304 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OP GLASGOW. 



are all ti-ees on which it does well. The last is perhaps the best 

 to try, as it is very ornamental both in spring and autumn. 



The way the mistletoe is disseminated by its seed has been 

 frequently mis-stated. 



It is quite right to suppose that the missel-thrush feeds on 

 and is rery fond of the ben-ies, but when it is said that the 

 undigested seed from their excrement is deposited on a branch 

 and grows, that, surely, must be taken with a grain of salt. 



The germinating power left in a small, soft seed after coming 

 through the gizzard of a bird must be very poor indeed. 



When the thrush feeds ravenously on the berries, a few some- 

 times stick to the outside of its bill. It flies to a neighbouring 

 tree, wipes its bill on a branch, and there you have natural, 

 simple, and true innoculation and dissemination. 



The mistletoe has been blamed for damaging apple trees, and 

 this may be the case to a small extent in the South of England 

 and France, but that need not frighten anyone who wishes to 

 grow this curious and interesting plant, the growing and study 

 of which will afford more pleasure and instruction, and at less 

 expense, than any other plant we know. 



Long ago the mistletoe was held in high esteem for its 

 supposed medicinal virtues — a kind of cure-all — but now no one 

 believes in its power, excepting perhaps for one malady, that of 

 a broken heart ! This, under certain circumstances, it com- 

 pletely cures, for which statement we have classical authority, 

 for was not the mistletoe plant originally dedicated to the 

 goddess " Frigga," the Venus of the Saxons ! 



