Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bezoar
Be′zoar
,Noun.
[F.
bézoard
, fr. Ar. bāzahr
, bādizahr
, fr. Per. pād-zahr
bezoar; pād
protecting + zahr
poison; cf. Pg. & Sp. bezoar
.] A calculous concretion found in the intestines of certain ruminant animals (as the wild goat, the gazelle, and the Peruvian llama) formerly regarded as an unfailing antidote for poison, and a certain remedy for eruptive, pestilential, or putrid diseases. Hence: Any antidote or panacea.
☞ Two kinds were particularly esteemed, the Bezoar orientale of India, and the Bezoar occidentale of Peru.
Bezoar antelope
. See
– Antelope
. Bezoar goat
(Zool.)
, the wild goat (
– Capra ægagrus
). Bezoar mineral
, an old preparation of oxide of antimony.
Ure.
Webster 1828 Edition
Bezoar
BE'ZOAR
,Noun.
1.
An antidote; a general name for certain animal substances supposed to be efficacious in preventing the fatal effects of poison. Bezoar is a calcarious concretion found in the stomach of certain ruminant animals, composed of concentric coats surrounding each other, with a little cavity in the middle, containing a bit of wood, straw, hair, or the like substance. There are two sorts; the oriental, from Persia and the East Indies, of a shining dark green or olive color, with a smooth surface; and the occidental, from the Spanish West Indies, which has a rough surface, is less green much heavier, more brittle, and of a looser texture. The oriental is generally less than a walnut;the occidental is larger, and sometimes as large as a goose egg. The oriental bezoars are generally of a resinous composition and combustible.
2.
In a more general sense, any substance formed, stratum upon stratum, in the stomach or intestines of animals.This name is also given to the biliary calculi of certain animals.
Fossil-bezoar is a figured stone, formed, like the animal bezoar, with several coats round some extraneous body, which serves as a nucleus; found chiefly in Sicily, in sand and clay pits. It is of a purple color, and of the size of a walnut. It seems to be of the nature of bole armenian, and is called Sicilian earth.
Bezoar-mineral. This preparation is an oxyd of antimony, produced by distilling the nitrous acid several times to dryness from the sublimated muriate of antimony.