A Goa stone or Lapis de Goa was a man-made

bezoar A bezoar is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties of bezoar, s ...

that was considered to have medicinal and talismanic properties. Goa stones were made in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and exported to apothecaries in Europe from the mid-16th to 18th century. Goa stones were manufactured by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

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 monopoly was confirmed by the Portuguese on March 6, 1691. They were created by combining organic and inorganic materials including hair, fossil shark teeth, shells, tusks, resin, and crushed gems, then shaping the materials into a ball and covering it with gilt. Like

stones, Goa stones were thought to prevent

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

and cure poisoning. They could be administered by shaving off small pieces into a drinkable beverage like

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

, or

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

. After the death of Gaspar Antonio the recipe went to Father Jorge Ungarate. The Jesuits were forced to leave Goa in 1759 and these stones were then produced by

Capuchin friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

at the Convento da Madre de Deus until 1835. The secret recipe was then passed on to Manuel do Carmo Pacheco who produced the stones until his death in 1868. The Goa stones, or Pedjra Cordial, as it appears from the Royal letter of the 21st March 1691, were the monopoly of the Jesuits, who not only sold them in India, but exported them to Portugal in large quantities and with great profit. After the death of Gaspar Antonio, these stones were manufactured by Jorge Ungarete, and subsequently by several Jesuit Fathers. Their composition is not exactly known, but it is said to have been much similar to that of the following formula:— Re. Coral branco, vermelho e pedra bezoar ana 2 one. Rubins, jacintos, topazios, saphiras e aljofar, ana 1 one. Esmeralda \ one. xlmbargriz e almiscar 2 escrop. Folhinhas de onro No. 4. Livro das Mon^oens, No. 56; p. 70, Archivo da Pharmacia, vol. I., p. 48. The stones made their way to England as well and an early mention is made in 1686 by Gideon Harvey who was sceptical of the curative value noting that they were confected from a "''jumble of Indian Ingredients''" by "''knavish Makers and Traffickers." Goa stones were kept in ornate, solid

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

or gilded cases that were believed to enhance the medicinal properties of the stones. The cases usually featured a busy network of

filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, ma ...

, occasionally adorned with ornaments of animals, including

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

, unicorns,

dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, and parrots.

References

{{reflist History of medicine in India Colonial Goa Jesuit Asia missions Containers Antidotes