NUTS. 267 



treasure and springs of water, but criminals guilty of 

 murder, &c., made out so solemnly, and the effects thereof, 

 by the attestation of magistrates and divers other learned 

 and credible persons who have critically examined matters 

 of fact." Well may the author of Sylva, who tells us all 

 this, add, that it is " next to a miracle, and requires a 

 strong faith," yet it seems to have been very generally 

 believed in his day. Possibly the extraordinary result 

 said to have been attained by the patriarch Jacob, by 

 means of the use of hazel rods, may have tended to invest 

 the twigs of this tree, in the popular opinion, with special 

 and mysterious virtues. Sometimes, however, a reason 

 could be assigned for their producing more effect than 

 the similar branches of other trees, as, for instance, when 

 Parkinson informs us that " if a snake be struck with an 

 hazel wand it doth sooner stun it than with any other 

 strike; because it is so pliant that it will wind closer 

 about it, so that, being deprived of their motion, they 

 must needs die with pain and want ; and it is no hard 

 matter in like manner, saith Tragus, to kill a mad dog 

 that shall be struck with a hazel stick, such as men use 

 to walk or ride withal." So then, though it be pro- 

 verbially easy to "find a stick to strike a dog with," it 

 seems that the stick for the purpose may yet be matter of 

 selection. 



However disputed may be their special adaptation for 

 some of their assigned uses, rods of hazel are unquestion- 

 ably handsomer and more durable than those of any other 

 wood for such purposes as the construction of rustic 

 houses, garden-seats, &c., and, when dyed and well ar- 

 ranged, may be formed into very varied patterns ; a Berk- 

 shire carpenter having even so combined them as to form 

 a landscape in a sort of mosaic, the effect of which was very 

 striking. In Staffordshire they are used to make crates 

 for the potters, and in Durham they form the "corves" 

 or large baskets used in the coal-pits. They produce also 

 a very light charcoal, specially excellent for gunpowder, 

 and when charred in closed iron tubes, furnish the artist 

 with crayons for sketching his first inspirations. 



It was not the branches alone of the Hazel that were 



