of green, interspersed with rosy apples, nuts, and highly colored,
gaily ornamented eggshells that have been carefully blown for the
purpose. The hoops are hung in sitting-rooms or kitchens, but are used
more in the country than in the cities.

Although the cities are filled with Yule-tide shoppers and lovely
wares, in order to enjoy a veritable Merry Christmas one must seek
some retired town and if possible gain access to a home of ancient
date, where the family keep the customs of their ancestors. There he
will find the day devoutly and solemnly observed, and legend and
superstitions concerning every observance of the day. He will find
that great anxiety is evinced regarding the weather during the twelve
days preceding Christmas, as that portends the state of the weather
for the ensuing twelve months.

He will notice that unlike the Yule-logs of other countries, those of
France are _not to be sat on_, for if by any chance a person sits on a
Yule-log he will experience such pain as will prevent his partaking of
the Christmas dinner. He will also find that the log has benevolent
powers, and if his shoe is left beside it during the night it will be
filled with peppermints or candy. The ashes of the log are believed to
be a protection against lightning and bad luck, so some will be stored
away beneath the bed of the master of the house as a means of
procuring good-fortune and other blessings during the coming year, and
if he chance to fall sick, some of the ashes will probably be infused
into his medicine and given to him.

If the log, the _cosse de Nau_, is of oak and felled at midnight, it
is supposed to be much more efficacious, therefore all who can do so
procure an oaken log, at least. In some families where the Yule-log is