2o6 FLORA OF THE 



and may be some other forms ; that the ' fleur-de-lys ' 

 and the trident are compounds of the tree and horns, the 

 former being degraded into a stick. 



{c) That the cone fruit, held in the hand of the 

 genius, is no other than a sacred thing — a cedar cone 

 — used as a sprinkler of holy water, which is contained 

 in the bucket ; and that the whole winged figure was 

 a symbol of Divine protection. 



{(i) That the ' evil eye ' and ' evil spirits ' were real 

 terrors to them, all their maladies and disasters and 

 troubles being the machinations of devils; and that 

 their principal weapons for warring against these un- 

 seen evil-doers were holy water and horns. They had 

 their good gods, but they must have thought them handi- 

 capped by the cunning of the evil ones, and so they 

 required these extra weapons as charms, to frighten 

 them away. They had a notion of a Supreme God, to 

 whom they prayed ; but they thought it better to be 

 on the safe side, and used these extra weapons, which 

 tradition had taught them to be supremely efficacious. 



{/) That the lotus was essentially of Egyptian origin, 

 as an ornament ; that the ' anthemion ' originated in the 

 sacred date tree of the Assyrians ; and that subsequently 

 the two motives of ornamentation became hybridized, 

 and in some cases indistinguishable, owing to the con- 

 tact of both nations. There is evidence that this contact 

 was of very ancient date. 



