The witches employ the deadly Night-Shade in their vile concoctions. It is reputed to spring from the foam of the vicious, many-headed dog which guards the infernal regions. The Vervain and the Rue are also ingredients. The fact that the former was at one time sacred to Thor, and was also used in the rituals of the Druids, is a possible explanation of its evil name. Rue as a narcotic capable of producing hallucinations, is most naturally a witch’s plant. Strange to say, both of these plants are sometimes used as charms _against_ witches. The Romans used the Vervain in casting lots, telling fortunes, and foreshadowing national events. Many other plants, ordinarily harmless, become the possessors of evil charms when gathered under certain circumstances. Thus, Shakespeare speaks of “root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,” and “slips of yew sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,” as being cast into the bubbling pot. The Fox Glove is “Witches’ Bell,” and is used by them to decorate their fingers. They employ the large Ragwort as a steed for their midnight journeys. In Ireland it is known as “Fairies’ Horse.” It is said that witches use Fern seed to make themselves invisible. In Germany they employ the Luck Flower for the same purpose. The Sea Poppy and the Moonwart (_Botrychium Lunaria_) are also numbered among the witch-plants. To the latter is also given the power of opening locks. In England, Pimpernel, Herb-Paris and Cyclamen are protections against witches. In Germany and many other continental countries, the St. John’s Wort is their enemy and exposer. The fairies have appropriated many flowers for their especial use. Despite the disbelief of latter days, to some people elfland still extends around the globe, and defies all the laws of chemistry and physics. It is still fairy midnight trippings which form those mysterious circles or depressions often to be noticed on the dewy sward of early morning. When the peasant girls of England go out into the meadows to beautify their complexions with applications of May dew, they always leave these mystic circles severely alone, for fear of offending the fays. Midnight is the fairy magic hour. At the trumpet call of the Harebell, they gallop to their meeting-places mounted on blades of Grass or on Cabbage leaves. Sometimes they assemble to the tolling of the Wood-Sorrel or “Fairy Bell”. For more extended migrations, they travel in Nuts. They usually dress in green and provide themselves with mantles of Gossamer. The Irish ones use Fox-Glove blossoms to cover their hands. In infancy, the fays are cradled in Tulips and throughout life, they use the Cowslip as a drinking cup, and seek shelter of the Wood-Anemone in wet weather.