2i6 THE TREE BOOK 



best wishes for a plentiful year. Also bouglis 

 and green wreaths were hung in their temples as 

 a comfort and shelter for the poor woodland 

 spirits, whom they imagined were having as 

 sorry and cheerless a time as themselves. 



When the news of the Savior's birth spread 

 abroad, sprays of holly were hung up as sym- 

 bols of gladness. Later the spikes and leaves 

 of holly came to suggest Christ's crown of 

 thorns, and the red of its berries his blood, so 

 that in Germany and Sweden it is called the 

 Christ-thorn. Legend says that the hoUy was 

 the burning bush from which God spoke to 

 Moses. In the old Bible countries the tree 

 grows low and ' bushy. Our fathers called it 

 the holy tree, and gave it honor on Christmas 

 day. 



The holly is supposed by some races to have 

 sprung up in the footsteps of the baby Christ, 

 and it is said that, though man has forgotten, 

 the beasts know and respect it. No animal 

 feeds upon the holly. Insects are supposed to 

 let the tree strictly alone. Probably a large 

 part of this avoidance is due to the fact that 

 the holly leaves have such a bitter taste. Do 

 you know how the holly leaves are kept green? 

 It is one of Nature's best contrivances. The 

 thin waxy skin which covers them forms an air- 



