of the symbolical horseshoe, or the crescent moon, is spread all the world over. Another legend tells us how the Greeks and Romans gave the world the crescent moon as an emblem of good luck, so many thousands of replicas of which have been fashioned in brass and used as horse trappings by horsemen of all races. The crescent moon was to those nations the symbol of their loyalty to the huntress Diana, the goddess they worshipped as a protector under many varied conditions. An exceptionally fine early brass of crescent form is seen in South Kensington, where there are other early specimens pointing to the ancient and very general acceptance of the belief in the potency of symbolical horse trappings as talismans against evil and dangers of the road, happily unknown now. Almost as common is the brass fashioned like the sun god, whose face was so often looked upon with awe by the ancients. Side by side with these pagan symbols the emblems adapted by pilgrims in days when Christianity had been made the religion of the race can be seen to-day, still adorning the breast of the horse. The amulet or charm is not altogether banished at the present day. It has been worn at the watch chain, round the neck, on a bangle, and suspended from the chatelaine or the girdle. The greater use of the road by motorist and cyclist has once more brought into prominence the amulet or mascot, carried in front of the rider. The river-girl places a mascot on the prow of her boat, and the aviator screws his mascot into position "for luck." Why this should be done we cannot tell; the general belief is in some mysterious advantage from the presence of the mascot--an accepted theory by the sceptical man who shakes his head and secretly marvels at the folly of the belief. Strange to say many of the present-day mascots in brass--and that is the favourite metal--are modelled upon amulets such as we have referred to as finding their origin in pagan faiths. There are others used by motorists, such as "Cæsar," the late King Edward's dog, the "Chantecler," and the stag's head, which have no mystic meanings; on the other hand, the most favoured are such brasses as the "star and cresent" and the "rising sun" of pagan worship of our ancestors, and "Mercury" the Greek god. The brass mascot used in every form, large and small, by motorists and worn by many others so extensively is the "Swastika" of Buddhist fame, traceable in its varied form to Egyptian and other early nations. These mascots in brass, made in thousands to-day, are brass curios in the making; possibly in a century or so they may be classed with the oldest brass amulets described in this chapter, and so add to the metal relics to be collected by future curio-hunters! Copper Sheathing and Nails.