626 THE MISTLETOE {VISCUM ALBUM). [Feb. 



light as we do ourselves. Tliey do not grow it themselves ; it is not 

 indigenous to their country, rich though it be in kindred species, so 

 they import it in immense quantities from this country and from 

 Normandy annually, and, curiously enough, it is one of those things 

 that is exempt from their protective tariff. 



The mistletoe has been surrounded by mystic interest from time 

 immemorial. The name, which is a compound of two Anglo-Saxon 

 words — mistal, gloomy, dark, or mysterious ; and tan, a twig — indi- 

 cates that even our traditional ancestors regarded it with feelings of 

 veneration akin to fear, and they certainly credited it with mystic 

 attributes which we fail to appreciate ; yet we cling to the plant and 

 associate it with our great annual time of rejoicing. The ancient 

 Druids appear to have venerated only that which was found growing 

 on the oak. They associated it with their banquets and sacrifices, 

 and gathered it for these purposes with great ceremony. Dressed 

 in white and carrying a consecrated white mantle, the priests led 

 two white bulls under the tree from which the mystic boughs were 

 to be cut. Appropriate ceremonial chants were sung, and the priest, 

 armed with a golden sickle, mounted the tree and cut the bouglis, 

 dropping them into the consecrated mantle which was spread below 

 to receive them by his attendants. 



Among the many legends that attach to this interesting plant, 

 one retained among the Scandinavian tribes is remarkable. Accord- 

 ing to this legend, Hoder, the blind god, slew Baldur, the great sun- 

 god, with an arrow which had been dipped in a subtle poison 

 extracted from the mystic plant. It would appear from this that 

 that which might prove fatal to the gods was almost a panacea for 

 all the ills of mortals, for the plant was regarded in the light of a 

 cure for all diseases. 



The mistletoe is very easily established or propagated by means 

 of its seeds or berries. Birds and other agents in nature do the 

 work, unconsciously dropping the seeds promiscuously in favourable 

 and unfavourable places, and the result is, as usual in such cases, a 

 success in the aggregate. But any one may grow his own mistletoe 

 who possesses a garden with a few apple trees growing therein. 

 Procure the seeds or berries any time during the winter, and prevent 

 them from becoming dry, and during the first mild weather make as 

 many slits in the bark of the branches near their junction with the 

 stem or with heavy limbs, and place a berry in each slit. Some, in 

 order to protect the seeds from birds, tie a strip of matting or string 

 over the berry ; but this is hardly necessary, as they are rarely 

 touched. A little clay, prepared as for grafting, spread over the 

 berry and the entire slit, is an excellent preventive of drying during 

 the germinating process of the seed. Druid. 



