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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
48
That
this
is
the
case
we
have
ample
proof
in
the
myths
relating
to
plants,
in
many
of
which
the
life-giving
properties
of
the
lightning
are
clearly
depicted.
Hence,
also,
the
extraordinary
healing
properties
which
are
ascribed
to
the
various
lightning
plants.
Ash
rods,
for
instance,
are
still
used
in
many
parts
of
England
for
the
cure
of
diseased
sheep,
cows,
and
horses,
and
in
Cornwall,
as
a
remedy
for
hernia,
children
are
passed
through
holes
in
ash
trees.
The
mistletoe
has
the
reputation
of
being
an
antidote
for
poisons
and
a
specific
against
epilepsy.
Culpepper
speaks
of
it
as
a
sure
panacea
for
apoplexy,
palsy,
and
falling
sickness,
a
belief
current
in
Sweden,
where
finger
rings
are
made
of
its
wood.
An
old-fashioned
charm
for
the
bite
of
an
adder
was
to
place
a
cross
formed
of
hazel-wood
on
the
wound,
and
the
burning
of
a
thorn-bush
has
long
been
considered
a
sure
preventive
of
mildew
in
wheat.
Without
multiplying
further
illustrations,
there
can
be
no
doubt
that
the
therapeutic
virtues
of
these
so-called
lightning
plants
may
be
traced
to,
in
very
many
cases,
their
mythical
origin.
It
is
not
surprising
too
that
plants
of
this
stamp
should
have
been
extensively
used
as
charms
against
the
influences
of
occult
powers,
their
symbolical
nature
investing
them
with
a
potency
such
as
was
possessed
by
no
ordinary
plant.
Footnotes:
1.
See
an
article
on
"Myths
of
the
Fire
Stealer,"
Saturday
Review,
June
2,
1883,
p.
689;
Tylor's
"Primitive
Culture."
2.
"Myths
and
Myth
Makers,"
p.
55.
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