakestones’ effi cacy against poisoned bites and their alleged ongoing practical use in the lands to the east were reported by missionaries and other travel- lers returning to Europe. Polish Jesuit Missionary to China, Michał Boym (c. 1612-1659) published his Flo- ra Sinensis (Chinese Flora) in 1656, during a sojourn in Rome. In this work, Boym wrote of the snakestone:

In India and the kingdom of Quamsi, a stone can be found in the heads of the type of serpents which the Portuguese call Cobras de Cabelo, which means hairy serpents. Th is stone can be used as an antidote for the serpent’s bite, and without this one would die within twenty-four hours. Th is round stone (usually lentil-shaped) has a white middle and blue or brown edges. When placed on the wound, it adheres by it- Figure 2. Athanasius Kircher. Stipple engraving by self, draws the poison, and falls off when full of the R. Cooper. (Source: Wellcome Collection, London) poison. When placed in milk, it will gradually return to its natural state. Th is stone, not found every- Boym’s work unexpectedly prompted academic scru- where, will adhere if the wound has not been com- tiny of the stones. At this time, the authority of classi- pletely drained. If it falls away, the natives congratu- cal and medieval sources was being challenged, and late the sick person that the danger of death has been natural philosophers began to pursue empiricism,12 the overcome.11 expression of which included the undertaking of ‘trials’ to test claims.13 Boym’s work piqued the interest of fel- Th is passage on snakestones was the earliest and most low-Jesuit, natural philosopher Athanasius Kircher oft-plagiarised passage on snakestones penned in the (1602-1680) (Figure 2) who met Boym in Rome in

130 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 1655.14 Several years later, in 1662-4, Kircher also met bite envenomization. He had displayed astounding per- Jesuit Henry Roth (1620-1677) in Rome;15 Roth had sistence and experimented repeatedly on the snake- spent approximately a decade in India and gave Kirch- stones, before coming to the fi rm conclusion that they er three snakestones which, Roth asserted, he had ex- – like several other exotic items – were medically inef- perimented with himself.16 Boym and Roth both af- fective.26 fi rmed to Kircher that the snakestone was eff ective in Martha Baldwin has detailed the competing social curing snakebite.17 and professional interests at play between Kircher and Kircher undertook a single trial on the snakestone, Redi in the snakestone debate: Redi was in competition using it to treat a viper-bitten dog. Th e dog recovered, with his fellow physicians for infl uence at the Medici although it took a day to return to full health.18 Kirch- court, and sought to enhance his status by engaging in er notes that contemporaneously Carolo Magnino, also disputes with high-profi le guresfi outside the court, si- of Rome, treated a human patient in the same way, with multaneously avoiding the potentially damaging con- a successful outcome.19 Kircher published his unequiv- sequences of such debate with local peers. Kircher was ocal support of the stones as a remedy for snakebite in perhaps less encumbered by the politics of patronage, his China illustrata (China illustrated, fi rst published although he sought to gain infl uence at the Medici 1667). He expanded, but essentially repeated, this in- court. As a trained physician, Redi was also motivated formation in his Magneticum naturae regnum sive dis- by the desire to defend the practice of medicine from ceptatio physiologia (Physiological discussion of the the attempted incursions and infl uences of the medi- magnetic in the kingdom of nature, fi rst published cally untrained Jesuit natural philosophers.27 Th e latter 1667).20 Kircher’s credulity was rooted in his trust in encountered the exotic through their missionary activ- his fellow Jesuits; his ardent advocacy of the snake- ities, and increasingly engaged with the medical and stones was also due in no small part to his consideration scientifi c spheres to strengthen the eff ectiveness of their that they perfectly demonstrated the truth of his ‘the- outreach. ory on the operation of occult magnetic forces through- Kircher did not respond to Redi directly, but he out the universe’, which was underpinned by the Para- likely guided the pen of his student Giuseppe Petrucci celsian principle of similitude.21 In Magneticum naturae (unknown-1680), who published a rebuttal, Prodromo regnum, Kircher stated that the snakestone, naturally apologetico alli studi Chircheriani (An Apologetic Fore- produced by a venomous serpent, would attract ‘mag- runner to Kircherian Studies) in 1677. Petrucci noted netically and sympathetically toxic spirits circulating in that Kircher had additional evidence of the snake- the bloodstream’.22 Similarly, in his 1705 work, Georg stones’ effi cacy - garnered from Vienna and Venice in Eberhard Rumphius (1627-1702), German botanist in 166828 - the results of which corroborated Kircher’s the employ of the Dutch East India Company, stated fi ndings,29 but which were not referenced in Kircher’s that the snakestone operated by ‘sympathetic powers’.23 published work.30 Petrucci’s statements regarding other Francesco Redi (1626-1697), a Florentine physician experiments were indeed correct; whilst Kircher and in the Medici court, had begun his own trials on snake- Redi’s dispute outworked itself, investigations into stones using specimens from the east, prior to the pub- snakestones had also been undertaken at other Euro- lication of Kircher’s China illustrata. Redi’s experiments pean centres. On 17 September 1668, the Italian liter- continued intermittently until 1671,24 when he pub- ary journal Giornale del Letterati published a letter lished his work Esperienze intorno a diverse cose natu- penned by Otto Tachenius (1610-1680) on 17 April of rali e particolarmente a quelle che ci son portate dall’Indie the same year. Tachenius, a German-born physician, fatte da Francesco Redi e scritte in una lettera al Rever- who later settled in Venice, had carried out a single ex- endissimo Padre Atanasio Chircher della Compagnia de periment on a snake-bitten dog. Half-an-hour follow- Giesu (Experiences around diff erent natural things and ing the bite, the stone was applied three times, and after particularly those brought to us by the Indies made by each use it was washed in milk. Th ree days later, when Francesco Redi and written in a letter to the Most Rev- the letter was written, the dog was still alive.31 Tache- erend Father Athanasius Kircher of the Society of Je- nius briefl y expanded on snakestones in his Antiquissi- sus), which challenged the eff ectiveness of exotic rem- mae Hippocraticae medicinae clavis manuali experientia edies, including the snakestone. Th e title of the work is in naturae fontibus elaborate (fi rst published 1668, Eng- provocative, although the practice of addressing an ac- lish translation, Otto Tachenius His Hippocrates Chymi- ademic rebuttal as a letter was not uncommon.25 With cus, Which Discovers the Ancient Foundations of the Late one exception, Redi’s numerous trials using the snake- Viperine Salt. And His Clavis Th ereunto Annexed, fi rst stone resulted in the death of the subject. Redi therefore published 1677), in which he said he had ‘plenty of this refuted the claim that the snakestones could cure snake- Stone by me’32 and applied them to bites from mad

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 131 dogs; he also treated one girl with the snakestones for Composition and identifying characteristics seven days and nights. He asserted that ‘the Stone of Th e primary therapeutic use of the snakestone was the the hairy Serpent, rejoices to attract the Odor of the Poi- treatment of snakebites. Occasionally they were applied son, infused by the venomous bitings’33. ‘Hairy serpent’ to bites from other venomous creatures, including spi- is the result of cobra de capello (hooded cobra) being ders and scorpions,45 and on rarer occasions they were changed to cobra de cabello (hairy serpent), confusing used to treat a wide range of unrelated ailments.46 the original meaning.34 Tachenius did, however, high- Snakestones have certain unique physical character- light that not all poisons were treatable by the snake- istics. Th ey are small; Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712), stone, arsenic being one such exception.35 when cataloguing the Royal Society’s Repository, re- Th e experiments conducted in Vienna are undated ported that their exemplar was ‘about ¼ of an inch 47 but were reported by the Giornale del Letterati on 28 long, above ½ over, and ¼ thick’. Similarly, the snake- December 1668. It is not insignifi cant that this suc- stone described by German naturalist and explorer En- cessful experiment, carried out by the anonymous au- glebert Kaempfer (1651-1716) in his Amoenitatum ex- thor, was ‘administered’ by Kircher”.36 Two villagers oticarum (Exotic pleasures, fi rst published 1712) was 48 bitten by a rabid wolf were said to be treated by the ‘longer than one inch and wider than one-half inch’. snakestones, and subsequently recovered. Separately, Th ey are also light; the heaviest snakestone (pedra de a trial was made with an ox and a bull, each bitten by cobra) held by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Lon- vipers; the bull was treated with the snakestone and don weighs only 3 grams. Th is diminutive size and negligible weight would have rendered a snakestone con- immediately recovered – apparently thereafter experi- venient to carry as a fi rst-aid treatment. Snakestones encing a strongly renewed enthusiasm for carnal ac- came in a variety of shapes: circular;49 occasionally tivities. Th e untreated ox perished. Th e account also square;50 but most commonly oval.51 Th ey were either indicated that many dogs bitten by vipers were healed fl at52 or had one convex surface, rendering them thick- by the stone.37 er in the centre than at the edges (Figure 3).53 Contemporaneously, a short series of experiments was undertaken in France by apothecary Moyse Charas (1619-1698), which he detailed in his Nouvelles expéri- ences sur la vipère, fi rst published in 1669, and translated into English (New experiments upon vipers) the following year.38 Th is work, and specifi cally Charas’ conclusions regarding the need for a viper to be irritat- ed to deliver its venom when biting, and the therapeutic value of vipers’ fl esh, led him into public debate with Redi, via a series of publications between 1669 and 1671.39 In New experiments upon vipers, Charas related that he witnessed the snakestone being used unsuccess- fully to treat a snake-bitten pigeon a few days prior.40 Inspired to undertake trials of the snakestone himself, Figure 3. pedra de cobra (scale: one width = 1 cm) (Source: his fi rst test subject, also a pigeon, survived the snake- Burges Collection, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, London, bite after the stone was applied; but the second and UK. Author’s photograph) third perished within 15 minutes.41 Charas is not ex- plicit in his opinion regarding the eff ectiveness of the Th ey were brittle – several specimens held by the Roy- snakestone; however, the death of two of his three test al Pharmaceutical Society are fragmented, and that subjects suggests a negative result. held by the Devon and Exeter Medical Society appears Th e Royal Society, based in London, received a to have been glued together following damage (Fig- snakestone, sent from the Dutch East Indies, by a cor- ure 4). respondent named Louis Philiberto Vernatti (1627- Several authors remarked on the smoothness of the 1669) in 1664,42 and another East Indian exemplar stone; Grew commented that the snakestone sent by from Mr John Evans in January 1681.43 Th ese samples Vernatti to the Royal Society was ‘All round about very do not appear to have been subject to experimentation, smooth, and shining’.54 Kaempfer described his snake- but trials of alternative specimens were undertaken by stone as having ‘a smooth and shiny surface’;55 Dr Hans Royal Society Fellows Dr Edward Tyson (1651-1708) Boos said the same of a twentieth century specimen and a Mr Hunt, and further trials ordered, in 1680.44 from Trinidad.56

