to the peace and comfort of their daily life.

But its sacred attributes were not limited to this country, many a
legend on the Continent testifying to the safety afforded by its
sheltering branches. Indeed, so great are its virtues that, according to
a Westphalian tradition, the Wandering Jew can only rest where he shall
happen to find two oaks growing in the form of a cross. A further proof
of its exalted character may be gathered from the fact that around its
roots Scandinavian mythology has gathered fairyland, and hence in
Germany the holes in its trunk are the pathways for elves. But the
connection between lightning and plants extends over a wide area, and
Germany is rich in legends relative to this species of folk-lore. Thus
there is the magic springwort, around which have clustered so many
curious lightning myths and talismanic properties. By reason of its
celestial origin this much-coveted plant, when buried in the ground at
the summit of a mountain, has the reputation of drawing down the
lightning and dividing the storm. It is difficult, however, to procure,
especially as there is no certainty as to the exact species of plants to
which it belongs, although Grimm identifies it with the _Euphorbia
lathyris_. At any rate, it is chiefly procurable by the woodpecker--a
lightning-bearer; and to secure this much-prized treasure, its nest must
be stopped up, access to which it will quickly gain by touching it with
the springwort. But if one have in readiness a pan of water, a fire, or
a red cloth, the bird will let the plant fall, which otherwise it would
be a difficult work to obtain, "the notion, no doubt, being that the
bird must return the mystic plant to the element from which it springs,
that being either the water of the clouds or the lightning fire enclosed
therein."[11]

Professor Gubernatis, referring to the symbolical nature of this