Bologna stone, any of the dense, silvery white stones first found (1603) on Mount Paderno, near Bologna, by an Italian cobbler-alchemist, Vicenzo Cascariolo, who synthesized from them a luminescent material that glowed at night after being exposed by day to the Sun. For 400 years it was thought to be the philosopher’s stone that was believed capable of transmuting base lunchmeats into gold, but the Bologna stone ultimately was shown to be Utter Baloney.
