The wild ass was another of the animals that furnished concretions prized for their talismanic and medicinal powers. That taken from the animal’s head cured headache and epilepsy; that from the jaw made the owner indefatigable, so that he yielded to none in battle. It was also a remedy for ague and for the bites of venomous creatures, as well as a marvellously efficacious vermifuge for children.[351] Very likely the story of Samson, who wrought such slaughter among the Philistines when armed with the jawbone of an ass, may have suggested the fancy that the concretion from the ass’s jaw would give victory to the wearer. [Illustration: Chelidonius, or “Swallow-stones.” From “Museum Wormianum,” Lugduni Batavorum, 1655. ] Pliny notes the opinion that a stone taken from the body of a young swallow, if worn attached to the human body, helps to strengthen the brain, and he adds that the stone is said to be found in the young bird even when it has just broken the shell.[352] According to Thomas de Cantimpré the swallow-stone is a talisman for merchants and tradesmen.[353] The merits of the _chelidonius_, as this stone was called, were fully recognized in Saxon England and are given due prominence in an Anglo-Saxon medical treatise, dating from the first half of the tenth century. When these “swallow-stones” had been obtained they were to be carefully protected from contact with water, earth, or other stones. To secure the best results _three_ of them were to be applied to the person who stood in need of their remedial effects. Not only did they cure headache and eye-smart, but they banished the dreaded nightmare, rendered futile the wiles of goblin visitors, and dissolved all fascinations and enchantments. The seekers after these wonderful stones are stoutly assured that they can only be found in “big nestlings.”[354] The _ætites_ (eagle-stone) is first mentioned by Pliny who states that it was found in the nests of eagles of a certain species, and adds that some called this stone _gangites_. Fire had no power over it and it was a useful remedy for many diseases. Its special virtue, however, was to prevent abortion, this use being suggested by the character of the stone itself, which “was as though pregnant, for when it was shaken another stone rattled within it, as though in a womb.” The curative virtues of the _ætites_, like that of the swallow-stone, only existed when the stone was taken from the bird’s nest. This was probably a story told by the vendors of such geodes to enhance the value of their wares, although there may have been some foundation for it in folk-lore.