Publications
Herbert Toms and the geological folklore of Sussex, by Christopher Duffin, published 2009 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 77, article, p.57) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/77] & The Keep [LIB/500501]
Herbert Toms (1874-1940), witch stones, and "porosphaera" beads, by Christopher J. Duffin, published April 2011 in The Folklore Society (vol. 122, issue 1, article, pp.84-101) View Online
After early employment with the archaeologist, General Pitt Rivers, Herbert Samuel Toms (1874-1940) was a curator in the Brighton Museum. He amassed a significant folklore archive, including specimens, photographs, and records of interviews from Sussex and adjoining counties, his particular interest was naturally perforated flints (witch stones or hagstones), used to protect households against witches, domestic animals from the ravages of the nightmare, and to cure a range of diseases. By the 1920s, they were regarded as little more than "lucky stones", as were necklaces made up of the Cretaceous fossil sponge, Porosphaera.