How to Test Real Unicorn Horn

edieval pharmacists believed in the power of the Unicorn as a medicine, and the Unicorn even became the apothecaries' symbol. According to St. Hildegard, who passionately believed in the power of the Unicorn to heal illness, the Unicorn's strength came from the fact that once a year, it returned to drink the waters and eat the vegetation of paradise.

Ground Unicorn horn was said to cure fever, plague, epilepsy, rabies, gout, and a host of other ailments. Unicorn liver was a cure for leprosy. Shoes made of Unicorn leather assured healthy feet and legs, and a belt of Unicorn leather worn around the body warded off plague and fever. Belief in the power of the Unicorn was widely held in England until the mid- I 700s.

In order to distinguish "real" alicorn from false alicorn, elaborate tests were devised. Among them are the following:

* Place scorpions under a dish with apiece of horn. If the scorpions die in a matter of hours, the horn is real.
* Feed arsenic to pigeons, followed by a dose of Unicorn horn. If the pigeons live, the horn is genuine.
* Draw a ring on the floor with the horn. If the horn is real, a spider will not be able to cross the ring.
* Place the horn in cold water. If the water bubbles but remains cold, the horn came from a Unicorn.