512 pfanC bore, l§)egc^/, aa©L "biji'iqy, 



leg, split a Reed, and applied it, with certain precautions, to the 

 wounded part, accompanying the operation with a rustic incanta- 

 tion, such as the following : — 



" Hunt, hanat huat, 

 1st a pista sisia, 

 Damiabo da?nnaustra^' 



A Devonshire charm for the thrush is: — Take three Reeds from 

 any running stream, and pass them separately through the mouth 

 of the infant; then plunge the Reeds again into the stream, and as 

 the current bears them away, so will the thrush depart from the 



child. From the Reed (Calamus) the first pen was invented, and 



of Reeds arrows were made. The root of Calamus aromaticus was 

 highly esteemed in eastern countries: thus we read in Gerarde's 

 ' Herbal,' that " the Turks at Constantinople take it fasting, in the 

 morning, against the contagion of the corrupt aire; and the Tartars 

 have it in such esteeme, that they will not drinke water unlesse 



they have first steeped some of the root therein." In the 



Ukraine, is current a version of the tradition alluded to under the 

 head of Oats. In this version, the Reed belongs to the Devil, and 

 has, in facfl, been his habitation since the days of Jesus Christ. 

 One day, having met the Saviour, he prayed Him to give to him as 

 his portion the Oats and Buckwheat, because, after having assisted 

 the Almighty to create the world, he had never received for himself 

 any consideration. The Saviour consented, and the Devil was so 

 delighted, that he skipped off without even thanking his benefa(flor. 

 The wolf met him, and seeing him so elated, asked him why he 

 was jumping and skipping about ? This question confused the 

 Devil, who, instead of replying "because God has given me the 

 Oats and Buckwheat," said : " I am skipping because God has 

 given me the Reed and the Sow-thistle." From that time, it is 

 said, the Devil never could recolledl: the present that God had 

 made him, but always imagined that it was the Reed and the Sow- 

 thistle. According to English dream oracles, for the slumberer 



to see Reeds betokens mischief between him and his friends. 



REED-MACE.— The Bulrush, or Cat's-Tail {Typha latifolia), 

 has acquired the name of Reed-Mace from the fa(51: that Rubens 

 and the early Italian painters, in their Ecce Homo pictures, depicft 

 the Saviour as holding in His hands this Reed as a mace or sceptre. 

 The Reed-Mace is, on certain days, put by Catholics into the 

 hands of statues of Christ. 



Resurrection-Flower. — See Rose of Jericho. 



RHAMNUS. — The Rhamnus Spina Christi, or Syrian Christ's 

 Thorn, has acquired that name because it is supposed by many to 

 have supplied the crown of Thorns at our Saviour's crucifixion. 

 An English species, Rhamnus Palmrus, is also called by M.'\\\qx Spina 

 Christi. (See Thorn and Buckthorn.) 