132 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 uine therapeutic virtue as an astringent and bacteri- cide.63 Subsequently, various authors also believed that snakestones were artifi cial but opined that they were composed of other materials. In 1666, French traveller Jean de Th évenot (1633-1667) wrote that snakestones were made from the ashes of burnt roots, mixed with soil from Diu, India;64 this was repeated by John Ov- ington (1653-1731), chaplain with the English East In- dia Company in India, in 1696.65 Th e type of root is not specifi ed; however, it was likely to have been of a plant believed to have particular effi cacy against snakebite. A wide range of Indian plants have been used in the treatment of snakebite, some of which are proven Figure 4. Belgian Blackstone (scale: one width = 1 cm) to have a genuine therapeutic benefi t.66 Ovington not- (Source: Collection of the Devon and Exeter Medical So- ed that the snakestone was a specifi c against snakebite, ciety at St. Nicholas Priory, UK. Author’s photograph) which explains its name;67 this was repeated by French chemist Nicolas Lemery (1645-1715) in the 1714 edi- As the supposed origin of the snakestone from the head tion of Traité Universel de Drogues Simples (Universal of a snake is completely fabricated, is it possible to iden- Treatise of Simple Drugs).68 tify the ‘true’ physical composition of a snakestone? French pharmacist Pierre Pomet (1658-1699) pro- Kircher quoted Boym’s passage in Flora Sinensis, which vided instructions for the manufacture of ones’ own asserted that snakestones were to be found in the head snakestone: of snakes57 and seemed to concede that there was a ‘natural stone’,58 but Kircher also referred three times to the Take French Bezoar, one Ounce; Powder of Toads snakestone as a partly natural or partly artifi cial com- and of the Crayfi sh, prepared in the Month of June, pound, and stated that these manufactured stones were of each half an Ounce; of Seal’d Earth, prepared in equally powerful. Kircher recorded that the manufac- a Decoction of Scorzonera and Contrayerva Roots, tured stones were formed from ‘little crushed stone one Ounce; Mineral Unicorn, one Ounce; reduce fragments from the snakes’ heads, hearts, livers and all these to a fi ne Powder, and make them up into a teeth. Th ese portions are mixed with some special kind Paste with the Jelly of Vipers made with a Decoction of earth’.59 Th e principle of similitude, interestingly, al- of Contrayerva, Snakewood, or Virginian Snakeroot, lows for what appears to be a contradiction to be over- and form it into Troches of the bigness of a French come; even if not of ‘natural’ origin within a snake, a Farthing, and of the same thickness; they may be manufactured compound could be just as eff ective, if made larger or smaller at pleasure, but the Indians 69 it included body-parts of venomous snakes as they generally make them of about this size. would, theoretically, fulfi l the same function. All the ingredients listed by Pomet were considered to Th e use of ‘special earth’ in the snakestones’ manu- have an individual alexipharmic virtue, and thus a con- facture, is interesting; since ancient times, earth and coction would be considered powerful against the rav- clay from certain sources have been considered to have ages of snake venom. medicinal or alexipharmic qualities.60 Whilst earths Th e alternate theory that the snakestone was a be- from India are not categorised by Arthur MacGregor zoar was perhaps logical – the early modern man, being in his survey of sealed medicinal earths, or terra sigil- familiar with the medical use of bezoars, could be ex- lata, it is plausible that the earths from the countries cused for considering that a stone taken from a snake which housed venomous reptiles, such as India, could would simply be a snake bezoar. Bezoars are a tightly have been considered to have alexipharmic properties. compacted undigested material, which usually forms in Maltese earth, Terra Melitensis, was believed to have a the stomach. Due to this manner of generation, a true special effi cacy against snakebite as a consequence of bezoar could not form in the head of a snake. It is, how- the three-month stay of St Paul on the island.61 Lem- ever, possible that a bezoar could have been mistaken nian earth was, from classical times, thought to be ef- for or passed off as a snakestone. Cornish doctor John fective against poisoning and snakebite;62 recent work Davy (1790-1868), brother of the famous chemist Sir has suggested that Lemnian Earth might have had gen- Humphry Davy (1778-1829), performed a chemical

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 133 analysis of three purported snakestones in the early ‘true’ snakestone does not exist. However, a variety of nineteenth century and determined that one was a be- items marketed as snakestones were considered equally zoar.70 ‘genuine’ – manufactured composite stones, charred In 1731, British apothecary and physician Samuel bone and hartshorn, and possibly bezoars. For the users Dale (1659-1739) suggested that snakestones were of a snakestone, its veracity would be proven by its abil- charred hartshorn,71 an opinion shared by British phy- ity to treat a snakebite. Th erefore, each of these could sician Bartholomew Parr (1750-1810) and Alfred Ete- be said to be a ‘true’ or ‘genuine’ snakestone if the bit- son (1832-1910), Deputy Surgeon General in India.72 It ten victim survived following its use. was also theorised that the snakestones were composed of charred bone. Proponents of this theory included John Davy, noted above, whose other two snakestones were bone; scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867);73 and physician and collector Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753).74 Th e identifi cation of the snakestone as charred hartshorn or bone – both comprising hydroxyapatite or hy- drated calcium phosphate – is particularly interesting, as this could explain the confl icting reports of the colour of the snakestones: ‘white in the middle and about the edges blew or greenish’;75 ‘white middle and blue or brown edges’;76 ‘for the greater part, black; but with some ash-colour intermixed’77 and ‘an unpleasant black and white colour’.78 When charred, the colour of the bone or horn varies according to several diff erent factors including the temperature to which it is heated79 Figure 5. Black Stone (scale: one width = 1 cm) (Source: and the animal origins – mammal, bird, fi sh; colours author’s collection) can also vary by species or individual.80 Furthermore, where a snakestone is observed to have a dark colour around its edge and a lighter colour centrally, this can Who valued snakestones and why? be explained with reference to observations on burnt Reconstruction of the distribution of snakestones and human remains. Th e area of delineation between the other medical lithotherapeutics in the seventeenth cen- colours is termed the heat-altered border; the inner sec- tury can, at best, be achieved only in part; however, ex- tion has been altered by indirect heat but has not re- tant sources provide suffi cient indications to allow some ceived suffi cient direct heat to reach the charring conclusions to be drawn about the individuals who stage.81 Th e specimens of snakestone held by the Royal owned, distributed and used snakestones. Anecdotal Pharmaceutical Society, dating from the 1700s, dem- evidence from seventeenth century missionary and onstrate this variation in colour and are likely com- travel literature indicates that, geographically, the posed of charred bone. Snakestones continue to be em- snakestone was in regular use in India and the sur- ployed in developing countries, and modern versions rounding regions. Snakestones were also found in the tend to be manufactured from bone. Th e charity Rural East Indies, in areas frequented by the great shipping Extension with Africa’s Poor (REAP) issued a Teaching organisations of the seventeenth century.86 Sources de- Leafl et in 2018 which provided instructions for the scribe individual specimens obtained locally but are si- making of a ‘Black Stone’ from a fresh bovine thigh lent regarding the class of indigenous people in posses- bone.82 Dr Linnea Smith, writing on fi rst aid in north- sion of snakestones. Several European writers suspected eastern Peru in 2011, indicated that nursing students that they were manufactured by brahmins,87 indicating were similarly required to manufacture a snakestone this caste may have formed and sold snakestones to from bone.83 Th e author owns a modern snakestone lower castes and Europeans. Th e snakestones were said from Bangladesh,84 which was marketed as a ‘Black to be held in high regard; in 1712 Kaempfer wrote: Stone for snakebite’. It has been positively identifi ed as ‘among the Indians it is a crime of unpardonable skep- a section of charred cortical bone (Figure 5).85 ticism to entertain doubts about the virtue of the snake Th e question of what is a ‘true’ snakestone is thus stone against the bite of the cobra’.88 Later nineteenth one which cannot be conclusively answered, due to the century accounts report snakestones in the hands of variety of possibilities. Since origin in the head of a professional ‘snake-catchers’89 or snake charmers.90 In- snake is completely fi ctitious, it could be argued that a digenous owners were reportedly reluctant to part with

