STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 
—the Prince of Peace. The earliest notice of decking the 
churches and dwelling-houses with holly is in the reign of 
Henry VI., by some pious but now forgotten writer—a- 
chronicler of old customs—who, devoutly lamenting over 
the disuse of some observances in church matters, consoles 
himself with the remark that “ Our churches and houses are 
decked with rosemary, holly and ivy, with other goodlye 
shrubbes that keepe ever green; doubtless to reminde us 
that the childe then borne was God and man, who shoulde 
spring uppe as a tender fioure to live in oure hartes, and 
there dwelle for ever more.” 
Our woody red-berried Winterberry is the nearest rela- 
tion we have to the Holly in Ontario, but it is not prickly, 
neither is it an evergreen. 
The crest of the Strickland family is the Holly Tree; of 
the Gordons, the Ivy. This custom of heraldic bearings, 
especially the crest surmounting the coat of arms, is very 
ancient, and may be referred back to the time when writing 
was not in use, when it formed a sort of pictorial history as 
to the origin of the family. We find it here among Indian 
tribes, each tribe and the members of it being known by its 
totem or heraldic sign. Thus we have the “ Eagle Tribe,” 
the “Crane,” the “Crow,” the “Snake,” etc., the figure of 
bird, beast, tree, or reptile being the sign adopted by the 
heads of the tribe, or chiefs, as the sign manual to be 
appended to any deed or treaty; scratched or figured with 
pen, charred stick, or knife, or whatever is the instrument 
at hand, the totem is rudely drawn, and is the superscription 
of the tribe. 
The individual name is derived from some circumstance 
independent of the totem of the tribe; whatever object first 
meets the eye of the child is given as a name. Thus we find 
“Opechee” (robin), “Omemee” (wild pigeon), “Snow- 
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