principle can be detected, it is the geometrical; and in every part of the
world in which magic pretends to a written character, I find that its
hieroglyphics are geometrical figures. Is it not laughable that the most
positive of all the sciences should thus lend its angles and circles to
the use of--what shall I call it?--the ignorance?--ay, that is the
word--the ignorance of dealers in magic?"

He took up the paper, on which I had hastily described the triangles and
the circle, and left the room, chanting the serpent-charmer's song.

[1] The following description of a stone at Corfu, celebrated as an
antidote to the venom of the serpent's bite, was given to me by an eminent
scholar and legal functionary in that island:--

DESCRIPTION of THE BLUESTONE.--This stone is of an oval shape 1 2/10 in.
long, 7/10 broad, 3/10 thick, and, having been broken formerly, is now set
in gold.

When a person is bitten by a poisonous snake, the bite must be opened by a
cut of a lancet or razor longways, and the stone applied within
twenty-four hours. The stone then attaches itself firmly on the wound,
and when it has done its office falls off; the cure is then complete. The
stone must then be thrown into milk, whereupon it vomits the poison it has
absorbed, which remains green on the top of the milk, and the stone is
then again fit for use.

This stone has been from time immemorial in the family of Ventura, of
Corfu, a house of Italian origin, and is notorious, so that peasants
immediately apply for its aid. Its virtue has not been impaired by the
fracture. Its nature or composition is unknown.