134 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 them91 – although this may have been part of a haggling often combined. In the late seventeenth century, con- exercise to infl ate the sale price.92 Europeans living and temporaneous with the works of Boym, Kircher and working in Asia during the seventeenth and eighteenth Redi, snakestones were recorded in the possession of centuries owned snakestones as personal fi rst aid the powerful, to whom they were given as gifts; and the items.93 Ovington went so far as to say ‘Th e Europeans academic, for whom they were of scientifi c potential. for the security of themselves against the danger of Th e relationships between the two were often inter- these serpents, which are everywhere so common in In- twined, as powerful men were often interested in scien- dia, carry always about them one of these stones, fi xt to tifi c matters, and were patrons of individuals and soci- a golden chain, which hangs about their necks’.94 eties: Sir Hans Sloane noted that an experiment on It is also noteworthy that certain Europeans living snakestones was undertaken before King Charles II in the East kept snakestones as part of their personal (1630-1685, reigned 1660-1685) ‘who was a great Lov- collections of curiosities,95 mirroring the fashion at er of such Natural Experiments’.102 Additionally, com- home in Europe. In the west, snakestones were exotic mercial factors would have featured in some motiva- imported items, owned predominantly by virtuosi, tions and should not be overlooked.103 wealthy and educated men who adopted an intentional Robert Boyle (1627-1691) recorded that King attitude of curiosity to the world around them and dis- Charles II, having been told Boyle was experimenting played their collection of unusual and notable objects with poison and its remedies ‘did me ye Honor to send in ‘curiosity cabinets’ or kunstkammern.96 Th e arrange- a virtuoso to me with a couple of snakestone yt have ment of these collections subsequently inspired schol- been lately presented him from Siam with a comand arly investigations into organization and classifi cation [sic] yt I should […] acquaint his Ma[jes]ty with their of the contents.97 Eff ects upon Pullets bitten by vipers.’104 Th is example Snakestones, alongside the vast array of other ‘ex- demonstrates royalty, virtuosi and scholars connected otic’ medicaments arriving in Europe during this pe- with a snakestone in an academic context. Boyle af- riod, were also of interest to natural philosophers and fi rmed the snakestones’ effi cacy to the King, following scientifi c societies. Expanding worldwide horizons were which Queen Catherine requested Boyle undertake ex- key to the scientifi c backdrop of the seventeenth cen- periments with stones received from the King of tury; the arrival of fl ora and fauna from distant coun- Siam,105 thus demonstrating that the snakestones were tries led to an intellectual interest in exotic medica- in the hands of – and transferred between – the high- ments. Scholars such as Francis Bacon (1561-1626) est in society. Medical interest in poisoning by snake- sought to order and systematise the new knowledge be- bite and its treatments has a lengthy history, stretching ing acquired, and the manner of such acquisition; these as far back as antiquity.106 In the seventeenth century, eff orts only grew in scale with the establishment of sci- the topic received new interest, and investigations were entifi c societies.98 Benjamin Schmidt writes: undertaken by Boyle, Redi, Charas, Tyson and Richard Mead MD (1673-1754), amongst others. Each of these the Enlightenment ushered in a grand project of considered the snakestone alongside other purported global expansion and description, whereby the natu- snakebite remedies in the course of their researches.107 ral world in toto was meant to rendered mimetically: Th e snakestone therefore formed part of the ongoing observed, recorded and reproduced in such a man- intellectual discourse on snakebite and its possible ner that Europe would possess, in representative treatments. form at the very least, the non-European world. Th e Medical practitioners incorporated the exotic me- results were intended, furthermore, to be circulated dicaments entering Europe in the seventeenth and and comprehended into European systems of knowl- eighteenth centuries into their repertoires.108 However, edge.99 there is a notable dearth of accounts referencing the practical use of snakestones in Britain outside of intel- Motivations for investigating exotic medicaments were lectual and medical experimentation. Th is may perhaps mixed; Boym, for example, as a missionary, had a reli- be due to there being few native species of venomous gious motivation in travelling to the east, but he also serpents in the country; however, from the sixteenth harboured a personal interest in natural science and century antiquarians began to record folk beliefs and medicine;100 such motivations are also expressed in the remedies.109 Th ese records included reference to ‘native’ works of Kircher. Th ese motivations were not mutually snakestones in the form of annular glass beads or spin- exclusive, as Jesuits sought to serve the sick both altru- dle whorls,110 said to be formed by the breath, spittle or istically and to complement their evangelistic aims.101 mechanical action of snakes. Th ese were used to treat a Similarly, the interests of virtuosi and intellectuals were range of ailments,111 but were chiefl y used against

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 135 snakebite, thus demonstrating the perceived need for a de Rougemont (1624-1676) during his time in eastern snakebite remedy, particularly in more rural areas China, notes a payment to a goldsmith for 4 silver box- where the chance of encountering a snake was much es in which snakestones were to be kept.121 A snakestone greater. Th e scarcity of accounts indicating the practi- was sent as a gift to the fl edgling Royal Society of Lon- cal use of imported snakestones might, therefore, be don by Vernatti, a high-ranking employee of the Dutch explained with reference to the price and specifi c use of East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compag- the snakestone which will be discussed below. nie, or VOC), in Batavia, Indonesia, in 1664. It is pos- Th erefore, snakestones played a role in several areas sible that this item was, alongside other cargo that was of seventeenth century society. In the east they were explicitly forbidden to be traded, smuggled to England likely used by indigenous people, particularly in rural by Vernatti via the English East India Company fl eet.122 areas, as a fi rst aid snakebite remedy. Th ey were popular Th ese examples demonstrate the high-value placed amongst Europeans living in eastern countries for the upon snakestones in the mid-seventeenth century. same purpose, and as curiosities. Snakestones formed a Within a comparatively short period of time, however, part of the gift-giving culture and were conveyed to and snakestones began to freely be traded by merchants. from the highest social classes in Europe and Asia. Such Th e travel writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605- gifts were particularly valued due to the developing Eu- 1689), French gem merchant and traveller, fi rst pub- ropean fashion of kunstkammern which, through rela- lished in 1676, noted ‘you can obtain the [snake]stones tionships of patronage, contributed to the advancement from Portuguese sailors and soldiers on their return of scientifi c and medical knowledge as academic indi- from Mozambique’.123 viduals and societies engaged with analysis and evalu- Establishing the comparative value or worth of his- ation of a virtuoso’s exotic items. torical items is highly problematic.124 Th e following should therefore be considered a very rough guide to Cost and value in the medical market the changing value of the snakestone. Th eir presenta- Th e sale price of snakestones illuminates their changing tion to royalty and nobility in the last decades of the signifi cance in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. seventeenth century suggests that their value was great- It has been demonstrated above that in the closing dec- est at this time. Th e snakestones gifted to mandarins in ades of the seventeenth century, snakestones were gift- 1681, noted above, however, were obtained at a surpris- ed by monarchs.112 More commonly, however, they ingly low price from Manila in the Philippines; there is were gifted by missionaries: Boym gave snakestones to a note of incredulity in the words of the author regard- the Ferdinando II de’ Medici (1621-1670), Grand Duke ing the purchase price: ‘que el año pasado, se vendian of Tuscany;113 Kircher sent them to Augustus II, Duke en Manila a menos de 4 reales … (… “that, so they say, of Brunswick-Luneberg (1579-1666),114 and Jesuits also were sold in Manila last year for less than 4 reales”)’.125 introduced them to the courts of the Holy Roman Em- Using an analysis of currency exchange from 1632,126 a peror in Vienna.115 Additionally, Jesuit missionaries in- real was worth 5 Dutch stuivers. Th us, a cost of 4 reals troduced their purported medical knowledge of the was equivalent to 20 stuivers or one Dutch guilder, two- snakestones to Chinese Emperors in Beijing in the sev- fi fths of a Dutch rix-dollar rijksdaalder( ). Th e daily enteenth century;116 although, as we have seen from wage of an unskilled labourer in Batavia, Java, in 1680 Boym’s account, snakestones appeared to be in use in was approximately one guilder.127 On this basis, the southern regions of China prior to their presentation to snakestones would have cost the daily wage of an un- the Chinese court.117 In 1681, 24 snakestones were giv- skilled labourer – a low sum indeed. Th is suggests that, en to Chinese mandarins (‘scholar-offi cials’, politicians at the dawn of renewed European interest in the snake- and government offi cials) by Jesuit missionaries.118 stones, they were indeed relatively inexpensive, and Th ere is evidence, however, that snakestones were part likely of lesser monetary value to native Filipinos than of the gift giving culture in the east prior to Boym; Mu- to Europeans. For comparison, a labourer in London, zaff ar Husain Mirza, son of Sultan Husayn Bayqara England would have earned on average 20 pence per Mirza (1438-1506, reigned 1469-1506), from the Kand- day in the same decade,128 just under two shillings or har region of India, presented a snakestone to the one Dutch guilder.129 Had these snakestones been sold Mughal Emperor, Akbar I (Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din at the same price in England, rather than Manila, they Muhammad A kbar, 1542-1605, reigned 1556-1605).119 would have cost approximately a single day’s wage for Boyle noted that some snakestones were ‘prisd [sic] as a labourer. jewels even by great persons’,120 and there is evidence Details of the cost of a snakestone between 1681 and that snakestones were treated as such: an account book 1749 have not been discovered; however, English natu- for the years 1674-6, kept by Jesuit missionary François ralist and physician Samuel Dale (1659-1739) stated

