pfant Isof©, "begef^^/, cm^ 'bijric/'. 295 



that on the night of the third of May the blessing of Heaven de- 

 scends on the Corn in the form of a minute red insetft, which re- 

 mains on the Wheat only for two or three days. In Piedmont, it 



is a custom in certain distri(fls, on the last day of February, for the 

 children to roam the meadows, crying, " March, March, arrive ! and 



for every grain of Wheat let us receive a hundred." At Venice, 



on Midsummer Eve, young girls sow some Corn in a pot, which 

 they then place in a position where the sun cannot enter ; after 

 eight days they remove the pot : the Corn has then sprouted ; and 

 if it is green and healthy, it is a token to the -girl that she will have 

 a rich and handsome husband ; but if the sprout is yellow or white, 



it is a sign that the husband will be anything but a good one. In 



Corsica, after a wedding, just before the feast, the men and children 

 retire, and the women seat the bride on a measure full of Corn, 

 from which they have each previously taken a handful. The 

 women then commence saying an invocation, and during this each 

 one scatters the handful of Corn over the bride's head. In Eng- 

 lish harvest-fields the prettiest girl present is chosen to cut the last 



handful of Corn. In Sweden, if a grain of Corn be found under the 



table when sweeping on a New Year's morn, it is believed to be a 



portent of an abundant crop that year. A tuft of Corn or Grass 



was given by Eugene and Marlborough as a cockade to the German, 

 Dutch, and English soldiers comprising the army. The facftion of 

 the Fronde opposed to Cardinal Mazarin wore stalks of Corn to 



distinguish them. Corn and Grapes typify the Blessed Eucharist. 



An ear of Corn is a prominent emblem in Freemasonry, proving 

 that the order did not originally confine their intellecfls or their 

 labours to building operations, but also devoted themselves to agri- 

 culture. Astrologers appear to be divided in their opinions as 



to whether Corn is under the dominion of Venus or the Sun. 



In dreams, to pluck Corn-ears portends secret enemies ; otherwise, 

 dreams of Corn betoken good fortune, prosperity, and happiness. 



Corn-flower. See Centaury. 



Corn-Marigold. See Chrysanthemum. 



CORNEL. — After Romulus had marked out the bounds of 

 his rising city, he threw his javelin on the Mount Palatine. The 

 weapon, made of the wood of the Cornel (Cornus masciila), stuck 

 fast in the ground, took root, grew, threw out leaves and branches, 

 and became a flourishing tree. This prodigy was considered as 

 the happy presage of the power and duration of the infant empire. 



According to some accounts, the Cornel, or Cornelian Cherry, 



is the tree which sprang from the grave of Prince Polydorus, who 

 was assassinated by Polymnestor. The boughs of this tree dropped 

 blood when ^neas, journeying to Italy, attempted to tear them 



from the tree. The Greeks consecrated the Cornel to Apollo; 



and when, in order to construdt the famed wooden horse during 

 the siege of Troy, they felled, on Mount Ida, several Cornelian- 



