SESSILE-FRUITED OAK. 



285 



teristic beauties of the Oak," whereas those of Quer. sessili- 

 flora, though larger in size, are less thickly set, and, from 

 the length of the petioles, hang loose and straggling, and 

 give to the general aspect of the foliage that want of depth 

 and solidity possessed by the other. In legendary history 

 the Oak appears to have been invested with a sacred 

 character, and to have been the symbol under which the 

 gods of the Celts and ancient Britons were worshipped, 

 for under this form divine honours were paid by the Celts 

 to their god Teut, and by the Britons to Tarnawa, their 

 god of thunder. The rites of Druidism were many of 

 them performed under the shade of the Oak, and the 

 misseltoe, when found growing upon it, was held in pecu- 

 liar veneration. It was from the traditionary recollection 

 of the sacred character of the Oak, even after Druidical 

 worship was abolished, that its wood was always appro- 

 priated to the most memorable uses, and it is to cere- 

 monies connected with that worship that the origin of 

 the yule log is dated, with which the Christmas fire, 

 even to the present day, is still lighted in this and some 

 other districts of the kingdom. 



In concluding the history of the Oak, we must not omit 

 the extraordinary number of insects that are wholly or 

 partially supported by it, amounting, it is supposed, to 

 nearly two thousand species, fifteen hundred of which 

 may be considered to be phytophagous, or actual feeders 

 upon some portion of the tree, the remainder as parasites 

 attached to these, and belonging to the ichneumonidse, 

 and other parasitic tribes. To enumerate even a tenth 

 of these inhabitants of the Oak would occupy greater 

 space than we can afford ; we must, therefore, restrict our 

 remarks to a few of the most remarkable species belonging 

 to the various orders, and this we do with the less com- 



