The Monticellonian., 1917-12-21

mistletoe in order that any standing beneath 1t might be kissed by the first person who caught her there.
 Few If any growing things are the subject of as many ancient legends, customs and beliefs as the mistletee. The fact that the ancient Gelts i'll their druidical religion had two great festi- vals, one in June and the other in De- cember. the latter being equivalent to our Christmas. In both of these great festivals the gathering of the mistle- toe was sacred rite.
 Pliny in his Natural History de- scribes the ceremony. Speaking of the Druids' worship of the oak, he says: .They believe that whatever heaven and is sign that the tree has been chosen by .the God himself. The mistletoe is very rarely to be met with. but when it is found they gather 1t with solemn ceremony. This they do especially on the sixth day of the moon, because by the sixth day the moon has plenty of vigor and has not run half it's course.
 After the preparations have been made for sacrifice and Il feast under the tree they hail 1t as the universal healer and bring to the spot two white bulls whose horns have never been bound before. A priest. clad in a white robe, climbs the tree and with golden sickle cuts the mistletee, which is caught in white cloth. Then they sacrifice the victims. praying that God may make his own gift to prosper with those upon whom he has bestowed 1t.
 .s.fhey believe that potion pr > pared from mistletoe will increase their flocks and that the plant is a remedy against all poison.'
 It was believed to be Il remedy for many ills and this belief is still to be found in many remote places in Eu- rope. In Holstein. for example. the mistletoe is regarded as Il healing rem- edy for wounds and in Laeaune, France, it is always administered by the native people as an antidote for poison. They apply the plant to the stomach of the patient and give him a solution of it to drink as well. The Gaelic word for mistletoa is ''an t'nil iee," which means "all healer" and this is probably what the Druids called it in ancient times.
 In the northeast of Scotland people used to cut withes of mistletoe at the March full moon: these they bent in circles and kept for a year to cure hec- tic levers and other troubles. In some parts of Germany the mistletoe i is especially esteemed as q remedy for the ailments of children, who some times wear it hung around the neck as an amulet.
 In Sweden on midsummer eve mis. tletoe is diligently sought after, the people believing it to be possessed of 1 many mystic qualities, and that if a 1 sprig of it is attached to the ceiling of l the dwelling house. the horses stall 1 or cows crib, the trolls. or evil spirits will then be pewerless to injure either man or beast. Branches of the plant ] are commonly Seell III laIIHHpuses hanging from the ceiling to protect the dwellings from all harm, but es- pecially from fire, and peNons afflict ed with the falling siekne9 think they can ward off all attacks v the malady by carrying about with them knife which has handle Of mistletoe.
 A Swedish remedy for other com plaints is to hang Il sprig of mistletoe round the sufferers neck or to make him wear on his finger q ring made from the plant. Moreover they fash ion divining rods of mistletoe or of four different kinds of wood, one ot which must be mistletoe. The treas ure seeker places the rod on the ground after sundown and when il rests directly over the treasure the rod begins to move as if it were alive
 Like their Swedish neighbors, many i German peasants consider the mistle toe powerful charm against evil spir it's.