Tag: BEZOARS

Goa stone

A Goa stone or Lapis de Goa was a man-made bezoar that was considered to have medicinal and talismanic properties. Goa stones were made in Goa, India and exported to apothecaries in Europe from the mid-16th to 18th century. Goa stones were manufactured by Jesuits in the late seventeenth century in Goa because naturally occurring bezoars were scarce. Their inventor was the Florentine lay brother Gaspar Antonio, and a Jesuit…
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March 11, 2023
Gorochana

Gorochana or gorocana (transliterated from Sanskrit: गोरोचन “cattle-light”; also Standard Tibetan: (?) gi-wang) refers to a stone or ‘bezoar‘ found in cattle (Sanskrit: गो go), such as the bull, cow, ox, and yak. Its presence in the animal is reputedly indicated by the snoring or other nocturnal sounds made by the animal in its sleep. Its equivalent in Sinitic culture is calculus bovis. The vernacular Hindi and Bengali names are the same as…
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March 11, 2023
Bezoardicum (bezoar of) is a term used in alchemy and other practices

Bezoardicum (bezoar of) is a term applied to multiple substances used in alchemy and other practices. Bezoardicum joviale, or bezoar of Jupiter, is a regulus made by melting three ounces of regulus of antimony and two of block tin. This is then powdered and mixed with six ounces of corrosive sublimate, and distilled off in a kind of butter. It is then dissolved in spirit of…
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March 11, 2023