150 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



Such relics of barbarism in our midst are 

 not very nattering t'o the progress of 

 nineteenth century enlightenment. It 

 is only two seasons ago that a young 

 lady of my acquaintance was gravely 

 warned that if she wore a spray of may 

 blossom for her personal adornment 

 she would never live to see it bloom 

 again; she has already lived long 

 enough to prove the fallacy of the 

 advice. But it is a current belief in 

 certain districts, as is also the fancy 

 that to sleep in a room with blossomed 

 hawthorn in May portends some great 

 disaster. Such fearful portents ill 

 become a plant which, in the language 

 of flowers, symbolises " hope," and 

 which was anciently regarded as a 

 lucky plant. For in the recent revival 

 of Eoman customs in the pageant at 

 Pompeii, which was nothing if it was 

 not a faithful reflex of primitive times 

 and manners. In the representation 

 of the marriage ceremonies, the bride 

 was presented with a bunch of haw- 

 thorn at her house door, as an emblem 

 of good wishes. 



Medicinally the hawthorn is of little 

 repute, even Culpeper, who laid every 

 herb of the field under contribution, 

 can only say for it : " If cloths and 

 sponges be wet in the distilled water, 

 and applied to any place wherein 

 thorns and splinters, or the like, do 

 abide in the flesh, it will notably draw 

 them forth. And thus you see the 

 thorn gives a medicine for his own 



pricking, and so doth almost every- 

 thing else." This is on a par with the 

 mystic remedy of applying a salve to 

 the sword in order to heal the wound. 



An immense number and variety of 

 insects feed on the hawthorn. As 

 many as 500 different species are said 

 to be found on it. And its general 

 distribution makes it a prolific hunting 

 ground for the Entomologist, for it 

 ascends from the sea coast to an alti- 

 tude of 1,800 feet, and ranges over the 

 whole kingdom, except the extreme 

 north of Scotland. It is generally dis- 

 tributed over the whole of Europe, 

 Northern Africa and Western Asia, 

 and is frequently planted in North 

 America. 



The generic name Cratcegus— Greek 

 cratos, strong — refers to the strength 

 and toughness of its wood. The spe- 

 cific name Qxyacantlia — from the Greek 

 oxy, sharp; acantlia, a thorn — is ex- 

 pressvie enough ; it also possibly refers 

 to the Greek acanthus, the foliage of 

 which forms the characteristic orna- 

 ment of Corinthian architecture. And 

 everyone with an artistic eye must 

 have noticed and admired how the 

 graceful flowing lines and curves of 

 the hawthorn leaf lends itself to deco- 

 rative embellishment. The common 

 name of " hawthorn " is interesting as 

 showing the early period at which this 

 plant became applied to its present 

 and most general use, viz., the forma- 

 tion of fences. The Anglo.Saxon haga 



