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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
245
Similarly,
in
our
own
country,
oak-trees
planted
at
the
junction
of
cross-roads
were
much
resorted
to
by
persons
suffering
from
ague,
for
the
purpose
of
transferring
to
them
their
complaint,
[11]
and
elsewhere
allusion
has
already
been
made
to
the
practice
of
curing
sickly
children
by
passing
through
a
split
piece
of
oak.
A
German
remedy
for
gout
is
to
take
hold
of
an
oak,
or
of
a
young
shoot
already
felled,
and
to
repeat
these
words:--
"Oak-shoot,
I
to
thee
complain,
All
the
torturing
gout
plagues
me;
I
cannot
go
for
it,
Thou
canst
stand
it.
The
first
bird
that
flies
above
thee,
To
him
give
it
in
his
flight,
Let
him
take
it
with
him
in
the
air."
Another
plant,
which
from
its
mystic
character
has
been
used
for
various
complaints,
is
the
elder.
In
Bohemia,
three
spoonsful
of
the
water
which
has
been
used
to
bathe
an
invalid
are
poured
under
an
elder-tree;
and
a
Danish
cure
for
toothache
consists
in
placing
an
elder-twig
in
the
mouth,
and
then
sticking
it
in
a
wall,
saying,
"Depart,
thou
evil
spirit."
The
mysterious
origin
and
surroundings
of
the
mistletoe
have
invested
it
with
a
widespread
importance
in
old
folk-lore
remedies,
many
of
which
are,
even
now-a-days,
firmly
credited;
a
reputation,
too,
bestowed
upon
it
by
the
Druids,
who
styled
it
"all-heal,"
as
being
an
antidote
for
all
diseases.
Culpepper
speaks
of
it
as
"good
for
the
grief
of
the
sinew,
itch,
sores,
and
toothache,
the
biting
of
mad
dogs
and
venomous
beasts;"
while
Sir
Thomas
Browne
alludes
to
its
virtues
in
cases
of
epilepsy.
In
France,
amulets
formed
of
mistletoe
were
much
worn;
and
in
Sweden,
a
finger-ring
made
of
its
wood
is
an
antidote
against
sickness.
The
mandrake,
as
a
mystic
plant,
was
extensively
sold
for
medicinal
purposes,
and
in
Kent
may
be
occasionally
found
kept
to
cure
barrenness;
[12]
and
it
may
be
remembered
that
La
Fontaine's
fable,
La
Mandragore,
turns
upon
its
supposed
power
of
producing
children.
How
potent
its
effects
were
formerly
held
may
be
gathered
from
the
very
many
allusions
to
its
mystic
properties
in
the
literature
of
bygone
years.
Columella,
in
his
well-known
lines,
says:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
