68 THE LAUREL. 



as he entered or left the temple, and liked to take away 

 a leaf of it in his mouth. The Roman Catholic Church 

 discarded Laurel twig.s as aspergilla and adopted the 

 Hyssop ( OriganiDu SinyniaeiDii) for that purpose from 

 the Jews. 



According to Plin\- the Laurel does not burn freeh'. 

 This is proved \>\ its crackling. The power of warding 

 olf lire was ascribed to [this tree because in the con- 

 flagration during the consulship of Spurius Postumius and 

 Piso the Sacrarium, protected as ^^■as supposed by a 

 Laurel which stood in front of it, remained intact while 

 the Regia was in flames. On the other hand Laurel 

 wood was used by the ancients in the kindling of fire ; 

 it did not, however, ignite itself, but, as Theophrastus 

 and I-'liny report, formed the rubbing stick, while the 

 base or socket, which took tire hy friction, usually con- 

 sisted of Buckthorn (Rham)ius) or Iv\' wood. A pure 

 sacrificial lire might onh" be kindled b\' the friction of 

 two pieces of luck-\' wood, or b^■ the sun's ra^'s concen- 

 trated \>\ means of a burning glass, or co^ca^■e metal 

 mirrors. Laurel was also said to ward off lightning; and 

 therefore the superstitious Tiberius, as vSuetonius relates, 

 crowned himself with a wreath of this plant when a 

 storm was threatening. Certain obser\'ations may have 

 gi^'en rise to the belief that the T^aurel possesses peculiar 

 storm repelling powers, for some trees are less frequently 

 struck b}' lightning than others. In our o^vn coimtry 

 Walnut trees are ver\' seldom struck and Oaks the most 

 free|uenth'. The reason for this is tliat the conducting 

 power of wood varies much in different species. It 



