In certain English counties there is a superstitious dread that if a drill go from one end of the field to the other without depositing any seed, some person on the farm will die either before the year is out or before the crop then sown is reaped. There is a very ancient belief that if every vestige of the Christmas decorations is not removed from the church before Candlemas Day (February 2nd), there will be a death during the year in the family occupying the pew where perchance a leaf or a berry has been left. Herrick has alluded to this superstitious notion in his ‘Hesperides’:-- “Down with the Rosemary, and so Down with the Baies and Mistletoe: Down with the Holly, Ivy, all Wherewith ye dress the Christmas hall; That so the superstitious find Not one least branch left thar behind For look, how many leaves there be Neglected there (maids, trust to me) So many goblins you shall see.” [Tailpiece] Part the Second. [Headpiece] ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF PLANTS. =ACACIA.=--In the deserts of Arabia the finest tree is the _Acacia Seyal_, which is reputed to be the Shittah tree of the Old Testament. The timber of this tree was termed _Shittim_, translated by some as “incorruptible wood.” In Exodus xxv. it is recorded that the Ark of the Lord was made of _Shittim_ wood, overlaid within and without with pure gold, and having a crown of gold round about it; and in chapter xxvi. we read that the staves were made of the same wood, as were also the boards of the Tabernacle and the woodwork of the Altar on which the offerings were presented. From this same Acacia is obtained a fragrant and highly-prized gum which is employed as incense in religious ceremonials.----Tradition affirms that this Acacia--the _Nabkha_ of the Arabians--was the tree from which was fabricated the Saviour’s crown of thorns. It has many small sharp spines, and the leaves resemble those of the Ivy with which the Roman Emperors were crowned, thus making the mockery bitterly complete.----The Buddhists make use of the wood of the _Sami_ (_Acacia Suma_) to light the fire on their altars: this is done by striking it with the _Asvattha_, or Peepul--the act symbolising generation. This Acacia is one of the sacred trees of India, and yields an astringent or preservative substance.----The tree usually known in England by the name of Acacia is the _Robinia pseudo-Acacia_, or Locust-tree of America, named by Linnæus after the two Robins, herbalists to Henri IV., who introduced it into France in 1640. This tree would appear to have somewhat of a funeral character, since we find the American Freemasons make a practice of dropping twigs of it on the coffins of brethren. A sprig of Acacia is one of the emblems specially revered by Freemasons.----“It is curious,” says Mr. Reade, in ‘The Veil of Isis,’ “that _Houzza_, which Mahomet esteemed an idol--_Houzza_ so honoured in the Arabian works of Ghatfan, Koreisch, Renanâh, and Salem--should be simply the Acacia.