THE MISLKTOE. 



431 



of the same nature, though effected by a difFerent 

 species of insect. There are various inseets pos- 

 sessing the instinct thus to deposit their eggs, 

 that are furnished with au apparatus of the most 

 curious construction, necessary for puncturing 

 the branch, as is done by tlie parent, and for 

 piercing a way out of the gall, as is done by the 

 insect produced, after it has passed its larva state. 

 Each species of insect chooses not only the par- 

 ticular vegetable, but the part of that vegetable 

 which is best adapted for the reception of its 

 larvse; and in this way the same plant, for in- 

 stance the oak, sometimes receives the nests of 

 twenty diflFerent species of insects. A gall some- 

 times contains a single larva, sometimes many, 

 and it is thus either caUed simple or com- 

 pound. 



" The insect that wounds the leaf of the oak," 

 says Mr Knapp, " and occasions the formation 

 of the gall-nut, and those which are likewise the 

 cause of the apple rising on the sprays of the 

 same tree, and those flower-like leaves on the 

 buds, have performed very different operations, 

 either by the instmment that inflicted the wound, 

 or by the injection of some fluid to influence the 

 action of the parts. That extraordinary hairy 

 excrescence on the wild rose, likewise the result 

 of the wounds of an insect (a/nips roscej, re- 

 sembles no other nidus required for such crea- 

 tures that we know of; and these red spines on 

 the leaf of the maple are difFerent again from 

 others. It is useless to inquire into causes of 

 which we probably can obtain no certain results; 

 but, judging by the efi^ects produced by different 

 agents, we must conclude that,- as particular birds 

 require and fabricate from age to age very differ- 

 ent receptacles for their young, and make choice 

 of dissimilar materials, though each species has 

 the same instruments to effect it, where, gene- 

 rally speaking, no sufficient reasons for such va- 

 riety of forms and texture is obvious; so is it 

 fitting that insects should be furnished with a 

 variety of powers and means to accomplish their 

 requirements, having wants more urgent, their 

 nests being at times to be so constructed as to 

 resist the influence of seasons, to contain the 

 young for much longer periods, even occasionally 

 to furnish a supply of food, or be a storehouse to 

 afford it when wanted by the infant brood." 



According to Reaumur, the cynips is provided 

 with a needle in a sheath, which has most sur- 

 prising powers of extension, derived from the 

 peculiar construction of the whole body of the 

 insect, so much so that the needle can be ex- 

 tended to double the length of the animal itself; 

 and thus it forms a nest for its offspring, while 

 the young, in the same manner, pierce their way 

 out of the vegetable shell which has been their 

 protection. 



Another parasite of a vegetable kind, also fre- 

 quently found on the oak, and connected with 



this tree by the mysteries of the Druids, we shall 

 also here describe. 



The Misletoe (visoum album). Dimcia, te- 

 trandria, of Linna;u3. This may be considered 



168. 



The Misletoe. 



the only true parasitical plant indigenous to Bri- 

 tain, as at no period of its existence does it de- 

 rive any nourishment from the soil or from de- 

 cayed bark, like some of the fungi, &c. It is 

 an evergreen. The branches are numerous and 

 forked, covered with a smooth bark of a yellow- 

 ish green colour. The leaves are tongue-shaped, 

 entire, in pairs upon very short footstalks. The 

 flowers are male and female in different plants, 

 axillary, and in short close spikes; neither male nor 

 female flowers have a corolla, the parts of fruc- 

 tification spring from the calyx. The fruit is a 

 globular smooth white berry, covered with a 

 viscous substance ; these berries appear in win- 

 ter. The root insinuates its fibres into the 

 woody substance of the tree, and thus derives 

 nourishment from the plant. The whole forms 

 a pendent bush of from two to five feet in dia- 

 meter. It grows on various trees, chiefly fruit 

 trees, or on the thorn, oak, and maple, ash, or 

 even pines. There is only one species that grows 

 on the oak, though at one time designated by a 

 distinct name, being found identical with the 

 others. It is generally conveyed from tree to 

 tree by birds, which swallow the berries, and 

 pass the seeds undigested. It may also be rea- 

 dUy propagated artificially, by introducing the 

 berries into slits in the bark of a suitable ti-ee. 

 By the Druids the misletoe was held sacred, and 

 many virtues were attached to it. They sent 

 round their attendant youths with this plant to 

 announce the entrance of the new year ; and a 

 somewhat similar custom is still continued in 

 France. In England, branches of it are hung 

 up in most houses at Christmas, along with other 

 evergreens. Birds feed on the berries, especially 



