An Ancient Bladder Stone

In the course of routine examination of an 18-year-old male mummy from one of the Basket Maker caves of northeastern Arizona, Mr. S. J. Guernsey of Peabody Museum, Harvard University, found among the articles associated with the burial an ovoid stone the size of a lime. Examination of the stone showed no perforation or other means for attaching it to the body or clothing as in case of an amulet or ornament. The stone is symmetrically oval and measures: length, 42 mm.; breadth, 34 mm.; thickness, 27 mm. The weight is approximately 1 ounce troy, or 32 Gm. It has a somewhat chalky look and, like chalk, it leaves its white mark when rubbed on a hard surface. The surface is not smooth but has a shallow reticular pitting of a brownish hue which shows through the chalky white. The stone is soft and easily drilled. The field notes