Camp, Dawn. "Mad Stone.Myth or Miracle," WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORIAN, (Salem, Indiana: Washington County Historical Society, Fall 2010), pp. 20. NOTE: The information noted below was abstracted by Randi Richardson from material that is copyright protected. For more information, contact the John Hay Center at 812-883-6495. The article is accompanied by one picture. A mad stone is a hard hairball supposedly taken from the stomach of a deer. It was historically believed to have magical powers to heal rabies and the poisonous bites or a snake or spider. The strength of the stone reportedly had to do with the color of the deer-brown, spotted or white. Mary Emery, the daughter of William and Mary Overman, was the wife of Josiah Emery, a Civil War veteran. About 1880, Mary was given a mad stone. Her granddaughter, Catherine Emery, donated the stone to the museum at Salem in 1972 where it is now on display.