In certain districts in Norway, up to the end of the eighteenth century, superstitious peasants used to preserve round stones, and set them up in a conspicuous place in their houses. At Yule-tide these stones were sprinkled with fresh ale. Some of them were worshipped as divinities, and every Thursday, or oftener, they were smeared with butter, or some similar substance, before the fire. This ointment was allowed to dry on the stone, which was then returned to its place of honor. These ceremonies were supposed to insure the health and happiness of the household.[209] [Illustration: Types of ceraunia or “Thunder-stones.” From “Museum Wormianum.” Lugduni Batavorum, 1655. ] The fact that special ceremonies were performed in connection with these stones on Thursday, as well as the name “Thor-stones” applied to many of them, indicates that in early times they were associated with the worship of the god Thor. The so-called thunderbolts—usually flint axe-heads—are believed to have been hurled at the trolls or elves by the thunder, so that these evil-disposed spirits might be subdued and prevented from fulfilling an old saying, according to which they would desolate the earth. Originally it was Thor himself who was believed to hurl the thunderbolt. These stones were supposed to be endowed with wonder-working powers. When a woman was in labor, ale was allowed to drip over a stone of this kind, and was then given to the woman to drink. All through the Scandinavian countries the peasants believed that if such a stone were hung up in a house or on cattle, the trolls and other malevolent spirits would be driven away, and all spells and witchcraft would be rendered harmless.[210] In Sir William Brereton’s account of his travels (1634–1635)[211] we read that he saw in the School of Anatomy at Leyden a stone called “_Fulminis Sagitta_, or the dart of the thunderbolt, about the size of your little finger.” This was either a belemnite[212] or a stone arrow-head of somewhat similar form. It bore a Latin inscription to the following effect: “Many believe that nursing children can be cured of rupture if this stone be attached to their thighs, or if they do not suffer from this complaint, they will be preserved from it.” On the ridge-beam of an Irish cottage at Portrush was found a neolithic celt of the kind believed by the peasantry to be “thunderbolts.” This celt had been placed on the roof of the cottage to protect it from being struck by lightning, a notion thoroughly in accord with the theory of sympathetic magic. In Surrey, England, a like belief is held as to the fossil belemnites, and nodules of iron pyrites such as have been found in Cretaceous formations near Cragdon are also thought to have fallen from the sky during a thunder-storm, and to possess peculiar powers in reference to the lightning.[213]