Thetoadstone,also known asbufonite(fromLatinbufo,"toad" ), is a mythical stone orgemthat was thought to be found in the head of atoad.It was supposed to be anantidoteto poison and in this it is likebatrachite,supposedly formed in the heads of frogs. Toadstones were actually the button-likefossilisedteeth ofScheenstia(previouslyLepidotes), an extinct genus ofray-finned fishfrom theJurassicandCretaceousperiods. They appeared to be "stones that are perfect in form" and were set by European jewellers into magical rings and amulets from Medieval times until the 18th century.[1]
Beliefs
edit
From ancient times people associated the fossils with jewels that were set inside the heads of toads. The toad has poison glands in its skin, so it was naturally assumed that they carried their own antidote and that this took the form of a magical stone. They were first recorded byPliny the Elderin the first century.
Like the fossilised shark teeth known astonguestones,toadstones were thought to be antidotes for poison and were also used to treatepilepsy.[1]As early as the 14th century, people began to adorn jewelry with toadstones for theirmagicalabilities. In their folklore, a toadstone was required to be removed from an old toad while the creature was still alive. 17th centurynaturalistEdward Topsellwrote that this could be done by setting the toad on a piece of red cloth.[1]
The true toadstone was taken by contemporary jewellers to be no bigger than the nail of a hand and they varied in colour from a whitish brown through green to black, depending on where they were buried.[2]They were supposedly most effective against poison when worn against the skin, on which occasion they were thought to heat up, sweat and change colour.[3]If a person were bitten by a venomous creature a toadstone would be touched against the affected part to effect a cure.[4]AlternativelyJohannes de Cuba,in his bookGart der Gesundheitof 1485, claimed that toadstone would help with kidney disease and earthly happiness.[5]
Loose toadstones were discovered among other gemstones in the ElizabethanCheapside Hoardand there are surviving toadstone rings in theAshmolean Museumand theBritish Museum.
Allusions in literature
editThe toadstone isalludedto by Duke Senior inShakespeare'sAs You Like It(1599), in Act 2, Scene 1, lines 12 to 14:
Sweet are the uses of adversity;
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
InJames Branch Cabell's short story "Balthazar's Daughter" (collected inThe Certain Hour) and its subsequent play adaptationThe Jewel Merchants,Alessandro de Mediciattempts to seduce Graciosa by listing various precious jewels in his possession, including "jewels cut from the brain of a toad".
Jewelry
editSome toadstones were used in jewelry, including on a crown held atAachen Cathedralused to coronateCharles IV,Holy Roman Emperor.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abc"Fossils: myths, mystery and magic".Independent UK. 12 February 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 27 April 2008.Retrieved13 April2008.
- ^Thomas, Nicols (1652). "xxxvi".A Lapidary, Or, the History of Pretious Stones: With Cautions for the Undeceiving of All Those That Deal With Pretious Stones.Vol. II. Thomas Buck. pp. 158–159.OCLC8187470.
- ^Scribonius, Adolf Wilhelm (1631).Naturall Philosophy: or a Description of the Vvorld, and of the Severall Creatures Therein Contained.Tho. Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie.OCLC216883672.
- ^Thomas, Lupton(1576).A Thousand Notable Things, of Sundry Sortes: Whereof Some Are Wonderfull, Some Straunge, Some Pleasant, Diuers Necessary, a Great Sort Profitable, and Many Very Precious.Imprinted for Edward White.OCLC1127498887.
- ^Campbell, Marian (2009).Medieval Jewellery in Europe 1100-1500.V&A Publishing. p. 33.ISBN9781851775828.
- ^Gregorová, R., Bohatý, M., Stehlíková, D., Duffin, Ch., 2020: "Crapaudine" (Scheenstia teeth) - the jewel of Kings. – Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae geologicae, 105, 2, 277–294 (with Czech summary).
Further reading
edit- New Oxford American Dictionary,under the entry "toadstone".
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeareby Crown Publishers Inc
External links
edit- "Toadstones: A notetoPseudodoxia Epidemica,Book III, chapter 13 "
- Acollection of notesmaintained by James Eason of the University of Chicago comprising excerpts from Thomas Nicols and other authors
- New York Timesreference, October 1890
- Whitehurst, John (1713–1788).An inquiry into the original state and formation of the earth,pp 184-5, 190 and ff).