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West of England there is a superstition that the cross was made of 
mistleto, which until this time had been a fine forest tree, but was 
condemned henceforth to lead a parasitical existence." There is no 
doubt that this legend was invented by Christian mission: 
Reverence for plants and animals is the most difficult form of super- 
stition to eradicate, and the expedient of giving the superstition a 
fresh^ direction has been frequently adopted. Heiligheu or '* holy 
hay/* is another German name. 
VogeNeim in German means both birdlime and mistleto. Liga 
(Spanish) signifies the mistleto, birdlime, a garter, and a league. Its 
derivation is self-evident, Pania and paniaje are Italian names for 
the plant. Pania means also "birdlime," and is evidently connected 
with paniccia, ''paste," and pane, ''bread." Adabac, dahac, debach, 
and debkh (Arabic) are connected with the Hebrew ^^^/t/^, "that 
which adheres." Gin is both provincial and dictionary French, con- 
nected with our word glue, and meaning both mistleto and birdlime, 
and glutier is a Norman name for the plant. In Walloon we find the 
word verjalle, which generally means birdlime, but in some dialects 
IS applied to the mistleto. Literally it is petite verge or " little rod/' 
Limed twigs probably form the connecting idea. Birdlime was 
formerly made from the berries of this plant by crushing them when 
npe, carefully separating the pulp from the skins and seeds, and 
boiling it for some time. It was then laid in a cool place, and, after 
fermenting a long time, it was washed with water to separate the 
branny particles, and was then ready for use. At a very early date 
U was used for catching small birds, and at the present day large 
numbers of nightingales are taken by its means. 
- In the Limbourg dialect of Walloon the names haviustai and 
hamustaine are used. In the Ardennais dialect the latter is con- 
tracted to haustaine. These words seem to be identical with the 
Anglo-Saxon acmistel, or oak mistleto. 
In Walloon we find also the names anse-di-poty or *' pot-handle," 
which Grandgagnage says "explains itself," siud imitia, from insirei- 
^^w, a derivative of insittnn, meaning " a grafted branch." 
In the dialect of the Aube (France) we have hlondeau^ bouchiny 
breton, and iouvotie. Breton may refer to its worship by the Bretons; 
ioiivotte closely resembles lonvette, a name in another district for the 
^///tfw vineale^y<j\\\c\\ is doubtless connected with /t?//^, ** a wolf." 
t his species of Allium is known as crow garlic, and in the Aube it is 
^lled Porre-aU'loup, Muerdago is a Spanish name for the plant. 
J^he names in the Slavonic languages are very much like each other, 
but we do not know their meaning. Thus the Bohemian is vielj, 
^'^f///, yneiij\ gmelj\ or omeli; Russian, omela; Vo\\s\jemiolaox j'emiel; 
Lithuanian and Lettish, amalai, cBmalus, and ahmals. These are 
strangely like the modern Greek names, meiios, or melias. The glist- 
ening berries are sometimes called by the French pomme hemorrhoi- 
^^le, and the Portuguese call them pommo hemorrhoidaL They do 
^ot seem to have been ever used as a cure for piles; their resembl- 
ance to the disease probably gave them the name. Some of the 
^tiltic names still remain to be mentioned. The commonest and 
^ost important is gwid, gwidhel, or gwydhel, litteraliy '' ///^ shrub." 
