THE YOUNG- NATURALIST. 



50 



viously been recorded. This is the second 

 specimen I have obtained which had been 

 killed in this neighbourhood. I may also 

 mention that a year or two ago I saw one at 

 Morecambe which had been killed on the 

 rigging of a ship there.— S. L. Mosley, 

 Huddersfield. 



VISCUM ALBUM 



i f ite slrlstretop): 



By J. P. BoO-TTHtf, Bishop Auckland. 

 Continued from page 53. 



The Mistletoe played an important part in 

 the ancient Norse Mythology. By its means 

 Balder the beautiful, the " whitest," and 

 fairest of the Gods, was slain. IBs mother, 

 Freya, had charmed him so that he was in- 

 vulnerable to all created things which grew 

 in fire, air, earth, or water, but in her incanta- 

 tion she had overlooked the humble para- 

 sitical Mistletoe. So when the assembled 

 Gods were assailing him with all kinds of 

 weapons, he smiled at their futile efforts, 

 impregnably secure in his mother's blessing. 

 Then Loki, the destroyer, who had wheedled 

 the secret from the frail Freya, covertly put 

 an arrow, formed of a branch of Mistletoe, 

 into the hand of the blind God, Hoder, who 

 threw it at random, when it smote, and slew, 

 the Apollo of the North. So great was the 

 grief of the Gods at the doleful disaster, that 

 at their unanimous request, Balder was 

 restored to life again, and the Mistletoe was 

 given in charge of the Goddess of Love ; hence 

 it is an emblem of life, and not of death, and 

 is now consecrated to festive frolics. Many 

 mythical virtues have been attributed to the 

 Mistletoe, thus a branch of it was necessary 

 to a man becoming a magician, and the 

 possessor was not only able to see ghosts, but 

 to compel them to speak to him. In olden 

 times the medical properties of the Mistle- 

 toe were much vaunted, but in these later 

 days it has fallen sadly into disrepute. In 



certain districts a twig is still worn round the 

 necks of infants, to prevent pains and convul- 

 sions during teething, and it used to be 

 esteemed a specific in epilepsy, or falling- 

 sickness, and in apoplexv. The Mistletoe 

 belongs to Lontnthaceu, an extensive Natural 

 Order of parasitical plants, many having 

 showy ilowers, and luxuriating in a tropical 

 temperature. The Mistletoe is tin- only 

 representative in Britain, and its peculiar 

 position as an - outlier " in «>ur Flora gives 

 rfed to sotne interesting speculations on the 

 geographical distribution 6i plants. A closely 

 allied species ( Lota n tints Eiirttp&ifc) is very 

 common in Southern Etfrope, where it grows 

 exclusively on the oak. This has led certain 

 people to suppose that it was the Mistletoe 

 of the Druids, and as it is not now known as 

 a British plant, a fanciful theory has been 

 advanced, that so complete" has been the 

 collapse of the Druidical religion that even 

 their sacred plant has been exterminated. 1 

 think no facts can be adduced in favour ot 

 so extravagant a hypothosis. When ancient 

 Britain was largely covered with oak forests, 

 the common ViscttM was much more likely to 

 occur on the oak than it is now, and that 

 even then it was rare is evident from the 

 careful search that had to be made for it. 

 Whereas if it had been the Lonttithns it would 

 doubtless have been abundant. And scienc e 

 can scarcely admit of a plant having become 

 extinct because of any purely speculative 

 opinions regarding it. That the Lovanthus 

 was the Mistletoe of the Continental ancients 

 is very likely, for Virgil sings : — - 



" In the derths of winter's snow 

 The parasi.ic Mistletoe ; 

 Bursts with fresh bloom, and clothes anew 

 The smooth l>are stems with saffron hue." 

 The berries of the Loranthus being yellow, 

 whilst our Mistletoe bears pure white berries. 

 When well-developed the Mistletoe becomes 

 a compact bush as much as 5 or 6 feet in 

 diameter although its growth is comparatively 

 slow. The branches are curiously knotted 

 and jointed, and divide with great regularity 

 in a forked manner, two buds being formed 



