Lapis bezoar and unicornu Inv V09001, V05004

The bezoar stone is found in the gall bladder or stomach of goats. They also occur in other mammals, especially ruminants. Sometimes they are brittle and light, sometimes heavy and hard. As a medicine of oriental origin they were highly regarded far into the eighteenth century and were very expensive. The bezoar was regarded as an infallible universal remedy against poisoning and against all kinds of ailments. It was sufficient to wear a stone or dip it into a drink one was about imbibe. Even more rare, and hence even more expensive - and therefore more powerful as a medicine - was the tusk of the narwhal or unicornu, which was claimed to come from the unicorn. To give an impression of the preciousness and rarity of such medicines: the legendary booty of Piet Hein included 12 pounds of West Indian bezoar and Queen Elizabeth I possessed at Windsor Castle a unicornu worth £ 10.000,-. In those days!