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ON METEORITES, OR CELESTIAL STONES 115
they are carefully preserved and shown to the pilgrims who visit the different shrines.90
Even
at the present day, the superstitious belief in the magic properties of
the prehistoric stone implements still survives among some of the
Scandinavian peasants. They believe that these offer protection against
lightning, and they are very unwilling to part with them. In some
regions the stone axes or arrow-heads are supposed to afford
protection against lightning, and they are occasionally used to
relieve the pangs of childbirth. In the latter case they are placed in
the bed of the suffering woman. Another curious use to which they are
put is as a cure for an eruptive disease of children. Here the flint is
struck sharply with a piece of steel, so that the sparks fall upon the
child's head.91 This gives us an added proof of the association of these stone axes, etc., with fire and with the lightning flash.
The
Burmese celts or stone hatchets are frequently of jade and differ from
those usually met with in Europe and India, in that they are provided
with a chisel-edge instead of a double-sloped cutting edge. An
interesting account of the superstitions connected with these
implements is given by Mr. Theobald,92 from whom we quote
the following passage. It will be noted that the Burmese ideas are in
almost exact accord with those current in Europe.
The Burmese call these implements mo-jio, thunder-chain
or thunderbolt, and believe that they descend with the lightning
flash, and, after penetrating the earth, work their way back by
degrees to the surface, where they are found scattered about the fields
among the lower hills, usually after rain, or on removing the crops.
The true mo-jio is supposed to possess many occult virtues, and
it is not common to find one which does not show signs of having been
chipped or scraped for medicinal purposes.
"Von Siebold, Jr., Verhandl. Beri. Anthrop. Ges., 1878, p. 431. u Sven
Nilsson, " The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia," trans, by the
author and ed. by Sir John Lubbock, 3d ed., London, 1868, p. 199.
"Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, vol. x, pp. 255-259.
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