beazlestone n Also sp beasle stone, beezle ~, bezel ~ [From an archaic pronc of bezoar stone, e.g. beazer stone (OED at bezoar sb. 2)] GA Cf madstone n
A concretion found in the entrails of an animal, esp a deer, often thought to have the power of drawing the dangerous material from the bite of a rabid or venomous animal.
1879 Daily Constitution (Atlanta GA) 23 July [3]/2 (newspaperarchive.com) swGA, Mr. Mack Mosely, of Dougherty county, has in his possession a “beazle” stone taken from the stomach of a deer. 1883 Brownstown Banner (IN) 4 Oct [6]/5 (newspaperarchive.com) cnGA, Mr. John C. Martin, of Bell’s District, informs us that he has a stone in his possession that was taken from the stomach of a deer in Franklin County nearly a hundred years ago, and was called by the early settlers of this country a “beasle stone.” . . Not long since a gentleman was bitten by a dog in Gwinnett County that was supposed to be mad: he went to Mr. Martin’s and had the stone applied to the wound, and it was found to have extracted a poison from the wound that gave the milk into which it was immersed a greenish hue. 1884 Columbus Daily Enquirer–Sun (GA) 11 Apr [3]/2, The editor [of the Hinesville Gazette] has a bezel stone—hunters in that section give them that name—which was taken from the maw of a buck killed by the late Col Wm Cliffton . . fifty years ago. . . Is it a mad stone? 1888 Macon Telegraph (GA) 15 Nov 8/2, Deputy Sheriff O’Pry has in his possession a ball of hair and other substances, taken from the stomach of a cow and called a beezle stone, that was used by his mother as a darning egg. 1927 Harper in Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. Proc. 38.379, Sam Mizell commented upon the superstition that albino Deer have a ‘beazle-stone’ (an evident corruption of ‘bezoar’) in the throat, and will cough it up when wounded. It is something used for a charm, or to conjure with. 1981 Harper–Presley Okefinokee 97 sGA (as of a1952), Uncle Ben [=a conjure doctor] had a beazlestone, just a little rock he had in his pocket. Lay it on you and make it sweat. Ibid 99, Local tradition has it that this special deer carries a “beazlestone” in its throat. . . Allen Chesser spoke of seeing them. He said they “grow in the deer’s runnet, right where his swaller . . goes into his maw. . ” . . Other residents of Billys Island have maintained that many deer, not just white ones, have “beazlestones” in or near the heart.