The crescent is made from a thin plate of metal, and is worn by children on the west coast of India, with the points upwards, as a protection against the evil eye, and gold ornaments of similar shape are among those which were worn in ancient Peru. The moon, from times of remote antiquity, has been represented by a ring for the full moon and a half-ring or sickle for the crescent. Miss Eckenstein does not, however, carry the origin of the horse amulets back to the stone stage of civilization, but she thinks that the crescent represents two boars' tusks joined together by a thong, and the horse-amulet now worn in Italy shows the thinness and sharpness of curve that would be evident in one which was made out of boars' tusks. [Illustration: FIG. 163.--An English horse amulet in the form of a crescent. The flat places near the tips of the horns are evidence that the form is derived from two boars' tusks.] We may point out that in some English crescents the hollows which one tusk makes by wearing against its fellow are represented by little flat places on the horns of the crescent near their tips. (See Figure 163.) The brasses seen in England to-day are worn on the face-plate, breast-plate, and martingale. On grand occasions, such as May Day celebrations, and the cart-horse parade of Whit Monday, brasses are specially put on, though there is a tendency now for them to be stamped out of thin metal instead of being cast, with the result that they soon wear out. German horses wear the crescent on a strap which dangles below the right ear. The English crescent from harness will be found to match those which are represented on the horses on Trajan's column and other monuments. The same design is to be seen also on the harness of camels and elephants. The most important symbol besides the moon is that of the sun, which is worn on the top of the head between the ears. Heraldic brasses are not uncommon, and the heart-shaped amulet is also seen; it is possible, too, that this form may be connected with that of the flint arrows, which we have already mentioned as being worn as amulets. In Egypt, an amulet hung on a cow is said to protect the woman who owns it, and Miss Eckenstein suggests a similar origin in the case of the heart worn by horses. A brass showing a horse rampant, came from the estate of the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel, and it will be seen on looking at the arms of the nobleman in question that this device forms one of the supporters of his shield. In prehistoric Egypt the slate palettes on which malachite was ground for face painting were often in the form of two birds, with their bodies put back to back, and their heads fully shown, and when this form degenerates it becomes a kind of heart-shaped shield. Professor Petrie has pointed out that when this decoration is used, as on coffins and elsewhere, it is often thought to be merely a shield. Possibly the heart-shaped amulet may have some connection with this.