snake-stonen.
1. An ammonite. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Cephalopoda > [noun] > order Tetrabranchiata > family Ammonitidae > genus Ammonite
snake-stone1660
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 77 In this too they agree with the Snake-stones of Keinsham.
1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 267 Sceleton Serpentis,..Ophiomorphites, Snake~stone.
a1697 J. Aubrey Nat. Hist. Wilts. (1847) i. vii. 45 About two or three miles from the Devises are found in a pitt snake-stones (cornua ammonis) no bigger than a sixpence.
1708 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 26 78 The Sayler or (as 'tis commonly call'd) the Snake-stone.
1759 Philos. Trans. 1758 (Royal Soc.) 50 786 In this rock..the Ammonitæ, or Snake-stones, as they are commonly called, are found.
1828 G. Young Geol. Surv. Yorks. Coast (ed. 2) 138 The well known Whitby snake-stones.
2. A porous or absorbent substance regarded as efficacious in curing snakebite or as a remedy against poison; a serpent-stone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > antidote > [noun] > other alleged concretions
bezoar1477
snake-stone1694
serpent-stone1861
1694 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 18 128 I think they all recovered, to which he applyed the Snake-stones.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 53 A Factitious Stone (which we call a Snake-stone) is a Counter-poyson to all deadly Bites.
1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 128 In some parts of the Union, what are called snake-stones are relied on as certain cures for the bite of the reptile, and of mad dogs.
1855 R. Browning Epist. 17 The vagrant Scholar to his Sage at home Sends..Three samples of true snake-stone.
1903 M. G. Gerard Leaves from Diaries x. 376 A snake-stone is..a secretion which occasionally forms on the palate of a snake's mouth.
3. A small perforated stone (cf. adder-stone n. at adder n.1 Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > a stone > [noun] > perforated
snake-button1699
snake-stone1700
1700 E. Lhuyd Let. 12 Mar. in H. Rowlands Mona Antiqua Restaurata (1723) ii. 338 Besides the Snake-Stones,..the Highlanders have their Snail-Stones, Paddoc-stones..to all which they attribute their several Virtues.
1872 J. Evans Anc. Stone Implements xx. 391 In Harris and Lewis the distaff and spindle are still in common use, and yet the original intention of the stone spindle-whorls, which occur there as elsewhere, appears to be unknown. They are called clach-nathrach, adder-stones or snake-stones.
4. technical. (See later quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > [noun] > implement for polishing > stone
slickstonec1325
pumice stonea1425
sleekstone1530
pounced stone1585
pomming-stone1615
polishing-slate1801
spume-stone1831
snake-stone1850
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > surface and planographic printing > lithography > [noun] > stone
stonec1806
lithographic stone1836
snake-stone1850
1850 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. III. 1040 Marks are then made with a piece of snake-stone, blue-stone, or even common slate pencil.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Snake~stone, a kind of hone slate, or whetstone obtained in Scotland, and also known as Ayr stone.
1870 Eng. Mech. 7 Jan. 417/3 The snakestone..used by lithographers..is a carbonate of lime, and is found in Germany and in India. The snake stone used by marble polishers is a fine grit, and is found at Water of Ayr.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1660