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The loose, enclosed concretion was named in Latin callimus, and we have a detailed description from the sixteenth century of one of these, which belonged to Georgius Fabricius. Because of its curious markings he had it set on a pivot in a ring, so that both sides of the stone could be easily seen. The material was in part as clear as a rock-crystal, evidently a very translucent chalcedony, but the chief interest centred in the images or figures traced by nature upon the stone. These showed what seemed to be two forms, one of a cowled monk, and the other that of a tall, beardless man; there was also a third, showing an undefined form. On the under side of this callimus was marked the outline of a crescent moon.
A seventeenth-century writer, not otherwise uncritical, does not hesitate to declare that he had himself witnessed, in the case of a fig-tree, an instance of the special power exercised by the aetites. One of these stones having been attached to this tree, all the fruit dropped off in the space of ten hours, although the tree had apparently lost nothing of its vigor, its foliage remaining as luxuriant as before.
An old treatise on the aetites gives the following names as applied to it in various languages:
Italian: Aquilina, pietra d'aquila, pietra aquilina, ethite. French: Pierre de l'aigle. Spanish: Piedra de l'aguila. Polish: Orlovi Kamyen. Swedish: Oernarsteen. English: Eagle-stone. German: Adlerstein. Flemish: Adelersteen, arensteen. Arabic: Hager achtamach. Syriac: Abno dneshre. Chaldaic: Abno dineshar, or abno denishra. Hebrew: 'Eben ha-nosher.
Some said that this stone might be found not only in the eagle's nest, but also in that of the stork. This idea was, however, entirely erroneous in Bausch's opinion, for though he had caused diligent search to be made by all those who encountered such nests, no "eagle-stone" could ever be found. To the supposed "stork-stones" had been given the name lychnites, as they were believed to be luminous, their light serving to frighten off any snakes which might be seeking the new-laid eggs.
Bausch enumerates and rejects a number of explanations to account for the supposed presence of the aetites in the nests of eagles. One theory was that these stones served to give stability to the nest, and enabled it better to resist the assaults of the wind; others asserted that the coolness of the stones lowered the unduly high temperature of the eggs and of the parent bird's body; others again were inclined to attribute to them a mysterious formative and vivifying power exerted on the eggs, or else a talismanic power protecting these from injury. While rejecting all these notions, as we have stated, and indeed denying the truth of the assertion that such stones were ever found in eagles' nests, Bausch cites the authority of St. Jerome, in his commentary on Isaiah, chap. Ixvi, that the amethyst had been found with the young of the eagle, being placed with them in the nest to protect them from venomous creatures.
That the "eagle-stones" were not always hollow is shown by a specimen owned in the eighteenth century by the English family Postlethwayte. This was solid, and had been cut into the shape of a heart, a hole being pierced at the upper end so that the stone could be worn suspended. In a curious letter written April 25, 1742, by Martha Postlethwayte, sister of Sir Thomas Gooch, who successively presided over the episcopal sees of Bristol, Norwich and Ely, to her daughter Barbara Kerrick, the writer advises her correspondent, in order to avoid a repetition of former misadventures, to "wear the eagle-stone and take Mrs. Stone's receit," and adds: "I hope it may have good effect and make me a good grandmother." The result was favorable, and must naturally have affirmed the faith in the powers of the stone. |
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Precious Stones Guide Vol 8
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