136 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 in 1739 that the snakestone of Manila had once been tion140 - and a wide range of other ailments. Treatment expensive but was at that time sold cheaply.130 In 1749- by bezoar was rendered by scrapings being taken, pow- 50, Sir Hans Sloane advised that he had earlier pur- dered and suspended in liquids which were imbibed.141 chased a broken snakestone via Dr John Bateman (un- In 1625, eastern bezoar (‘the best’) sold for 6 shillings known-1728), former President of the Royal College of per grain,142 and western bezoar (‘the worst’) 4 shillings Physicians of London, for 5 guineas – approximately 10 per grain.143 Peter Borschberg has detailed how bezoar guilders, or 4 rix-dollars. Th is demonstrated a signifi - was valued by the rich and powerful, and explored the cant increase on the cost reported in 1681. Th e daily features which aff ected the price of a bezoar.144 A mon- wage of a labourer in London had risen to an average key bezoar, one of the rarest and most valuable, weighed of 24 pence per day by the 1720s,131 thus the snakestone between 4 and 5 grams, and is quoted as costing over would have cost the equivalent of 10 full days’ wages. 199 écus,145 roughly 40 rix-dollars. In 1698, porcupine A snakestone was listed in the will of Cape Gover- bezoars were sold for between 135 and 275 guilders (54 nor Louis Van Assenburgh132 (1660-1712) indicating it to 110 rix-dollars).146 Th eriac, often called ‘treacle’ in held signifi cant value to the owner. In the Cape of English, was composed of 73 ingredients, including vi- Good Hope at the end of the eighteenth century, Piet- pers’ fl esh, and became known as the ‘universal anti- er du Preez (c. 1748-1829) sold a snakestone for 10 rix- dote’ (Figure 6).147 dollars.133 In 1772, Swedish naturalist Carl Th unberg (1743-1828), encountering snakestones at the Cape of Good Hope in Africa advised their cost was 10-12 rix- dollars each;134 this price was high – the equivalent of 25-30 days wages for a labourer135 - and unaff ordable for rural farmers136 who would have had most need for a fi rst aid treatment for snakebite. Interestingly, the same author writing just fi ve years later in 1777 from Colombo, Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), noted that he bought a quantity of snakestones in order to learn how they were prepared. He paid well for the fi rst samples, but once he ceased buying and other purchasers became scarce, he ‘procured them a very cheap bargain; insomuch that I was afterwards enabled, on my arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, to let my friends have them at a rix-dollar a piece’.137 An anonymous author writing in 1834 noted snakestones could be purchased in India for a rupee or half a rupee each.138 Th e East India Table of Exchange for Cal- cutta customs in 1825 indicates that a rix-dollar was Figure 6. Woodcut depicting the making of theriac troch- worth 14 annas, or 14 sixteenths of a rupee;139 thus, it es from serpents. (Source: Th ree woodcuts, Folio 39 recto. could be suggested that snakestones were selling for 1536. Wellcome Collection, London) roughly half to one rix-dollar at this time. It is therefore clear, particularly from Th unberg’s reports, that there It was imbibed with water or wine, and also used topi- was signifi cant regional variation in the price of snake- cally.148 Th eriac could be bought for between 1 and 6 stones. Broadly speaking, it appears that snakestones shillings per dragma (an eighth of an ounce), depend- were initially inexpensive to purchase in 1681 but being upon the sort.149 Th e practical aff ordability of such came highly valued by Europeans – this led to signifi - remedies was, of course, dependent upon the station of cant increase in their cost in the late seventeenth cen- the purchaser. Th e Earl and Countess of Bath, for ex- tury, which declined towards the end of the eighteenth ample, averaged an expenditure of 11 shillings and century, but not so far as to match the low prices seen 8 pence (equivalent to just over 2 rix-dollars) per year in 1681. on medicine in 1639-55, but another 25 pounds 14 shil- Th e practical aff ordability of a snakestone to a pur- lings and 3 pence (roughly 102 rix-dollars) to apothe- chaser was a further complicated matter. Th e European caries.150 Th us, a theoretical purchase of a single bezoar market off ered a variety of alternative alexipharmic would have accounted for a signifi cant proportion of remedies. Bezoars were regarded as highly eff ective the earl’s households’ annual medicinal expenditure; against poison – possibly with some degree of justifi ca- however, a whole bezoar was unnecessary, as small

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 137 amounts could be purchased for treatment. Th is con- thence into Europe from the seventeenth century. trasted with the snakestone, which needed to be applied Th ere are reports of their use in Africa following intro- as a single unit. Th us, although the snakestone would duction by seventeenth century merchant shipping be cheaper to purchase than a bezoar, the quantity of companies such as the Dutch East India Company,152 bezoar needed for treatment was small, and could be which established factories in Africa and the Far East. purchased by weight, making it a more cost-eff ective Snakestones reached North America by the 1740s, option. when ‘Chinese snakestones’ were advertised for sale in Snakestones became mercantile commodities and a the broadsheets.153 Due to greater abundance of ven- consideration of the manner and means of transmission omous snakes, Americans used a variety of snakeroots highlights the development of trade in these items, be- and other alexipharmic materials in the treatment of ing conveyed to Europe fi rst by missionaries and trav- snakebite. By the nineteenth century the snakestone ellers, then via merchants. Th e motives of those trans- was absorbed into the pantheon of items termed ‘mad- mitting snakestones were often a combination of stones’, which were used to cure envenomization by curiosity, mercantile and academic considerations. Th e snakebite and rabies from the bite of a dog.154 Mad- cost of purchased snakestones varied geographically stones, no matter their composition, were employed and over time. However, broadly speaking, the cost of topically and thought to operate by absorbing the poi- a snakestone was highest in the late seventeenth cen- son from the bite.155 tury, becoming lower during the eighteenth century. Transmission of snakestones continued into the ear- Th e practical medical need for a snakestone in Britain ly twentieth century; they were said to be introduced would have been low: snakestones were principally used to Trinidad by Roman Catholic Father Ambrose Vinck- topically as a fi rst aid treatment for snakebite, and prev- ier who arrived from Brazil in 1921.156 He employed his alence of local venomous snakes is very limited. In ad- knowledge of snakestones formed from deer antler in dition, particularly in rural areas, there already existed Brazil to manufacture his own from cow bone, which native folk remedies for snakebite, and even a native was marketed through stores in Port-of-Spain. Th e sub- ‘snakestone’ mythology. Snakestones therefore did not stance became known in Trinidad as the Belgian Black- fi ll a practical therapeutic need in English society. Ad- stone, after the nationality of its manufacturer and its ditionally, snakestones were used for a single purpose, appearance.157 Th e lore surrounding the Belgian Black- whereas bezoar and theriac were used against a wide stone omits serpents entirely; the stone was used topi- range of ailments, making them a much more versatile cally, in exactly the same manner as a snakestone, in treatment. While bezoar and theriac could be pur- the treatment of snakebite, as well as for neuralgia, ul- chased in small quantities, a snakestone was applied cers, swollenness, abscesses and a variety of bites and topically to a wound as a single unit and thus expendi- stings.158 Th e collection of the Devon & Exeter Medical ture on a single expensive item would have been re- Society includes a Belgian Blackstone, formed of quired. Snakestones were therefore a less practical charred bone (Figure 4). In an interesting parallel, it choice for day-to-day treatment due to their cost and has recently been highlighted that Spaniard Pau Es- the limitations of their use in British society. Th ey were torch i Siqués (1805-1871) marketed and sought to pop- thus unlikely to have been freely traded via apothecar- ularise the pedra escurçonera (anti-venomous stone), ies and other medical practitioners – in contrast to the composed of deer horn, as a treatment for a wide range trend of adopting imported medicines in this period.151 of ailments.159 He claimed it as his own ‘discovery’, Snakestones were predominantly kept as curios by the through the virtue of observing a supposedly successful rich and powerful, and experimented upon by natural treatment using the stone in a Pyrenees village, and philosophers with an interest in envenomization and its named his marketed treatment eponymously as ‘the Es- possible cure. torch method’.160 Contemporary academics in Paris immediately recognised the substance as similar to that A glance at the modern era recorded by Redi and were dismissive of Siqués, but Snakestones and their associated medical lore were ul- nevertheless sale of his treatment appears to have been timately transmitted across the world – a full examina- successful and profi table.161 Perhaps most astonishingly, tion of how and when this occurred is beyond the a 1977 Sri Lankan pamphlet about the ‘wonder stone’ scope of this paper. However, the pervasiveness and which sticks to the site of a snakebite relates a story persistence of snakestone medical mythology is strik- highly similar to that of Father Vinckier; it contends ing and bears highlighting. As has been demonstrated, that the composition of the snakestone was gleaned by snakestones were transmitted probably from India into a Catholic Missionary in Brazil from a native tribe, and China and throughout the wider Asian continent, and passed to residents in Sri Lanka who maintain its

