62 FAMILIAR TREES 



their spreading character, spits of Hazel were- also 

 used in the sacrifice to Bacchus of the goat that 

 browsed on the plants sacred to him. In mediesval 

 times considerable respect seems to have been paid 

 to the Hazel, and many cases have been recorded, 

 both in England and on the Continent, of the 

 occurrence of Hazel-wands in the coffins of 

 ecclesiastics, possibly in commemoration of a 

 pilgrimage performed by the deceased. But it$ 

 chief importance was for ages derived from its 

 supposed magical powers of divination. The use 

 of the divining-rod would seem, from Hosea iv. 12, 

 to be of extreme antiquity, and the " virgula 

 Mercurialis," as it was termed in Roman times, 

 though sometimes, as now, made of Willow or 

 other wood, or even of metal, was frequently of 

 Hazel. Its virtue was supposed to depend upon its 

 having two forks, which were so grasped in the 

 fists, with the fingers uppermost, that the free 

 end might turn downward towards the object 

 sought. In other cases the rod was peeled and 

 simply laid on the palm of the hand. In the 

 fifteenth century this art of divination was named 

 rhabdomancy. " It is," says Evelyn, " very won- 

 derful, by whatever occult virtue the forked stick 

 (so cut, and skilfully held) becomes impregnated 

 with those invisible steams and exhalations, as by 

 its spontaneous bending from a horizontal posture 

 to discover not only mines and subterranean trea- 

 sure and springs of water, but criminals guilty of 

 murder, etc. . . . Certainly next to a miracle 

 and requires a strong faith." Even Linnaeus con- 



