338 p f a n t b o ro , b c g e l^ / , aTieL b y r ic /,
them meanwhile with branches of Fir or Rosemary. This curious
custom is supposed to signify their desire to have children. In
Northern Germany, newly-married couples often carry in their
hands branches of Fir, with lighted candles affixed, perhaps m
imitation of the Roman fasces. At Weimar, and other places, they
plant Fir-trees before the house where a weddiig has taken ffiace.
In Austrian Silesia, the May-pole is always of Fir. In the Harz,
on Midsummer night, they decorate
coloured eggs, or, more generally, branches of Fir, which they stick
in the ground, and dance around, singing the while some verses
appropriate to the occasion. In Northern Germany, when they
drive the cattle to pasture for the first time they often decorate
the last cow with small boughs of Firs, as showing their wish for
a pasturage favourable to the fecundity of the cattle.— From
wounds made in the Balm of Gilead F ir {Ahes Ba samea) a very
fine turpentine is obtained, which is sometimes sold as the true
Balm of Gilead. To dream you are in a forest of Fir-trees is a
sign of suffering. A Moldavian legend relates that, out of envy,
the elder sister of a queen changed the two beautiful twin princes
she had just given birth to, for two ugly black children, which she
nlaced in their cradle instead. She then buried the young princes
alive in the garden, and as soon as possible went to the king, and
told him his queen had given birth to two odious black babies.
The king in revenge shut up his wife in a dungeon, and made the
elder sister his queen. Suddenly, among the flowers of the garden,
there spring up two Fir-trees, who, in the evening, talk and confide
to each other that they cannot rest whilst their mother is weeping m
her lonely dungeon. Then they make themselves known to the
poor ex-queen as her children, and tell her how much they love and
nitv her Meanwhile the wicked queen awakes one night and
listens She is filled with dread, and makes the king promise that
the two Fir-trees shall be cut down. Accordingly, the young trees
are felled and thrown into the fire; when, immediately, two bright
sparks fly out, and fall far away among the flowers: they are the
two young princes, who have again escaped, and who are now
determined to bring to light the crime of their detestable aunt.
Some time after there is a grand festival at the kings palace,
and a great “ claca” (assembly) is gathered there to string pearls
for the queen. Among the guests appear two beautiful children,
with golden hair, who seem to be twin brothers. Whilst the
pearl-stringing goes on, stories are told by the guests, and at last
it comes to the turn of the twin brothers, who relate the/ad story
of the imprisoned queen, and reveal the crime of her sister. As
thev speak, their pearls continue to string themselves in a mnra-
culous manner, so that the king, observing this, knows that they
are telling the truth. When their story is finished, he acknowledges
them as his sons, restores their mother to her position as queen,
and orders her wicked sister to be torn asunder by wild horses.
t'
iL
F l a g .— See Acorus and Iris.
F L A M E T R E E .—The Nuyisia florihunda, called the Flame
or Fire-tree, is a native of West Australia. This tree is most
remarkable in many respedts: it belongs to the same Natural
Order as the Mistletoe—an order numerous in species, most of
those inhabiting warm countries having brilliantly-coloured flowers,
and, with two exceptions, stricStly parasitical on the branches of
other trees. One of these exceptions is the Flame-tree; but
although Nuytsia fiorihunda is terrestrial, and has all the aspedi of
an independent tree, it is thought to be parasitical on the roots of
some neighbouring tree or shrub, because all attempts to rear seedlings
have proved unsuccessful. Its trunk is soft, like pith, yet it
has a massive appearance. Its gorgeous fiery flowers are more
brilliant than flames, for they are undimmed by smoke.
F L A X .—There are certain plants which, having been cultivated
from time immemorial, are not now to be found in a wild
state, and have no particular history. The common F la x [Linum
usitatissimum) has been thought to be one of these. Fla x is mentioned
both in Genesis and Exodus : at least Joseph was clothed in linen,
and the F la x was blighted in the fields. But modern research has
shown that the F la x of the ancients was Linum angustifolium, the narrow
leaved F la x ; and the same fact has been developed in regard
to the F la x of the Lake-dwellers in Switzerland. The fine linen
of Egypt is frequently referred to in Scripture, and specimens of
this fabric are to be seen in the linen in which the Egyptian
mummies are enfolded. That F la x was also grown in ancient
times in Palestine, may be inferred from the fact that Rahab hid
the Hebrew spies among the F la x spread on her roof. In the
mythology of the North, Fla x is supposed to be under the protection
of the goddess Hulda, but the plant’s blue blossom is more especially
the flower of Bertha, whose blue eyes shine in its calyx, and
whose distaff is filled by its fibres. Indian mysticism likens the
grey dawn and the brightening daybreak to luminous linen and its
weavers. The celestial bride, Aurora, weaves the nuptial garment
—the robe of the celestial'bridegroom, the Sun. -The gods
attire themselves in luminous robes—white or red, silver or gold.
Earthly priests have adopted the white robe in India, Egypt,
Asia Minor, Rome, and in all Christian countries. The offspring
of the Flax, according to a tradition, represent the rays of the Sun,
and clothe the great luminary. In Sicily, to cure headache produced
by exposure to the Sun, they burn, with certain incantations,
flaxen tow in a glass, from which they have poured out the water it
contained : they then place the glass on a white plate, and the plate
on the head of the patient: they contend that by this means they
extract from his head, and impart to the Flax, all the virtue of the
Sun. F la x is the symbol of life and of prolific vegetation : on thisaccount,
in Germany, when an infant thrives . but badly, or does*