Medieval Beliefs About the Origin of the Draconius

The Draconius, described by Albertus Magnus as of a black colour and pyramidal form, was brought from the East, and taken out of the heads of dragons while they lay panting, the virtue of the precious stone being lost if it remained in the head any time after the death of the dragon. "Some bold fellows," remarks Leonardus Camillus (1502), "in those eastern parts, search out the dens of the dragons, and in them they throw grass mixed with soporiferous medicaments, which the dragons, when they return to their dens, eat, and are thrown into a sleep, and in that condition their heads are cut off, and the stone extracted. It has a rare virtue of absorbing all poisons, especially that of serpents. It also renders the possessor bold and invincible, for which reason the kings of the East boast of having such a stone."