The ingenious god presented the lyre that he invented to Apollo, receiving in exchange the "golden three-leaved rod," called by the poets _Aurea virga_. It was represented as a wand of laurel, or olive, with two dainty wings on one end, and entwined with two serpents, the whole emblematical of many things besides peace, or a flag of truce, for which it was generally used. This rod entwined with serpents is one of the most ancient symbols and is found on a vase discovered in Babylonia that is supposed to have been used 2350 B. C. Another device showed the staff wound with ropes tied after a peculiar fashion, and when so depicted the caduceus represented commerce and merchants, since the rope tied after a certain fashion was the token of the Phoenician traders. This is retained on the Ace of Sticks in the Tarot pack. When the caduceus was wound with stripes of red and white it represented surgeons, or the healing arts; and, as has been mentioned, is so displayed on barbers' poles to-day. The stick wound in this way also represented birth, and, set before the door, was a token of Mercury's recent visit carrying a babe from Juno to its parents. The caduceus served Mercury as a herald's staff, and this name was sometimes applied to the white wand or rod that in time of war was regarded as a signal for peace. The wings of Mercury typify the planet named for him, that is so fast that it completes its revolution around the sun in a little less than three months. He is connected with the old Israelitish legend, referred to in Ezekiel ix:2, where Nebo is one of the seven planets. The important place given to the rod in the Bible must not be overlooked. It is closely connected with the arrow of primitive peoples, that was used not only for war or the chase, but serving also to ascertain the wishes of the gods, for when a bundle of arrows was cast to the ground from a quiver or the hand, according to certain well-known laws, they indicated the wishes of the divine power by the direction in which they fell. This is recalled in Jeremiah, in the story of Jonathan and David, besides in many other instances. It was a natural sequence that Mercury, who had inherited the "tablet of fate" from Nebo of the Babylonians, should also have received the "wand of the magi" that, when cast before the Pharaoh by his wise men, was able to swallow the serpents that sprang from the rod of Moses. The rod, when used as a sceptre, has other and important significances, and is one of the chief signs of a ruler's position and power.