138 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 secret.162 It would seem that the island once famous for Suction – via any means – to extract venom from a its ‘Ceylonese snakestone’ from the head of a snake now snakebite has been discredited as a form of treatment.167 has an alternative origin legend, and ironically, one of Experiments undertaken using mechanical suction importation.163 mechanisms have demonstrated that suction devices ex- Th is demonstrates the wide geographical distribu- tract a clinically insignifi cant percentage of venom, de- tion of snakestones and their medical lore, as well as the spite a signifi cant volume of bodily fl uid being drawn continued tenacity of popular medicine. Snakestones from the wound.168 It must therefore be considered remained and continue to remain in popular use, their whether the snakestone could, in fact, extract liquid legend propagated through anecdotal evidence. It is from a wound. Belgian sinologist and philosopher, Ul- also demonstrated that even in areas such as Spain and rich Libbrecht (1928-2017), in the course of his work Sri Lanka, the snakestone could be ‘rediscovered’ and on the introduction of snakestones to China, deter- old medical legends reinvigorated. mined that a snakestone could hold up to 25% of its own weight in liquid.169 Snakestones, however, are very Eff ectiveness light; those held by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society A composite snakestone has been neither located, nor weigh 3 grams each, and the author’s example weighs tested. However, both charred bone and hartshorn ev- only 6 grams. Th us, a minimal amount of liquid could idence the peculiar adhesion to a puncture site, which be extracted by the stone through its capillary action of is a key feature of snakestone operation. Even where the which a tiny proportion – optimistically as much as bone comes from the cortical part of the long bone 2%, based on the experiments undertaken on mechan- rather than the more spongy medullary haversian bone, ical suction devices – could theoretically be venom.170 it is porous, so assuming fl uids such as blood, tissue Th erapeutically, this would be entirely redundant. In fl uid or pus are present at the site of the injury, the addition, application of the stone to the skin, even im- stones adhere to the skin. Th ey remain attached and the mediately following the bite, could only absorb proxi- limb can be moved, even to the point that the snake- mate fl uids, and would do very little to absorb venom stone is upside down, and it will not fall off . Th e stone from deep in the tissues – particularly given the rapid sticks to the skin by adsorbing some of the superfi cial diff usion of venom throughout the body.171 Plus, the fl uids by capillarity. Th e strength of adhesion was once curvature of the fangs can deliver the snake’s venom tested by an interested observer, American Colonel deeply to an area not directly beneath the bite marks172 Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), in the late nineteenth and, due to the movement of tissues, with no open path century: back to the surface (Figure 7).173 Th e therapeutic value of the stone to treat snakebite is thus so negligible as to My curiosity being excited by seeing how it [the be non-existent. snakestone] stuck to the man’s hand, I asked him to Th ere is enormous biodiversity of venomous ser- let me take hold of it. He consenting, I did so, and pents worldwide, whose toxins – and thus their opera- found that its adhesion was so strong that the whole tion and eff ects – vary, both between and even within skin on the back of the hand rose when I pulled the species.174 Identifi cation of the snake is vital in cases of ‘stone’; we could all see that plainly enough.164 snakebite in order that the correct antivenom can be administered. It is unlikely, therefore, that the snake- It was claimed that, while adhering to a wound, the stone would be an eff ective treatment for poisoning by snakestone extracted the venom administered via a such a wide potential range of serpents; even consider- snakebite. It was said to cling until it had either extracting India in isolation there are 270 species of snake, 60 ed all the venom, or until it was full, when it would de- of which are venomous, 4 of which are common.175 Fur- tach. A colourful description is given by Ovington: ‘Th e thermore, each individual snakebite is unique, and the stone cures by the application of it to the part invemon’d, eff ects vary according to the individual characteristics to which it immediately sticks fast, and by its powerful of the snake, the victim, and the location, circumstanc- attraction sucks back the infuse’d venom ‘till its pores es and characteristics of the bite. According to the are full. Th en like a glutted horse-leach it falls off ’.165 World Health Organisation, approximately 600 species Ovington’s account suggests operation by sympathetic of snake are venomous and 50-70% of bites by those action, whereby the venom is drawn to the stone as both species cause envenomization.176 Th us, not all bites, were thought to be of ophidian origin. However, despite even by venomous snakes, would be fatal. Th e fame of proponents such as Kircher, the idea of sympathetic at- the snakestone owes much to anecdotal accounts of suc- traction in medicine was questioned and largely reject- cess, and it is likely that where treatment with a snake- ed in the seventeenth century.166 stone was said to be successful, the victim would have

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 139 Figure 7. Head of a snake, with mouth wide open and tongue protruding, together with an il- lustration of a viper’s fang. Chromolithograph, 1877. (Source: Wellcome Collection, London) been fortunate enough to have experienced a combina- irreconcilable diff erences in their conclusions were a tion of factors which rendered the bite itself non-fatal. microcosm of those held by natural philosophers across Th e application of the snakestone was irrelevant to their Europe. recovery, it being incapable of specifi cally attracting Snakestones formed part of the gift-giving culture venom, and its minimal effi cacy as a suction device – in the late seventeenth century and were bestowed upon itself an ineff ective method of treatment. Th e fact that the wealthy and powerful. Such persons often patron- a patient survived following application of the snake- ised scholarly individuals and establishments, allowing stone was frequently misinterpreted as proof of its sup- the barrier between a virtuosi’s kunstkammer and the posed power. Reliance upon the snakestone instead of scholar’s workshop to be permeated and demonstrating seeking antivenom at a hospital was to risk a graver out- a combination of motivations: snakestones were valued come.177 by both the infl uential and the scientifi c for their curiosity value, and potential academic value. Th ey were Conclusion also signifi cant in the mercantile sphere, and the trade Considering the signifi cance of snakestones in early in snakestones developed from occasional gift from an modern society enriches our understanding of this era individual traveller, to a more widely traded commod- and the place of an individual pharmaceutical item ity. within it. Th e unexpected resurgence of interest in Th e changing monetary cost of the snakestone is snakestones itself allows us to consider the impact of subject to regional variations but can be broadly said to the expanding horizons of the seventeenth century and peak in the late seventeenth century, as it was ‘reintro- the imported products and medicines on diff erent sec- duced’ into Europe, declining into the eighteenth and tions of society. As one of many new and exotic reme- nineteenth centuries. Despite the furore over snake- dies, the snakestones were subjected to empirical trials stones in scientifi c circles, the practical impact of the seeking to prove the truth or otherwise of their medical snakestone into the British medical market was mini- effectiveness, although a firm consensus was not mal; the cost of the snakestone was too high, and its reached. Th e works of Kircher and Redi were highly availability as a single unit for a single purpose was too regarded by contemporary and later authors, and the restrictive to be of benefi t to the average person.

140 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 Remedies such as bezoar and theriac could be pur- 6. Kitchell Jr, KJ. Animals in the Ancient World from A to chased in much smaller quantities to treat a wider va- Z. Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2014: ‘Hydrus’, unnum- bered page. riety of ailments, making them a more aff ordable and 7. Kitchell, Jr, KJ. (Note 6) 2014: ‘Hydrus’. versatile alternative. 8. Bovey, A. Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manu- Snakestones could have been manufactured in dif- scripts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002: 22. ferent ways, and the lack of a positively identifi ed com- 9. Bovey, A. (Note 8) 2002: 22. 10. Pymm, R. (Note 2) 2017: 169. posite material is intriguing. Th e fame of the snakestone 11. Van Tuyl, CD. (trans). Athanasius Kircher: China illus- owed much to anecdotal evidence, which held the mis- trata, Oklahoma: Indiana University Press, 1987: 73. taken underlying assumption that that bites from ser- 12. See for example: Siraisi, N. Medicine, 1450-1620, and pents would always be fatal, as well as the medical phil- the History of Science. Isis. 2012: 103(3); 491-514, at 449-500. osophical principle of similitude. As natural 13. Ragland, ER. ‘Making Trials’ in Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century European Academic Medicine. Isis. 2017: philosophers wrestled with the snakestone they wres- 108(3); 503-28 at 511-20 and 525-6. tled with these beliefs, challenging accepted wisdom 14. Libbrecht, U. Introduction of the Lapis Serpentinus into and advancing knowledge in these areas. Th e actual China, A Study of the Hsi-tu-shih of F. Verbiest. Orientalia Lo- therapeutic value of a snakestone in terms of its ability vaniensia Periodica. 1987: 18; 209-237, at 217. 15. Hosten, H. Jesuit missionaries in Northern India and In- to treat snakebite is practically non-existent, yet its on- scriptions on their Tombs, Agra (1580-1803). Calcutta: Orphan going dissemination even into recent decades demon- Press, 1907: 31-2; Baldwin, M. Th e Snakestone Experiments: An strates the tenacity of popular belief in the face of phil- Early Modern Medical Debate. Isis. 1995: 86(3); 394-416, at osophical and scientifi c advancement. As a lens into the 398, footnote 8. 16. Van Tuyl, CD (Note 11) 1987: 73. complexities of early modern society, medical thought, 17. Van Tuyl, CD (Note 11) 1987: 73. Note that Roth’s and medical practice, however, the snakestone off ers short work Relatio rerum natabilium regni Mogor in Asia (1668) insights into fascinating byways. does not refer to snakestones; see note by Libbrecht, U. (Note 14) 1987: 218, footnote 36. 18. Van Tuyl, CD (Note 11) 1987: 73. Author’s address: Rachael Pymm, independent re- 19. Van Tuyl, CD (Note 11) 1987: 73. searcher, 4 Beechtree Avenue, Englefi eld Green, Egham, 20. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 400. Surrey, TW20 0SR. 21. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 400. 22. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 400. Email: [email protected]. 23. Beekman, EM. Th e Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999: 340. 24. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 400-3, especially 403. Endnotes and References 25. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 401. 1. Blaen, T. ‘Not used to be worn as a jewel’: Th e wearing 26. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 403-4. of precious stones in early modern England – ornaments or med- 27. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 406-410. icine? In Duffi n, CJ., Gardner-Th orpe, C. and Moody, RTJ. 28. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 405. (eds). Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections. London: Ge- 29. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 405, note 21. ological Society, London. Special Publications, 2017: 452; 261- 30. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 405, note 21. 265, esp. 264-5. 31. Tachenius, O. Estratto d’una lettera del Sig. Tachenio 2. Pymm, R. Serpent stones: myth and medical applica- professore di Chimica, al Prencipe Giouanni Federico Duca di tion. In Duffi n, CJ, Gardner-Th orpe, C and Moody, RTJ (eds). Brunsuuic, e Lunebourg intorno all’esperienza fatta in Venetia Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections. London: Geologi- d’una pietra che guarisce le morsicature de’ Serpenti. Delli 17. cal Society, London. Special Publications, 2017: 452; 163-80. Aprile. Giornali de Letterati: dall’anno 1668 fi no all’anno 1675. 3. Pymm, R. (Note 2) 2017: 163-80, especially 163-4. Rome: Per il Tinassi, 1676: 143-4. 32. W, J. (translator). Otto Tachenius his Hippocrates chymi- 4. Duffi n, CJ. Fish otoliths and folklore: a survey. Folklore. cus discovering the ancient foundation of the late viperine salt with 2007a; 118: 78-90; Duffi n, CJ. Alectorius: Th e cock’s stone. his Clavis thereunto annexed. London: W. Marshall at the Bible Folklore. 2007b: 118; 325-41; Duffi n, CJ. Th e Toadstone: a rath- in Newgate Street, 1690: 108. er unlikely jewel. Jewellery History Today. 2010: 8; 3-4; Duffi n, 33. W, J. (Note 32) 1690: 108. CJ. A survey of birds and fabulous stones. Folklore. 2012: 123; 34. Bocci, C and Ptak, R. Th e Animal Section in Boym’s 179-97; Duffi n, CJ. Porcupine stones. Pharmaceutical Historian. (1612-1659) “Flora Sinensis”: Portentous Creatures, Healing 2013a: 43; 13-22; Duffi n, CJ. Chelidonius: the swallow stone. Stones, Venoms, and Other Curiosities. Monumenta Serica. Folklore. 2013b: 123; 81-103. 2011: 59; 353-81, at 374. 5. Anon. Th e Magick of Kirani, King of Persia, and of Har- 35. W. J. (Note 32) 1690: 108. pocration containing the magical and medicinal vertues of stones, 36. Anon. Esperienze fatte in Vienna delle Pietre serpentine, herbes, fi shes, beasts, and birds: a work much sought for by the di cui si parlò ne due Giornali precedenti. Di ordine di Sua learned by seen by few : said to have been in the Vatican-Library in Maestà Cesarea, si fecero quest’esperieze à noi somministrate dal Rome but not to be found there nor in all the famous libraries of the P.Kircher, che ne fù auuiſato cò lettere. Giornali de Letterati: empire / now published and translated into English from a copy dall’anno 1668 fi no all’anno 1675. Rome: Per il Tinassi, 1676: found in a private hand. London, 1685: 151-2. 171.

