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THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 251 
fidelity; witness the oak leaves laid into the panels of the 
cantalupe shrine at Hereford, or the twisted sprays of oak, 
clustered with acorns, which form one of the most graceful 
corbels in the choir of Exeter cathedral.”* It must be remem¬ 
bered that, while our houses may be garlanded with anything 
green, the mistletoe is properly excluded from sacred adornment. 
Purity of thought! requires this in a structure dedicated to 
divine worship. The holly, bay, laurustinus, and ivy have no 
associations incompatible with prayerful thoughts; but the 
mistletoe has other remembrances, and has always been con¬ 
sidered a profane plant, from having been dedicated to the 
Scandinavian Venus, and so wrapt up in mythological fable. 
We learn from Mr. Lees that —“ Archdeacon Nares, who has 
written very learnedly on this subject, and seems to be a great 
friend to the mystic rites of the mistletoe, deprecates any un¬ 
seasonable resistance on the part of the ladies taken or caught 
under the sacred plant, as he states that a non-performance of the 
usual ceremonial brings in its train all the evils of old-maidenism. 
It appears that the berries of the plant alone constituted its 
privilege; one w r as to be plucked at every salute, and various 
authorities insist that, when the last berry is plucked from the 
bush, its potential and venerated character ceases. 
“ One single berry yet remains, 
Untouch’d by rude and vulgar swains; 
By all unpluck’d; it seems to say, 
Wkate’er has pass’d is Christmas play; 
But now, ere comes the vernal breeze, 
The last chance fortune offers seize.”! 
These reflections lead me to the consideration of the oak in a 
commercial point of view. Mr. Lees, of Worcester, and Dr. 
Bull, of Hereford, both being orchard counties, point to the 
immense amount of the parasite which is annually sent by train 
from Worcester and Hereford, principally by rail, for use at the 
Christmas festival. It amounts to many hundreds of tons, 
fetching we are told as much as 5s. per hundred-weight. 
It is probable from these facts that mistletoe is allowed to 
grow on our orchard and other trees, and, as far as we know, it 
has never been questioned whether it does mischief in such a 
position or not, but if any one will only examine the attenuation 
of any tree above the juncture of the mistletoe, it will surely have 
the effect of putting this matter in a proper light. 
The accompanying engraving is from our drawing of a branch 
of whitethorn of as much as six inches in circumference below 
the point of attachment of the parasite, and only about an inch 
* ‘Quarterly Review,’ vol. cxiv, p. 220. 
f ‘Botanical Looker-out,’ p. 40. 
| Ibid., second edition, p. 41, 
