"Did they intend to express any particular idea by the capitals and corbels of the columns?--At Amiens, for instance, there is a wreath of flowers and foliage forming the string-course above the arches of the nave for its whole length and continued over the cornice of the pillars. Apart from the probable purpose of dividing the height into two equal parts in order to rest the eye, has this string-course any other meaning? Does it embody any particular idea? Is it the expression of some phrase relating to the Virgin, in whose name the cathedral is dedicated?" "I do not think so," said the Abbe. "I believe that the artist who carved those wreaths simply aimed at a decorative effect, and made no attempt to give us in symbolical language a compendium of our Mother's virtues. "Moreover, if we admit that the sculptors of the thirteenth century introduced the acanthus on account of its emollient qualities, the oak because it is emblematic of strength, and the water-lily because its broad leaves are accepted as a figure of charity, we ought no less to conclude that at the end of the fifteenth century, when the mystery of symbolism was not as yet altogether lost, the toothed bunches of curled cabbage, of thistles and other deeply-cut leaves mingling with true-love-knots, as in the church at Brou, might have had some meaning. But it is perfectly certain that these vegetable forms were chosen only for their elaborately elegant growth, and the fragile and mannered grace of their outline. Otherwise we might assert that this later ornament has a different tale to tell from that set forth in the flora of Reims and Amiens, Rouen and Chartres. "In point of fact, the natural form which most frequently occurs in the capitals of our cathedral--by no means a remarkably flowery one--is the episcopal crozier as seen in the young shoots of the fern." "No doubt. But does not the fern bear a symbolical meaning?" "In a general sense, it is emblematic of humility, evidently in allusion to its habit of growing as much as possible far from the high road, in the depths of woods. But by consulting the Treatise of St. Hildegarde we learn that the plant she calls _Fern_, or bracken, has magical properties. "Just as sunshine disperses darkness, says the Abbess of Rupertsberg, the _Fern_ puts nightmares to flight. The devil hates and flees from it, and thunder and hail rarely fall on spots where it takes shelter; also the man who wears it about him escapes witchcraft and spells." "Then St. Hildegarde made a study of natural history in its relations to medicine and magic?" "Yes; but the book remains unknown because it has never yet been translated. "She sometimes assigns very singular talismanic virtues to certain flowers. Would you like some instances?