gic by showing him a serpent ring, upon which the latter,
who did not desire any one to interfere with his practice, produced his
toad-stone ring, observing that the toad might swallow the serpent,
thereby intimating his power to overcome him. Fig. 139 is curious, not
only as containing the true toad-stone, but also that the stone is
embossed with the figure of a toad, according to the description of
Albertus Magnus, who describes the most valuable variety of this coveted
gem as having "the figure of the reptile imprinted upon it."

The elder poets have, as usual with them, turned into a moralisation
this fabulous bit of natural history. Lyly, in his "Euphues," observes,
"the foule toad hath a faire stone in his head." Shakspere has
immortalised the superstition in the most effective and beautiful
manner, when he declares how

"Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Yet wears a precious jewel in its head."

Superstition did not confine its belief to a few charms; it ranged over
more than we can now record. In the Londesborough collection is the
massive thumb-ring delineated in Fig. 140, having the tooth of some
animal as its principal gem, fondly believed by its original owner to
have mystic power over his well-being. To "make assurance doubly sure,"
it is set all round with precious stones, all believed to have magical
virtues.

[Illustration: Fig. 141.]

[Illustration: Fig. 142.]

Superstition was not confined to the real world of animal life, but
ranged over the fabulous natural history which mixed largely with the
true, in all men's minds, at this credulous era of the world's history,
when persons put more faith in false charms for the cure of disease or
the prevention of evil, than in the power of medicine, or the value of
proper preventives. The horn of the unicorn, the claw of the griffin,
and other relics of equal verity and value, were sought eagerly by
those rich enough to procure them, and when obtained were believed to
ensure much good fortune to the possessor. A fear of the "evil
eye"--that bugbear which still disturbs the happiness of the lower class
Italians and of the Eastern nations generally--was carefully provided
against. One great preservative was the wearing of a ring with the
figure of a cockatrice upon it. This imaginary creature was supposed to
be produced from that rarest of all rare things, a cock's egg, foolishly
believed to be laid on ce