108 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
resembled
the "elf-stones" with which European peasants were wont to rub any of
their cattle believed to have been "shot" by fairies or elves. A
village in which one of these magic objects existed was considered to
be particularly favored by fortune, as they not only served to protect
the cattle from bewitchment but were equally efficacious in preserving
human beings from the spells of witches.69
In
East Prussia, when cows are believed to have been bewitched so that
their milk is under a spell, resort is had to the powers of a
perforated "thunder-stone." Such stones were ancient stone hammers with
a central perforation for a handle. The stone is held beneath the cow
at milking-time, and the milk is allowed to pass through the
perforation.70 By this means the spell is broken and the milk becomes harmless.
Such
perforated stones are also used to protect a house from being struck by
lightning. When a storm approaches nearer and nearer, the owner of one
of these magic stones will thrust his finger through the hole, twirl
the stone around three times, and then hurl it against the door of the
room. When this has been done, the house is believed to be proof
against lightning.71
In
Westphalia the stone is laid upon a table alongside of a consecrated
candle, the shrewd peasants thus assuring for their houses the
protection of the church as well as that of the ancient God of Thunder.72
Another
phase of the superstition in regard to the stone axes known in many
different parts of the world as thunder-stones, because they are
believed to have fallen during a thunder-storm, is given by Dr. Lund in
a letter written from Logoa Santa in Brazil. He states that the
inhabitants
"Adair, "History of the American Indians," London, 1775, p. 425. m Frischbier, " Hexenspruch und Zauberbann," Berlin, 1870, p. 19. n Ibid., p. 107. "Hartmann, "Bilder aus Westfalen," Osnabrück, 1871, p. 144.
