purpose. According to a Russian belief the elder-tree drives away evil
spirits, and hence this plant is held in high respect. Among further
plants possessing the same quality are the nettle and milfoil, and then
there is the famous St. John's wort, popularly nicknamed "devil's flight."

Closely allied with this part of our subject are those plants connected
with serpents, here forming a very numerous class. Indeed, it was only
natural that our ancestors, from their dread of the serpent on account
of its poisonous sting, as well as from their antipathy to it as the
symbol of evil, should ascertain those plants which seemed either
attractive, or antagonistic, to this much-dreaded reptile. Accordingly
certain plants, from being supposed to be distasteful to serpents, were
much used as amulets to drive them away. Foremost among these may be
mentioned the ash, to escape contact with which a serpent, it has been
said, would even creep into the fire, in allusion to which Cowley
thus writes:

"But that which gave more wonder than the rest,
Within an ash a serpent built her nest
And laid her eggs, when once to come beneath
The very shadow of an ash was death."

Gerarde notices this curious belief, and tells us that, "the leaves of
this tree are so great virtue against serpents that they dare not so
much as touch the morning and evening shadows of the tree, but shun them
afar off."

Hence ash-sap was a German remedy for serpent bites. Lucan, in his
"Pharsalia" (915-921), has enumerated some of the plants burned for the
purpose of expelling serpents: