The beryl was warmly recommended as a cure for injuries to the eyeball, even of the most serious kind. For use in such cases the stone was to be pulverized in a mortar, and this powder then passed through a fine sieve. Of the minute particles thus secured, a small quantity was to be introduced each morning into the injured eye, the patient being in a recumbent posture. He was then to keep properly quiet with his eyes shut for a considerable length of time after this operation. Although it was not indeed claimed that where the power of sight had been destroyed it could thus be restored, still even in case of such severe injury the eyeball was healed sooner and assumed a better appearance. In less serious cases a cure was considered to be assured.[253] Carbuncle Many virtues are attributed to carbuncles. It is related that those who wear them can resist poisons and are preserved from the pest. They dissipate sadness, control incontinence, avert evil thoughts and dreams, exhilarate the soul and foretell misfortunes to man by losing their native splendor.[254] Chalcedony Perforated, spherical beads of milky white chalcedony are worn at the present day by Italian peasant women to increase the supply of milk. Hence the Italian name for such a bead, _pietra lattea_. Perforated beads of white steatite, belonging to the early Iron Age, have been found near Perugia, where the chalcedony beads are worn, and it is believed that these steatite beads were borne for the same purpose.[255] Coral Coral and safran, if wrapped in the skin of a cat, were believed to have marvellous powers; and when emeralds were added to the coral the talisman would drive off a mortal fever. To have the proper effect, however, it must be attached to the neck of the patient.[256] As a cure for hydrophobia, dog-collars set with flint and Maltese coral were recommended in Roman times; “sacred shells” and herbs over which magic incantations had been pronounced were also attached to, or enclosed in these collars. The use of coral in this case appears to have been due to the belief in its power to dissolve the spell cast by the Evil Eye, for Gratius, who flourished in the first century A.D. and was a contemporary of the poet Ovid, asserts that if such collars were put on dogs suffering from hydrophobia, the gods were appeased, and the charm cast by “an envious eye” was broken.[257] The Hindu physicians found that coral tasted both sweet and sour, and they asserted that its principal action was on the secretions of the mucous membrane, on the bile and on certain morbid secretions.[258] Although the chemical constituents of coral have but slight medicinal value, it is quite possible that some effects upon the secretions may have been observed experimentally after the administration of a dose of powdered coral.