THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



75 



preparations for blooming, is inclined to 

 think that nothing short of witch-craft 

 enables the blossoms to develope so rap- 

 idly; but the secret is that the petals 

 have been on the plant since August, 

 tightly folded in inconspicuous round 

 buds. These, when the petals are spread, 

 seem much to small ever to have held 

 them. The yellow star like blossoms 

 are clustered thickly around the branch- 

 es, the narrow twisted petals looking 

 like a kind of delicate golden fringe. 

 As the flowers are sessile, they are Uiost 

 conspicuous from the under side of the 

 branches until the leaves have fallen ; 

 then they shine out and seem to give 

 both light and color to the dreary No- 

 vember woods. 



After blooming for two months or 

 more, the shrub begins to form its fruit ; 

 but it does nothing hurriedly and re- 

 quires the four seasons to bring its seeds 

 to maturity. All winter the two tiny 

 pistils stand in the open yellow calyx, 

 and one wonders how they manage to 

 endure the sold and remain fruitful. 

 In spring the calyx slowly closes over 

 them, though the seeds are not ripe till 

 September. 



An examination of the fruit shows 

 that the pistils have become two hard 

 bony chambers, in each of which is a 

 single oblong seed. This is black and 

 shining, except at the top where it was 

 attached to the cell when young. 

 When the seeds are ripe the capsule 

 opens with a snap, throwing the seeds 

 to a distance of several feet. One may 

 study this habit at leisure by taking a 

 branch home with him. The seeds will 

 continue to be thrown out till all are dis- 

 persed. 



Often one is not aware that the witch- 

 hazel has a perfume till his nostrils de- 

 tect the odor of the flowers. On certain 

 days the hazel thickets are redolent of 

 it. It can hardly be called a perfume, 

 for it is rather rank and heavy at close 

 quarters; but breathed in passing 

 through the woods it is not unpleasant. 



Our witch-hazel is not the same as the 

 English plant of that name, though its 

 reputation seems to be as uncanny. It 

 is an old belief that divining-rods made 

 of this wood, were effective in discover- 

 ing witches; but if we are to believe the 

 books, the word " witch" is not derived 

 in that way, but is a mistaken spelling 

 for wych which is from the Anglo-Saxon 

 wic-en " to bend" and originally had 

 reference to the pliant nature of the 

 wood. In Scandinavian folks-lore, the 

 witch-hazel is one of Thor's trees. 



The use of twigs of witch hazel for 

 divining-rods dates back to very early 

 times. The things usually sought were 

 metals, buried treasures and hidden 

 springs of water, though instances are 

 on record where thieves and even mur- 

 derers were detected by means of the 

 divining-rod. In "Curious Myths of 

 the Middle Ages," S. Baring-Gould re- 

 lates at length the case of a person who 

 by means of this rod traced a murderer 

 over a devious course of many miles, 

 following for some distance on water 

 and finally overtook him. 



The rod generally used was a Y-shap- 

 ed twig. This is held upright before 

 the operator by his placing a forefinger 

 on each of the diverging arms. When 

 passed over hidden springs the stem 

 would dip down or begin revolving. 

 Among other methods the rod was often 

 held perpendicularly between the 

 thumbs and forefingers, or horizontally 

 on the back or palm of the open hand. 



It is certain that a forked twig of 

 witch-hazel, in the hands of some per- 

 sons, will revolve in a seemingly mys- 

 terious manner, but just how much 

 credence is to be placed in their ability 

 to find subterranean springs is hard to 

 determine. The writer has met many 

 persons who stoutly maintained that 

 veins of water could be found by this 

 means, while the majority scoff at the 

 dea. 



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