Striking features of the Japanese festival on New Year’s Day are the decorations erected in front of nearly every door, of which Mr. Dixon tells us the principal objects are, on the right a _Pinus densiflora_, on the left a _P. Thunbergius_, both standing upright: the former is supposed to be of the female and the latter of the male sex, and both symbolise a robust age that has withstood the storms and trials of life. Immediately behind each of the Pines is a Bamboo, the straight stem of which, with the knots marking its growth, indicates hale life and fulness of years. A straw rope of about six feet in length connects the Bamboos seven or more feet from the ground, thus completing the triumphal arch. In the centre of the rope (which is there to ward off evil spirits) is a group in which figures a scarlet lobster, the bent back of which symbolises old age: this is embedded in branches of the _Melia Japonica_, the older leaves of which still remain after the young ones have burst forth. So may the parents continue to flourish while children and grandchildren spring forth! Another plant in the central group is the _Polypodium dicotomon_, a Fern which is regarded as a symbol of conjugal life, because the fronds spring in pairs from the stem. There are also bunches of seaweed, which have local significance, and a lucky bag, filled with roasted Chesnuts, the seeds of the _Torreya nucifera_, and the dried fruit of the _Kaki_. Garlands, Chaplets, and Wreaths. All the nations of antiquity--Indians, Chinese, Medes, Persians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans--were accustomed to deck themselves, their altars, and their dwellings with flowers, and to weave chaplets and garlands of leaves and blossoms. In the Vedic _Vishnupurâna_, the sage Durvâsas (one of the names of Siva, the destroyer), receives of the goddess Srî (the Indian Venus) a garland of flowers gathered from the trees of heaven. Proceeding on his way, he meets the god Indra, seated on an elephant, and to pay him homage he places on his brow the garland, to which the bees fly in order to suck the ambrosia. The Persians were fond of wearing on their heads crowns made of Myrrh and a sweet-smelling plant called Labyzus. Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king, once held some games at Daphne, to which thousands of guests were invited, who, after being richly feasted, were sent away with crowns of Myrrh and Frankincense. Josephus, in his history of the Jews, has recorded the use of crowns in the time of Moses, and on certain occasions the mitre of the High Priest was adorned with a chaplet of Henbane (_Hyoscyamus niger_). Wreaths and chaplets were in common use among the Egyptians at a very early period; and although the Lotus was principally preferred in their formation, many other flowers and leaves were employed--as of the Chrysanthemum, Acinos, Acacia, Strychnos, Persoluta, Anemone, Convolvulus, Olive, Myrtle, Amaracus, Xeranthemum, Bay-tree, and others.