THE FREELAND TRIBUNE — MARCH 5, 1902
PROPERTIES OF THE MADSTONE. ♢ Cowpunchers of the West
Place Great Faith in the Absorbent.
The madstone is supposed to be taken from the stomach of a white deer. It is about the size of an English walnut, and slightly porous. When a person is bitten by an animal afflicted with rabies the stone is placed on the bite. It immediately sticks, sometimes for half an hour.
One of the greatest fears of the cowpuncher is of being bitten by a skunk. In the cattle country, when the puncher is on the range and must sleep out of doors of nights, he hardly ever lies down on the ground without thinking of this danger. When he is bitten it is almost always in the face. Nine times out of ten hydrophobia symptoms develop. In most cases he is anywhere from twenty to fifty miles from a doctor, and search is made among the ranchers for a madstone. The cowpuncher is simple in his faiths, and he clings to this one. And, indeed, many marvelous tales are told of the success of this somewhat vague healer.
The writer knows of one remarkable case. A man in a New Mexico cattle town was bitten in the arm by a mad dog. The nearest doctor gave his aid, but he was not able to decrease the swelling. A madstone was sent for from a distance and applied to the bite. The curative properties of the stone lie in its power of absorption. It adhered at once to this man’s arm. Running up the elbow was a thin blue streak, tracing the course of the poison. As the stone stuck this streak gradually decreased, and was not to be seen
