3 
= 
Mistletoe. 
Phoradendron flavescens. Narurar Orver: Loranthacee— Mistletoe Family. 
“OUR hundred species or more of the Mistletoe are now 
known to botanists. The leaves are thick and fleshy, the 
flowers a whitish yellow, bearing a half transparent white 
berry, with a sticky pulp. It is more abundant on elm trees 
than on any other, and only when it was found on the oak 
“\koowas it considered a sacred thing by the Druids, or priests 
of the ancient Britons; when so found, they had a great tri- 
umphal procession to gather it, after which, with much solemnity, they 
laid it on a white cloth, and divided it among the people as a charm 
against disease. These plants are parasitic in nature, living on the 
, Juices of the trees on which they rest. This particular species, the 
' American mistletoe, derives its name, which was given it by Nuttall, 
from two Greek words denoting thievish tree. 
Obstartes to be QOuercome. 
UR natures are like oil: compound us with anything, 
Yet still we strive to swim upon the top. 
—Beaumont and Fletcher. 
OME, my soul, let us reason together; Come, ere the long, low light of the summer 
Come, for the shadows darken ahead; Fade to the brown of the autumn leaf; 
Care and sorrow tighten the tether, Come, lest the foot of the careless comer 
Life’s sun through the mists grows dim and red. Lag weary in paths made rough with grief. 
—Barton Grey. 
Great souls, 
By nature half divine, soar to the stars, 
And hold a near acquaintance with the gods. 
—Rowe. 
ATURE, that framed us of four elements, And measure ev’ry wand’ring planet’s course, 
Warring within our breasts for regimen, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, 
Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds: And always moving as the restless spheres, 
Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend Wills us to wear ourselves, and never rest 
The wondrous architechture of the world, Until we reach the ripest fruit of all. 
—Marlo. 
210 
if 
) 
