éxiftëntes jucündum dilpicjentibus præbent fpeâaculum— Inter
jafpides ëx infiilis Ferröefiftbua âHâtas, reperiuntur etiam jafponi-
ches numero hand exiguo, videtur enim naturâ in iftis iriltihs'in-
tenta elfe, ut ónieheri. viridi cölöre tirfgat, vettfi# öptïsfount, bbi
impedita non aMblvit remânet jalpbnix, quin et jaipidis capnitis
hic vnuntur Ipedïnina.’
S E C T . XI.
Kgüratai Of figured ftories Ï hâve lèverai, forhe of Which wéte foiind in
° Norway, but fhall not enlarge on thefe, as not being' peculiar to
the country; yet, I cannot fopprefs the óblèrVatidns of a judicioiis
perfön on feme fnaall circular, and, flat ftones, perfeCÖy finooth,
and of a mixed fobftance, dark brown, yellow, and grey rcrtlndilh
Ipecks being blended among one another; but they are fometimes
found as big as a hen’s egg, and by the pealants câllçd lólpefteén,
loofcning-ftones, from their opinion, that they afe beneficial to
Women in hard labours. They alfo pretend,( that this ftone is
the luppofed thunderbolt, it being found where the lightning has
penetrated, and as it were plowed up a furrow on the fliminfains.
I leave this without any comment, feit I beg leave tó infêrt the
words of the above-mentioned perfoft, Mr. Fred. Arndtz, Jupex-
nxtendanf at Sundfiord, and minifter at Itfkevold, in a .letter to me,
of the 2 2d of September, i
“ My Lord, I take the liberty to fend you in the box'which comes
along with this, a final! ftone .lately çomç into my hands, and of
which, I own the curiofity to confift only in the account which the
pealants have given, the. of it. They fay, that the thunder data
down filch ftones, aiming them at the Troll (a kind of witches, or
infernal foirits of the night) who otherwife would;deftroy the whole
world, and it makes ufe of thefe ftones for bullets. The reafon on
which they attribute thefe ftones to the thunder, is, that they are
commonly found in thole places, where the earth has been tom
up by a violent thunder-fclap; the ulual iize Of this ftone is like
that before you, though the largeft, both in figure and utmenfions,
entirely refemble a hen’s egg. That the thunder tears up the
earth into a kind of long furrows is very certain. I have leen it
myfelf here in Sundfiord, and in fuch, furrows thefe ftones are
found: this the people affirm very positively, offering lèverai in-
3 . . fiances
fiances in pfoof of it. I am1 aware,; that all that is laid of .'thefe
thurider-ftones, is by many looked . .upon;, as mere, fables, ..and I
myfel* cannot entirely eome into many, oftthefe' traditions Jiiis that
-in a violent tempeft, thefe ftones, havefbuck agairift a fhipfs fail
and -dropped down-upon‘the deck, or , that a woman, who was. at
work at her quilting-frame,., when the whole 'houfe: was fuddenly
deftroyed by a cl ap of thunder, but. Ihe not in the leaftsiburtv
found fuch U- fmallfftbliei lymg ; on ’ her frame..- 'rHoweyer'‘lbme
maintain th e truth ‘of thefe things,,; and ’ have rfotf the courage to
■refufe hiftdrical credit ‘to accounts of this, natureyjand indeed they
are not entirely' deftitute.of'- all-yerifimi litude,; if the production
-rdf the ftonef jfe?‘,confidered, its primordial-element being, a -flimy
Water, mixed with matter and ihipiflated by: fire, whence a pepr®.
lying juice. wiThe ftueco works are fuppofed toj afford <a fpecknpn
of fiich a mixture, . which aretiomewhat hardened hy the ihfufioa
of a fmall quantity of ! Watery ijbut,, by, the; iiffyfion oftioift acquire
the folidity of ftone. E That fuch a materia lenta e,t vifeofa may
i-afeend into ithkairtis'undeniable;* that the Hghtenihg m a y haw»
very wonderful effects in foo atpaolphere -mult alfo, be -.granted,
and that .a folid comprefled body by its own/ gravityidefepndK is
natural. But there feems, .potwithftanding, lefs difficulty to comprehend
the thundlr-ftones formation in the earth for the wonderful
ffdrfce of thunder, of which thefe are lb many inconteftible
evidences, and of Which I myfelf havefeeil fomeM ffie bayjiff s'h©ufe
at Turre, fhould eafily induce us to 'fubfcribe>to ’the 'foftowini; i
Words of a learned 'man,- Radios iulminares’ tefram^-penetfantesf,
arenam, quam1 forte offerijdunt,: in talem yiqua|n m'aflamilapide- 1
am per vitrificatioilem quandam colligere.' I lulpchd my jjtidg-
ment herein, and only ‘adps agreeably -to my defign, that th ii ftone
is by the peafants called laaihefteine* b e. loofening-ftone,- from
the:effedls attributed to it; for the woi^en^ahd efpeeially'the-Old
buries, imagine this ftone to be fomething exceeding^ facred; and
it is With great difficulty'they.can he brought-fo tnuch-as to-lhew
itj -much lels to part with i t ; frbm their perfeafidri,;-'tha!t‘ -beer
drawn "In % cup with this ftone in it, being^^ven- td 'a WoniSh
in labour, facilitates the delivery; or as- the peafa’nts phrafe is,
.dselaafne, i. el the' foetus is loofened, folvitur vinculum rumpitur.”
So far this letter.
" P art I. I 3 ' Z z The