Folklore of Sleeping Stones

Two fabulous stones are noted by pseudo-Aristotle, and one of these, the "sleeping-stone," must have possessed marvellous soporific power. It was a luminous stone of a bright ruddy hue, and shone in the darkness with a bright light. If a small quantity of this stone were hung about a person's neck, he would sleep uninterruptedly for three days and nights, and, when awakened on the fourth day, he would still be almost overcome by sleep. The other stone, of a greenish hue, had the opposite quality and induced prolonged wakefulness; so long as it was worn, sleep was banished. Our author gravely states that "some men who must watch at night suffer greatly from lack of sleep." If, however, they wore the "waking-stone," they suffered no inconvenience from their enforced vigils. (Rose, "Aristoteles de lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo," Zeitschr. fur D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, 1875.) Evidently this stone would be a precious possession for night-watchmen, and a more satisfactory guarantee for their employers than "time-clocks" or other tests of wakefulness.