In an Iroquois myth and legend, He-no, the god of thunder, is an object of great veneration because of the powerful aid he renders to those whom he favors. He is believed to direct the rain which shall fertilize the seed in the earth, and also to give aid to the harvesters when the fruits of the earth have ripened. While traversing the celestial vault, in his journeyings hither and thither above the surface of the globe, he bears with him an enormous basket filled with huge boulders of chert rock. These he casts at any evil spirit he may encounter, and when on occasion a spirit succeeds in avoiding such a boulder, it will fall down to the earth surrounded by fire. We have here another version of the almost universal myth of thunder-stones.[199] In treating of the flint arrow-heads of the American Indians, Adair notes that in form and material they closely 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.[200] 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.[201] 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.[202] 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.[203] 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 rather look askance at these stones, believing that wherever they are found the lightning is apt to strike, “in order to seek its brother!”[204] [Illustration: By courtesy of the British Museum, London. FLINT AMULETS OF THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD, EGYPT ]