In the

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

of the early

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a madstone was a special medicinal substance that, when pressed into an animal bite, was believed to prevent

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

by drawing the "poison" out. The ''

Encyclopedia Americana ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first general encyclopedia of any magnitude to be published in North America. With '' Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

'' described it as "a vegetable substance or stone". Researchers publishing in 1958 reported "130 cases of healing attributed to the madstone" and "three authenticated stones in the United States today." Another account relates an event "in or around 1939" that the madstone was used in Oklahoma. It claimed that the madstone was believed by the locals to have been an organ from an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

deer. This account says that the organ they were using was "from a regular deer, not albino." This account purported that the madstone had to be kept and stored in fresh milk, and that the milk had to be changed daily. It describes an event where an individual had been bitten in the leg by a rattlesnake. According to the account, "One by one, they would cut an X into his leg and apply the madstone to the cut. When the madstone was full, it would fall off. They would then rinse it out in the milk, cut an X and apply it again." In this account, the individual lived. Researchers have speculated that there might be some connection between the belief in the madstone and fictitious

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

written of in a novel by that name by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

which cures a dog bite victim and is brought back from

The Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionally ...

crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, "...but though many cures were wrought by means of it in Europe, none equalled in success and celebrity those which the Soldan achieved. It is still in existence, having been bequeathed by the

Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates t ...

to a brave

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Sir Simon of the Lee, in whose ancient and highly honoured family it is still preserved; and although charmed stones have been dismissed from the modern

Pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (or the typographically obsolete rendering, ''pharmacopœia''), meaning "drug-making", in its modern technical sense, is a reference work containing directions for the identification of compound med ...

, its virtues are still applied to for stopping blood, and in cases of canine madness."

References

{{American folklore American folklore Rabies Walter Scott History of medicine Stone objects