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 141 37. Anon. (Note 36) 1676: 171-3. 61. MacGregor, A. (Note 60) 2013: 121-3; Duffi n, CJ. 38. Charas, M. Nouvelles expériences sur la vipere. Paris: Ol- Snakes’ tongues, Serpents’ eyes and sealed earths: Geology and ivier de Varennes, 1669; Charas, M. New experiments upon vipers Medicine in Malta. Occasional Papers of the St John Historical containing also an exact description of all the parts of a viper, the Society, 2019: 1-16, at 7-8. seat of its poison, and the several eff ects thereof, together with the 62. Photos-Jones, E and Hall, AJ. Lemnian Earth, Alum exquisite remedies, that by the skillful may be drawn from vipers, and Astringency. In Michaelides, D. (ed) Medicine and Healing as well for the cure of their bitings, as for that of other maladies. in the Ancient Medieterranean. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2014: London: Printed by T.N. for J. Martyn, 1670. 183-189. 39. See Catellani P. and Console, R. Moyse Charas, Franc- 63. Photos-Jones, E. and Hall, AJ. (Note 62) 2014: 189. esco Redi, the Viper and the Royal Society of London. Pharma- 64. Th evenot, Jean de. Les Voyages aux Indes Orientales. Par- ceutical Historian. 2004: 34(1); 2-10. is: Editions Champion, 2008: 100. 40. Charas, M. (Note 38) 1670: 100-1. 65. Ovington, J. A Voyage to Suratt. London: Jacob Tonson, 41. Charas, M. (Note 38) 1670: 101. 1696: 261. 42. Birch, T. Th e History of the Royal Society of London. 66. See for example: Samy, PR., Thwin, MM., Go- Vol. 1. London: A. Millar in the Strand, 1756: 454; Royal Soci- palakrishnakrone P. and Ignacimuthu, S. Ethnobotanical survey ety Archives, London, Cl.P/19/9; Royal Society Archives, Lon- of folk plants for the treatment of snakebites in Southern part of don, RBO/3/17; British Library, London, BL Sloane MS 3959. Tamilnadu, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2008; 115:2: 43. Birch, T. Th e History of the Royal Society of London. 302-12, which considers 72 medicinal plants used for the treat- Vol. 4. London: A. Millar in the Strand, 1757: 178. ment of snakebite in the southern Tamilnadu region – some of 44. Birch, T. (Note 43) 1757: 39. which were found to have a neutralising eff ect against snake 45. Byron, John. Narrative of the Honourable John Byron. venom. Vol. 14. Edinburgh: James Ballantyne & Co, 1812: 178-9; 67. Ovington, J. (Note 65) 1696: 261. “In the seventeenth Stöcklein, J. and Probst P. (eds.) Allerhand so lehr- als geist-reiche century ‘specifi c’ became associated with a small group of rela- Brief, Schriften und Reis-Beschreibungen : welche von denen Mis- tively new drugs the action of which could not be explained by sionariis der Gesellschaft Jesu aus beyden Indien und andern über the theory of the evacuation of morbid humours”, Earles, MP. Meer gelegenen Ländern, seit An. 1642. bis auf das Jahr 1726. in Early theories on the mode of action of drugs and poisons. An- Europa angelangt seynd. Augspurg und Grätz: In Verlag Philips, nals of Science, 1961: 17(2); 97-110, at 98. Martins, und Joh. Veith seel. Erben, Buchhändlern, 1726: 68. Lemery, N. Traite Universel de Drogues Simples. Second No. 187; De Verteuil, A. Scientifi c Sorties. Port-of-Spain, Trini- Edition. Paris: Chez Laurent d’Houry, Imprimeur-Libraire, au dad: Th e Litho Press, 1993: 7-10. bas de la rue de la Harpe, vis-à-vis la rue S. Severin, au St Esprit, 46. De Verteuil, A. (Note 45) 1993: 5-7. 1714: 462-3. 47. Grew, N. Musaeum Regalis Societatis or a Catalogue and 69. Pomet, P. A Complete History of Drugs. Fourth Edition. Description of the Natural and Artifi cial Rarities belonging to the London: printed for J. and J. Bonwicke, S. Birt, W. Parker, C. Royal Society and preserved at Gresham College. London: W. Raw- Hitch and E. Wicksteed, 1748: Appendix, 199. lins, 1682: 52. 70. Davy, J. Analysis of the Snake-Stone. Asiatick Research- 48. Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, RW. Exotic antidotes in sev- es; or Transactions of the Society, Instituted in Begal, for enquiring enteenth century Asia: two essays from the Amoenitatium ex- oticarum of Engelbert Kaempfer. Clio medica, 1980: 14; 129- into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature 140, at 139. of Asia. 1820: 13; 317-28, esp. 319. 49. Grew, N. (Note 47) 1682: 52; Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 71. Dalei, S. Pharmacologia, seu Manuductio ad Materiam 1987: 73. Medicam. Indice Gallico Germanico Belgio: John Arnold, 1739: 50. Eteson, A. Th e Snake-Stone, Indian Medical Gazette. 431. 1876: 1 December; 309-13. 72. Parr, B. Th e London Medical Dictionary. London: 1809: 51. Ball, V. (ed) and Crooke, W. (trans), Travels in India by 467; Eteson, A. (Note 50) 1876: 309. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Baron of Aubonne, vol. 2. London: Ox- 73. Tennent, Sir JE. Ceylon, An Account of the Island, Phys- ford University Press, 1925: 120; Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, ical, Historical and Topographical, with Notices of its Natural His- RW. (Note 48) 1980: 139. tory, Antiquities and Productions. Vol. 1. London: Longman, 52. Eteson, A. (Note 50) 1876: 309-13; Grew, N. (Note 47) Green, Longman & Roberts, 1859: 199-200. 1682: 52. 74. Sloane, H. A Letter from Sir Hans Sloane Baronet, Late 53. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73; Ball, V. and Crooke, Pr R S to Martin Folkes Esquire Pr R S Containing Accounts of W. (Note 51) 1908: 120; Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, RW. (Note the Pretended Serpent-Stone Called Pietra de Cobra de Cabelos, 48) 1980: 139. and of the Pietra de Mombazza or the Rhinoceros Bezoar, To- 54. Grew, N. (Note 47) 1682: 52. gether with the Figure of a Rhinoceros with a Double Horn. Phil- 55. Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, RW. (Note 48) 1980: 139. osophical Transactions (1683-1775). 1749-1750: 46; 118-25 at 122. 56. Boos, HA. Th e Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas: 75. Anon. On the Nature of a Certain Stone, Found in the AM University Press, 2001: 194. Indies, in the Head of a Serpent. Philosophical Transactions 57. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73. (1665-1678). Vol. 1. London: Royal Society, 1665-6: 102-3. 58. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73. 76. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73. 59. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73; see also Baldwin, M. 77. Grew, N. (Note 47) 1682: 52. (Note 15) 1995: 398. 78. Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, RW. (Note 48) 1980: 139. 60. MacGregor, A. Medicinal terra sigillata: a historical, 79. Shipman, P., Foster, G. and Schoeninger, M. Burnt geographical and typological review. In Duffi n, CJ, Moody, RTJ Bones and Teeth: an Experimental Study of Color, Morphology, and Gardner-Th orpe, C (eds). A History of Geology and Medicine. Crystal Structure and Shrinkage. Journal of Archaeological Sci- London: Geological Society, London, 2013: 113-136, at 113. ence, 1984: 11; 311-14.

