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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
37
CHAPTER
IV.
LIGHTNING
PLANTS.
Amongst
the
legends
of
the
ancient
world
few
subjects
occupy
a
more
prominent
place
than
lightning,
associated
as
it
is
with
those
myths
of
the
origin
of
fire
which
are
of
such
wide
distribution.[1]
In
examining
these
survivals
of
primitive
culture
we
are
confronted
with
some
of
the
most
elaborate
problems
of
primeval
philosophy,
many
of
which
are
not
only
highly
complicated,
but
have
given
rise
to
various
conjectures.
Thus,
although
it
is
easy
to
understand
the
reasons
which
led
our
ancestors,
in
their
childlike
ignorance,
to
speak
of
the
lightning
as
a
worm,
serpent,
trident,
arrow,
or
forked
wand,
yet
the
contrary
is
the
case
when
we
inquire
why
it
was
occasionally
symbolised
as
a
flower
or
leaf,
or
when,
as
Mr.
Fiske[2]
remarks,
"we
seek
to
ascertain
why
certain
trees,
such
as
the
ash,
hazel,
white
thorn,
and
mistletoe,
were
supposed
to
be
in
a
certain
sense
embodiments
of
it."
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