[In senses 1, 2, rendering med.L. lapis Judaicus (Lanfranc’s Cirurgie, 278, and Minsheu, Ductor).]
1. The fossil spine of a large sea-urchin, found in Syria, formerly used in medicine. ? Obs.
1633. Hart, Diet of Diseased, III. xx. 312. Some medicines … are esteemed good against the stone … of this kind is the Iewes stone, goats blood [etc.].
1751. Sir J. Hill, Mat. Med., 302. Lapis Judaicus, The Jews Stone,… is no other than the Spine of a large Echinus Marinus of a peculiar Species.
1888. Syd. Soc. Lex., Jew’s stone, see Lapis judaicus [a stone found in Palestine, and formerly used as a diuretic and lithontriptic, as well as in fluxes].
2. A crystallized form of iron pyrites (also called marcasite), formerly used as a gem. ? Obs.
1617. Minsheu, Ductor, Marchesite … etiam Iewes stone.
1658. Phillips, Jewstone, a kind of stone called also a Marchesite.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, I. vii. The ‘Jew’s stone,’ with the lion-headed serpent enchased in it.
3. Applied locally to various hard rocks.
1839. Murchison, Silur. Syst., I. xxv. 313. Jew stone … This quarriers’ term is evidently used to designate all hard unmanageable rocks of uneven and splintery fracture.
1885. Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., Jew-stone. 1. Geol. A local name for a black basalt found on the Clee Hills.
1890. Cent. Dict., Jews’ stone … local name of a limestone-bed belonging to the White Lias (Rhætic) in Somersetshire.
