Chap. 95.] 
THE MISTLETOE. 
435 
then voided by birds, the wood-pigeon more particularly, and 
the thrush : such being the nature of the plant, that it will 
not come to anything unless the seed is first ripened in the 
crop of the bird. It never exceeds a single cubit in height, 
and is always green and branchy. The male^^ plant is fruit- 
ful, the female barren ; sometimes, indeed, the male even 
bears no berry. 
CHAP. 94. THE METHOD OF MAKING BIKDLIME. 
Eirdlime is made of the berries of the mistletoe, which are 
gathered at harvest, and while in an unripe state ; for if the 
rainy season comes on, though they increase in size, the viscous 
juice is apt to lose its virtues. They are then dried,^^ and 
when brought to a state of perfect aridity, are first pounded, 
and then put in water, in which they are left to rot for twelve 
days ; this beiDg, in fact, the only thing that finds improve- 
ment in decay. After this, they are again beaten in running 
water with a mallet, and after losing the outer coat there is 
only the viscous inner pulp remaining. This substance is 
birdlime ; and after it has been thinned by the addition of 
walnut oil, it is found particularly useful for catching birds, 
it being quite sufficient if they only touch it with the wings. 
CHAP. 95. HISTOEICAL FACTS CONJ^ECTED WITH THE MISTLETOE. 
Upon this occasion we must not omit to mention the ad- 
miration that is lavished upon this plant by the Gauls. The 
Druids — for that is the name they give to their magicians — 
held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree 
that bears it, supposing always that tree to be the robur.^^ 
Of itself the robur is selected by them to form whole groves, 
and they perform none of their religious rites without em- 
ploying branches of it ; so much so, that it is very probable 
that the priests themselves may have received their name 
are more likely to adhere to the bark of trees, and so find a nidus for ger- 
mination. 
The exact opposite is the case, the female being the fruitful plant. 
The method used in Italy for making bird-lime is very similar at the 
present day. Magos. 
DecandoUe was of opinion, that the mistletoe of the Druids was not 
u viscum, but the Loranthus JEuropseus, which is much more commonly 
found on oaks. 
