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MADSTONE IN NEW YORK

The "Congaree" Taken There From
South Carolina.

[Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.]

NEW YORK, April 27 - Learning that cases
of hydrophobia had appeared in New York,
Capt. F. B. Orchard, of Augusta, S. C., has
sent here a Congaree madstone. The nodule
of calcareons matter, for such it seems,
was consigned to the brother of the owner,
I. E. Orchard, a musical critic, who says
the use of it may be had, without cost, by
any person who thinks he has been bitten
by a rabid dog.

It has been many years since the "Congaree"
stone has performed its function as extractor
of poison, and the consignee would
like to see its powers tested.

There are at the present moment four
specimens of the madstone. Curiously
enough, two of the four were found in
South Carolina. One of them is now in the
British Museum; the other is the one sent
here.

This madstone is from 2 ½ to 3 inches in
circumference and nearly an inch thick. In
shape it is oval. Its surface is smooth. It
resembles beeswax in appearance. Being
very porous, it is necessarily light. Its
present guardian, who has firm faith in its
properties, given the following particulars,
which he says can be corroborated:

"The Congaree" is one of the most famous
madstones in the world. It has an interesting
history. It was taken from the
stomach of a deer, which was killed in Congaree
Swamp, about 20 miles from Columbia,
S. C. This was in the year 1805. Soon
after it was discovered the stone was lent
by its owner to a geological museum at the
South Carolina College, where it remained
several years. In the early spring of 1808
a mad dog invaded the college campus and
bit four of the students. There was not
the slightest doubt that the dog had the
rabies. One of the young men who were
bitten was the son of the president of the
college. Three of the young men who had
been bitten by the rabid dog consented to
have the stone applied to their wounds. It
was first placed on the wound of a student
whose cheek had been torn by the beast's
teeth. It adhered at once and clung tenaciously
for 1 hour and 40 minutes, when it
suddenly dropped off. It was thereupon
placed in a vessel containing milk and
water, and, in less than a minute, the fluid
turned green, being impregnated with the
poison which the stone had sucked from
the wound. The stone was washed off and
again placed on the same wound, and, as
before, adhered, but not quite so tenaciously.
In the course of half an hour it dropped
off again, was again cleansed and again applied
to the wound. This time it refused to adhere,
having extracted every particle
of the poison.

"The young man who first submitted to
the treatment was saved, as were the two
others who followed his example. There
fourth student, who had been bitten in the
hand, made light of the matter and refused
to have the madstone applied to his wound.
A week later he died of hydophobia, after,
it need scarce be said, having suffered
frightful agonies.

"The stone at once became famous
throughout the South, and many newspaper
articles were published about it in Columbia
and elsewhere. Its owner, who had
lent it to the museum, realizing its great
value, again took charge of it, and applied
it gratuitiously to all who were in need of
it in the vicinity. In every instance it
proved efficacious. When he died, in 1820,
he bequeathed it to his son, who a few
years later, sold it to a Charleston physician.
For many years the stone remained
in Charleston, and was used not only on
persons who had been bitten by mad dogs,
but also on those suffering from snake bites,
and always with uniformly successful results.

"It is estimated that, from 1805, when
the stone was discoverd, to 1899, when it
was last used, upward of 145 persons have
been successfully treated."