FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
227 
OBSTACLES, TO OVERCOME, OR 
SURMOUNT. 
Miss eltoe.— Viscum. 
“ The naturalists are puzzled to explain 
How trees did first this stranger entertain ; 
Whether the busy birds ingraft it there. 
Or, else, some deity’s mysterious care. 
As Druids thought; for when the blasted oak 
By lightning falls, this plant escapes the stroke.” 
Garth. 
This plant, which is without an earthly in¬ 
heritance, makes no difficulty in attaching 
itself to the branches of lofty trees, and there, 
without apparent labour, subsists upon the 
ascending sap of its supporter. 
When drawn suspended on a tree, it is the 
symbol of a flattering hanger-on. 
