 Their inventor was the Florentine lay brother Gaspar Antonio, and a Jesuit monopoly was confirmed by the Portuguese on March 6, 1691.They were created by combining organic and inorganic materials including hair, fossil shark teeth, shells, tusks, resin, and crushed gems, then shaping the materials into a ball and covering it with gilt.Like bezoar stones, Goa stones were thought to prevent disease and cure poisoning.