About the Superstitions of the Eagle Stones

An inventory of the furniture, plate, jewels, etc., of Charles V of France, made in 1379, describes two stones preserved in a case of cypress-wood which the king always carried about with him. One of these was called the "holy stone" and aided women in childbirth. This was probably an "eagle-stone." It was set in gold and the setting was adorned with four pearls, six emeralds and two balas-rubies. The other stone, which cured the gout, was an engraved gem bearing the figure of a king and an inscription in Hebrew characters. This description suggests one of the Gnostic gems so common in the early Christian centuries. The gem was suspended from a silver cord, so that it could be worn on the neck, or perhaps attached to some other part of the body. We find in the comptes royaux of 1420 an electuary composed of powdered precious stones, for the cure of the infirmities of Isabel of Bavaria, who was fifty years old and had been for several years obese and a valetudinarian.

In some parts of the Orient the superstitious notion exists that the aetites occasionally emits a wailing sound during the night, and this is said to be either an expression of the birth-pangs of the mother stone, or else the cry of its new born offspring, the small stones enclosed within the geode, for the story goes that each night some of these are generated.

These "eagle-stones" still retain their repute in Italy, where they are called pietre gravide, or "pregnant stones," and are considered by many of the peasants as almost indispensable aids to parturition. They are in such demand that the lucky owners rent them for the nine months during which they are worn. As soon as one case has been happily concluded, the amulet is passed on to some other woman who is in need of it. A fee of five lire, or one dollar, is paid in each case, and a pledge worth a hundred lire ($20) is required before the stone is handed over. Some amulets of this class bear Christian symbols.

Geodes of this description consisting of limonite are to be found in many places. Some of them are of relatively recent formation, and one of these shows curiously enough that in addition to its other virtues the aetites can on occasion perform the functions of a savings-bank. This strange specimen was found in 1846, at Perigueux, department Dordogne, France. On opening the geode there appeared within some 200 silver coins dated in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; all of these were encrusted with the material forming the enclosing mass.