£ 7 4 NATURAL HISTORY of N RWAY. 



exiftentes jucundum difpicientibus prsebent fpe&aculum — Inter 

 jafpides ex infulis Ferroenfibus allatas, reperiuntur etiam jafponi- 

 ches numero haud exiguo, videtur enim natura in iftis infulis in- 

 tenta effe, ut onichen viridi colore tingat, verum opus fuum ubi 

 impedita non abfolvit remanet jafponix, quin et jafpidis capnitis 

 hie vifuntur rpecimina.' 



SEC T. XL 



Figurated Of figured ftones I have feveral, fome of which were found in 



ftones. 



Norway, but fhall not enlarge on thefe, as not being peculiar to 

 the country ; yet, I cannot fupprefs the obfervations of a judicious 

 perfon on feme fmall circular, and flat ftones, perfectly fmooth, 

 and of a mixed fubftance, dark brown, yellow, and grey roundifh 

 fpecks being blended among one another ; but they are fometimes 

 found as big as a hen's egg, and by the peafants called lofpefteen, 

 loofening-ftones, from their opinion, that they are beneficial to 

 women in hard labours. They alfo pretend, that this ftone is 

 the fuppofed thunderbolt, it being found where the lightning has 

 penetrated, and as it were plowed up a furrow on the mountains. 

 I leave this without any comment, yet I beg leave to infert the 

 words of the above-mentioned perfon, Mr. Fred. Arndtz, fiiper- 

 intendant at Sundfiord, and minifter at Itfkevold, in a letter to me, 

 of the 2 2d of September, 1750. 



" My Lord, I take the liberty to fend you in the box which comes 

 along with this, a fmall ftone lately come into my hands, and of 

 which, I own the curiofity to confift only in the account which the 

 peafants have given me of it. They fay, that the thunder darts 

 down fuch ftones, aiming them at the Troll (a kind of witches, or 

 infernal fpirits 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 thofe places, where the earth has been torn 

 up by a violent thunder-clap; the ufual fize of this ftone is like 

 that before you, though the largeft, both in figure and dimenfions, 

 entirely refemble a hen's egg. That the thunder tears up the 

 earth into a kind of long furrows is very certain. I have feen it 

 myfelf here in Sundfiord, and in fuch furrows thefe ftones are 

 found: this the people affirm very pofitively, offering feveral in- 



ftances 