142 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 80. Ellingham, STD., Th ompson, TJU., Islam, M. and Tay- of-the-society-of-jesus-5550. Additionally, knowledge of local lor, G. Estimating temperature exposure of burnt bone – a meth- medicine would be likely to help ensure the health of Jesuits in odological review. Science and Justice, 2015: 55; 181-8, at 182. non-native surroundings. 81. Schmidt, CW. and Symes, SA. (eds.) Th e Analysis of 102. Sloane, H. (Note 74) 1749-1750: 121-2. Burned Human Remains, Second Edition. London: Academic 103. Chakrabarti, P. Medicine and Empire: 1600-1960. Press, 2015: 37-8. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014: 7. 82. Black Stone - REAP Teaching Leafl et #29, [Internet] – 104. Royal Society Archives, London. Robert Boyle note- [cited 2019 27 May]. Available from: https://reap-eastafrica.org/ book. 1689-90. MS/189, RB/2/20/9, folio 15v. Th e notebook has wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Black-Stone.pdf. been dated 1689-90, but this entry clearly refers to King Charles 83. Smith, L. Piedra Negra. Eye On Health. 2001: 7-8, at 8. II and Queen Catherine, thus the experiments must have been 84. Acquired from Bangladesh via eBay in 2019. made prior to the King’s death in 1685. 85. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr CJ. Duf- 105. Royal Society Archives (Note 104) 1689-90, folio 16r- fi n in identifying the specimen. 17r. Based on the regnal years of the English and Siamese (Ayut- 86. Sri Lanka / Ceylon: Beekman, EM. (Note 23) 1999: thaya Kingdom) monarchs, the snakestone was most likely sent 340. Philippines: Stöcklein, J. and Probst, P. (Note 45) 1726: by Somdet Phra Narai the Great (Ramathibodi III, 1633-1688, No. 187; Shaw, P. (ed) Th e Philosophical Words of the Honourable reigned 1656-1688), of the Prasat Th ong dynasty. Robert Boyle, Esq. Vol. 3. London: W. Innys and R. Manby, at 106. See for example: Mead, R. A Mechanical Account of the West-End of St Paul’s; and T. Longman, in Pater-Noster Poisons in Several Essays. London: Printed by R. F. for Ralph Row, 1725: 593. Smith, at the Bible, under the Piazza’s of the Royal Exchange, 87. Ball, V. and Crooke, W (Note 51) 1925: 120; Bowers, Cornhill, 1702: 1-5; Walker-Meikle, K. Animal Venoms in the JZ. and Carrubba, RW. (Note 48) 1980: 137. Middle Ages. In Wexler, P. (ed) Toxicology in the Middle Ages and 88. Bowers, JZ. and Carrubba, RW. (Note 48) 1980: 138. Renaissance. London and San Diego, Academic Press, 2017: 151- 89. Chambers, W. (ed) Th e Indian Cobra. Chambers’s Jour- 8, at 152-6. nal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts, 1876: 678; 822-5. 107. Boyle: Royal Society Archives (Note 104) 1689-90: 90. Olcott, HS. Old Diary Leaves 1878-83. Cambridge Uni- 15v-17r. Redi: Redi, F. Esperienze intorno a diverse cose naturali versity Press, 2011: 84-5. e particolarmente a quelle che ci son portate dall’Indie fatte da 91. Chambers, W. (Note 89) 1876: 824. Francesco Redi e scritte in una lettera al Reverendissimo Padre 92. Olcott, HS. (Note 90) 2011: 88. Atanasio Chircher della Compagnia de Giesai. Firenze: per Piero 93. A personal snakestone used by the Archbishop of Goa Matini all’ ids. Del Leoue, 1686. Charas, M. (Note 38) 1670. to treat one of his bearers: Ball, V. and Crooke, W. (Note 51) Tyson: Tyson, E. Vipera Caudi-Sona Americana, Or the Anat- 1925: 120-1. Servant cured by a snakestone in the possession of omy of a Rattle-snake, Dissected at the Repository of the Royal an English merchant in India: Ovington, JA. (Note 65) 1696: Society in January 1682. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal 260-1. Society. 1683: 13; 25-46, at 49-51. Mead: Mead, R. (Note 106) 94. Ovington, JA. (Note 65) 1696: 262-3. 1702. 95. For example, the Archbishop of Goa kept a snakestone 108. See Schmidt, B (Note 99) 2007: 145. in his museum of curiosities, which he also made use of when 109. Pymm, R. Snakestone Bead Folklore. Folklore. 2018; one of his bearers was bitten by a snake; Ball, V. and Crooke, W. 129(4): 397-419 at 402; Britten, J. (ed). Remaines of Gentilisme (Note 51) 1925: 120. and Judaisme by John Aubrey R.S.S. London: W. Satchell, Peyton 96. Swann, M. Curiosities and Texts: Th e Culture of Collect- & Co., 1881: 68; Dorson, RM. Th e British Folklorists: A History. ing in Early Modern England. Philadelphia: University of Penn- Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968: 6. sylvania Press, 2001: 76-8. 110. Pymm, R. (Note 109) 2018, especially 398. 97. Davenne, C. Cabinets of Wonder. Translated by N. El- 111. Pymm, R. ‘A charm to impose on the vulgar’: the me- liott. New York: Abrams, 2012: 13-16. For further discussion of dicinal and magical applications of the snakestone bead within Curiosity Cabinets see also: Mauries, P. Cabinets of Curiosities. the British Isles. In Duffi n, CJ, Gardner-Th orpe, C and Moody, London: Th ames & Hudson, 2013. RTJ (eds). Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections. London: 98. Schickore, J. About Method: Experimenters, Snake Venom Geological Society, London. Special Publications, 2017: 452; and the History of Writing Scientifi cally. Chicago and London: 181-94. Th e University of Chicago Press, 2017: 11. 112. Royal Society Archives (Note 104) 1689-90: folio 16r- 99. Schmidt, B. ’Imperfect Chaos’: Tropical Medicine and 17r. Exotic Natural History c. 1700. In Grell, OP. and Cunningham, 113. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 396, note 3. A. (eds.) Medicine and Religion in Enlightenment Europe. Alder- 114. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 397, note 6. shot: Ashgate, 2007: 145-173 at 145. 115. Baldwin, M. (Note 15) 1995: 397. 100. Bocci, C. and Ptak, R. (Note 34) 2011: 355. 116. Libbrecht U. (Note 14) 1987: 212-13. 101. A translated extract of the papal bull Exposcit Debitum 117. Van Tuyl, CD. (Note 11) 1987: 73. dated 21 July 1550 signed by Pope Julius III (1487-1555, pontiff 118. Libbrecht, U. (Note 14) 1987: 213; Alcobendas, 1550-5) states that one of the purposes of the Jesuits was to “… SOFM. Las misiones Franciscanas en China, Cartas, Informes y compassionately assist and serve those who are in prisons or hos- Relaciones del Padre Buenaventura Ibanez (1650-1690). Madrid: pitals, and indeed, to perform any other works of charity accord- Bibliotheca Hispana Missionum, 1933: 147. ing to what will seem expedient for the glory of God and the 119. Aziz, A. Th e Imperial Treasury of the Indian Mughals. common good” [Internet] Puca, P. St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Kashmiri Bazaar, Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1942: 491. Development of the Society of Jesus. 2008 30 January [cited 120. Royal Society Archives (Note 104) 1689-90: folio 17r. 2019 30 November]. In L’Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in 121. ‘Auri-fabro in operae pretium pro 4 theculis arg(enteis) English, EWTN.com. Available from: https://www.ewtn.com/ pro pedra de cobra…’ / ‘To the goldsmith, in payment for his catholicism/library/st-ignatius-of-loyola-and-the-development- work on four small silver boxes, (to keep) the “pedra de cobra’’ ’.

PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 143 In Golvers, N. François de Rougemont, S.J., Missionary in Ch’ang- Great Britain, and the Duties Payable Th ereon, Together with a Shu (Chiang-Nan): A Study of the Account Book (1674-1676) and Mass of Miscellaneous Information, Collected During Many Years’ the Elogium. Louven, Belgium: Leuven University Press, 1999: Employment in the East India Service, and in the Course of Seven 538-9. Voyages to India and China. London: Kingsbury, Parbury and 122. Royal Society Archives, London, Cl.P/19/9 (Note 42) Allen, 1825: 274. Answer (A) to Q. 19 cf Register off what is in the wooden case 140. Do Sameiro Barroso, M. Bezoar stones, magic, science sent by Capt. Risbey, commander off the Coast Frigate: bound and art. In Duffi n, CJ, Moody, RTJ and Gardner-Th orpe, C from Bantam to London: - marked RM. (eds). A History of Geology and Medicine. London: Geological 123. Ball, V. and Crooke, W. (Note 51) 1925: 121. Society, London, 2013. Special Publications, 375: 193-207 at 124. See Offi cer, LH. and Williamson, SH. ‘Measures of 193. Worth’, MeasuringWorth, 2019. [Internet] Williamson, SH. and 141. Do Sameiro Barroso, M. (Note 140) 2013: 194. Cain, LP. Defi ning Measures of Worth: Most are better than the 142. A grain being a twentieth of a scruple, a scruple being CPI. Defi ningWorth.com [cited 2019 30 September. Available a third of a drachma, a drachma being an eighth of an ounce, an from: https://www.measuringworth.com/defi ning_measures_ ounce being a twelfth of a pound. Gordon, D. Pharmaco-Pinax, of_worth.php. or a table and taxe of all the pryces of all usuall Medicaments, Sim- 125. Libbrecht, U. (Note 14) 1987: 213; Alcobendas, ple and composed, contained in D. Gordon’s Apothecarie and SOFM (Note 118) 1933, 147. Chymicall Shop, within Mr Robert Farquhar’s high Lidging in New 126. Turner, F. Money and exchange rates in 1632. [Inter- Aberdene. Together with certayne approved Remedies against Dis- net]. [Cited 2019 30 September]. Available from: https://1632. eases which now most reigne amongst the Commons. All for the use org/1632-tech/faqs/money-exchange-rates-1632/. of the People, proportionate both to Rich and Poore, Learned and 127. De Zwart, P. and Van Zanden, JL. Labor, wages, and Unlearned; and profi table to all. Aberdene: Edward Rabin, living standards in Java, 1680-1914. European Review of Econom- 1625: 6. ic History. 2015: 19(3): 215-234. Supplementary Material: 143. Gordon, D. (Note 142) 1625: 16. 4. Note the caveats to this data in the Supplementary Material. 144. Borschberg, P. Th e Euro-Asian Trade in Bezoar Stones For these purposes it is assumed that the wage of an unskilled (approx. 1500-1700). In North, M (ed.) Artistic and Cultural Ex- labourer in Java would be broadly similar to the equivalent in changes between Europe and Asisa, 1400-1900: Rethinking Mar- Manila. kets, Workshops and Collections. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2010: 29-43, 128. Boulton, J. Wage Labour in Seventeenth-Century at 33. London. Th e Economic History Review. New Series. 1996: 49(2): 145. Borschberg, P. (Note 144) 2010: 33. 268-290. Table 1: 279. 146. Borschberg, P. (Note 144) 2010: 33. 129. Turner, F. (Note 126) 2019. 147. Flanagan, R. Antidotes: principles and clinical applica- 130. ‘Lapis Colubrinus quondam magni aestimatus nunc tions. London and New York: CRC Press, 2001: 12. & Manilae vili divenditur pretio’. Dalei, S. (Note 71) 1739: 431. 148. Griffi n, JP. Venetian treacle and the foundation of 131. Boulton, J. (Note 128) 1996: Table 1, 279. medicines regulation. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 132. Viljoen, R. Medicine, Medical Knowledge and Heal- 2004: 58(3); 317-25 at 318. ing at the Cape of Good Hope: Khoikhoi, Slaves and Colonists. 149. Gordon, D. (Note 142) 1625: 31. In Bala, P. (ed) Medicine and Colonialism: Historical Perspectives in India and South Africa. Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 150. Stobart, A. Household Medicine in Seventeenth-Centu- 2015: 41-60, at 52-3. ry England. London, Bloomsbury Publishing: 59. 133. Viljoen, R. (Note 132) 2015: 52. 151. Breen, BP. Tropical Transplantations: Drugs, Nature, 134. Th unberg, CP. Travels at the Cape of Good Hope, 1772- and Globalization in the Portuguese and British Empires, 1640- 1775. Cape Town, Van Riebeeck Society, 1986: 64. 1755. PhD dissertation, Th e University of Texas at Austin, 2015: 135. For wages in the Cape see: De Zwart, P. Real Wages 29, n. 41; Wallis, P. Exotic drugs and English medicine: Eng- at the Cape of Good Hope: A Long-Term Perspective, 1652- land’s drug trade, c. 1550-c.1800. Social History of Medicine. 1912. Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis. 2013: 2012: 25(1); 2-46. 10:2; 28-58, in particular Table 1 and Table A1, which suggest 152. Viljoen, R. (Note 132) 2015: 52. that a coloured unskilled labourer’s daily wage was roughly one 153. Davies, O. America Bewitched: Th e Story of Witchcraft guilder, thus a snakestone at the price of 10-12 rix-dollars would After Salem. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016: 35-6. have cost the equivalent of 25-30 days wages. 154. Forbes, TR. Th e Madstone. In Hand, WD. (ed) Amer- 136. Th unberg, CP. (Note 134) 1986: 64. ican Folk Medicine: A Symposium. Berkeley and Los Angeles: 137. Th unberg, CP. Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, University of California Press, 1976: 11-20, at 15. made between the years 1770 and 1779. Vol. 4. London: F. & C. 155. Forbes, TR. (Note 154) 1976: 15; Davies, O. (Note Rivington, 1796: 207. 153) 2016: 36. 138. Anon. Th e Snake-Charmers of India. New York Mir- 156. De Verteuil, A. (Note 45) 1993: 2. ror, A Weekly Journal, Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts. 157. De Verteuil, A. (Note 45) 1993: 2. 1834: 12:14: 106-7, at 106. 158. De Verteuil, A. (Note 45) 1993: 5-12; Boos, H. (Note 139. Milburn, W. and Th ornton, T. Oriental Commerce; Or 56): 2001: 195. the East India Trader’s Complete Guide: Containing a Geographi- 159. Sabaté Castellas, F. and Torres Gallardo, B. Pau Es- cal and Nautical Description of the Maritime Parts of India, China, torch Siqués (1805-71) and his ‘magnes venenorum’. In Duffi n, Japan, and Neighbouring Countries, Including the Eastern Islands, CJ, Gardner-Th orpe, C and Moody, RTJ (eds). Geology and Med- and the Trading Stations on the Passage from Europe; with an Ac- icine: Historical Connections. London: Geological Society, Lon- count of Th eir Respective Commerce, Productions, Coins, Weights, don. Special Publications, 2017: 452; 103-6, at 104-5. and Measures, Th eir Port Regulations, Duties, Rates, Charges, &c., 160. Sabaté Castellas, F. and Torres Gallardo, B. (Note And a Description of the Commodities Imported from Th ence Into 159) 2017: 104-5.

144 PHARMACEUTICAL HISTORIAN · 2020 · Volume 50/4 161. Sabaté Castellas, F. and Torres Gallardo, B. (Note June 7]. Available from: https://www.snakebitefoundation.org/ 159) 2017: 104-5. blog/2019/1/20/the-truth-about-commercial-snakebite-kits- 162. Le Quellec, J-L. Quand le feu était d’os: la pierre noire and-venom-extractors. et l’éléphant. Bulletin de la Sociéte de Mythologie Française. 2013: 168. Bush, SP. (Note 167) 2004; Alberts MB., Shalit M. 252; 57-78, at 60-62. and LoGalbo F. (Note 167) 2004. 163. On the transmission of folklore, see: Podgorny, I. Th e 169. Libbrecht, U. (Note 14) 1987: 227-8. name is the message: eagle-stones and materia medica in South 170. Based upon the results of the experiments by Alberts, America. In Duffi n, CJ, Gardner-Th orpe, C and Moody, RTJ MB., Shalit, M. and LoGalbo, F. (Note 167) 2004. (eds). Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections. London: Ge- 171. Asclepius Snakebite Foundation. Th e truth about ological Society, London. Special Publications, 2017. 452: 195- commercial snakebite kits (Note 167). 210 and Podgorny, I. Th e elk, the ass, the tapir, their hooves, and 172. Adukauskiene, D., Varanausklene, E. and Adukauska- the falling sickness: a story of substitution and animal medical tie, A. Venomous Snakebites. Medicina (Kaunas), 2011: 47(8); substances. Journal of Global History, 2018: 13; 46-68. 461-7, at 464. 164. Olcott, HS. (Note 90) 2011: 86. 173. Asclepius Snakebite Foundation. (Note 167). 165. Ovington, JA. (Note 65) 1696: 261. 174. Gutiérrez, JM., Calvate, JJ., Habib, AG., Harrison, 166. Earles, MP. (Note 67) 1961: 98. Th is work also sets RA., Williams, DJ. and Warrell, DA. Snakebite envenoming. out the history and development of theories on the action of poi- Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2017: 3; 1-19, at page 3; Box 2, sons from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. page 8; Figure 3, page 6. 167. See, for example: Bush, SP. Snakebite suction devices 175. Sachan. D. Th is App Is Saving Th ousands of Snakes don’t remove venom: they just suck. Annals of emergency medi- (and Humans) in India. 2018: 5 October [cited 2019 11 Novem- cine. 2004: 43(2); 187-8; Alberts, MB., Shalit, M. and LoGalbo, ber]. In Smithsonian Magazine [Internet]. Available from: htt- F. Suction for venomous snakebite: a study of ‘mock venom’ ex- ps://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/app-saving-thou- traction in a human model. Annals of emergency medicine. 2004: sands-snakes-and-humans-india-180970467/. 43(2); 181-6; Michael, GC., Th acher, TD. and Shehu, MIL. Th e 176. World Health Organisation. Snake Bites [Internet] eff ect of pre-hospital care for venomous snake bite on outcome 2018: 5 February [cited 2019 May 25]. Available from: https:// in Nigeria. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/animal-bites. and Hygiene. 2011: 105(2); 95-101; Asclepius Snakebite Founda- 177. Michael, GC., Th acher, TD. and Shehu, MIL. (Note tion. Th e truth about commercial snakebite kits (including the 167): 6; Asclepius Snakebite Foundation (Note 167). venom extractor) [Internet] 2019 20 January – [cited 2019

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