1902 Toothivort ^I'^'j 



therefore of fire also. On comparing the results of the 

 bog-finds of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, it would seem 

 that the svastika is the most rare in Sweden, most common 

 in Norway, and that the sun and fire symbols became 

 disused in Sweden and Denmark about the twelfth century 

 — i.e., about the time that Christianity was introduced 

 there. 



Therefore I conclude that the Norman (North-man) zigzag 

 is the same as the Scandinavian and the Danish zigzags. 

 These zigzags were accompaniments of the svastika or sun- 

 snakes — i.e., the symbols of the flashes of lightning accom- 

 panied the symbols of the thunder. Moreover, I think that 

 the sun -snakes and the zigzags were originally suggested 

 by the motion of the snake and by the yellow-brown zigzag 

 marks on the adder. In reference to this, I will point out 

 that a Norman arch with a snake carved actually exists in 

 the tower of Leominster Priory Church. 



Toothwort (Lathrsea squamaria). 



By James Greig. 



Toothwort is a plant destitute of chlorophyll, and so 

 must acquire its hydrocarbons through other agencies than 

 sunlight. The seeds, which are minute, and are unlike those 

 of other members of the family of Orobanchese in having 

 the radicle, stem, and cotyledons fully differentiated in the 

 embryo, germinate in the damp leaf-mould under or near 

 trees, such as the hazel and sycamore, in early spring. They 

 throw out rootlets, and if these rootlets come near or touch 

 the roots of any tree after the sap has begun to ascend, 

 they throw out fibrous processes with suckers at the end 

 which fasten upon the tree-roots. In the centre of the 

 sucker a process is developed which pierces the tree-root 

 through the vessels down to the wood, and extracts the sap 

 for its own purposes. Thus the plant grows for a while 

 underground, projecting above ground an inflorescence, the 

 part which is usually taken as a specimen of the plant. But 



