FERNS, AND THEIR ALLIES. 



37 



time for the production of stage lightning. Under 

 the name of lycopoditnn it was employed also for the 

 coating of pills, but is now almost excluded from 

 ]Materia Mcdica. 



One of the species is Lycopodiiiui selago, which is 

 believed to be the plant held in so great a repute by 

 the Druids. It was 

 called Golden Herb, 

 and was reputed to 

 confer the power of 

 understanding the 

 language of birds 

 and beasts. Pliny 

 says that the Druidic 

 Selago resembled 

 Savin, and that it 

 was gathered, as if 

 by stealth, without 

 the use of iron. 

 "The person who 

 gathers it must go 

 barefoot, with feet 

 washed, clad in 

 white, having previously offered a sacrifice of bread 

 and wine, and must pluck the plant with his right 

 hand, through the left sleeve of his tunic. It is carried 

 in a new cloth." ^ Old Gerard said that the club 

 moss, or Heath Cypress, was thought to be the Selago 

 mentioned by Pliny. " The catkins of this plant 

 are described as being of a yellowish colour, and it 

 is stated to be found growing in divers woody 



' Pliny, "Natural History," xxiv. 62. 



Fig. s- — Lycopodiutn, or Club Moss. 



