“Very true,” replied the Abbe Plomb.  “But what is most curious is the number of absolutely dissimilar senses which the oldest symbolists attribute to the buckthorn.  Saint Methodus uses it for virginity; Theodoret for sin; Saint Jerome ascribes it to the devil; and Saint Bernard takes it as symbolizing humility.  Again, in the ’Theologia Symbolica’ of Maximilian Sandaeus, this shrub is made to signify the worldly prelacy, while the olive, vine, and fig, with which the author contrasts it, are the contemplative Orders.  In this, no doubt, we may see an allusion to the thorns which Bishops were not always unready to thrust on the long-suffering Heads of monasteries.

“You have forgotten, too, in the blazonry of your chapel, the reed which formed the sceptre of mockery forced into the Son’s hands.  But the reed, like the buckthorn, is a sort of Jack-of-all-trades.  Saint Melito defines it as the Incarnation and the Scriptures; Raban Maur as the Preacher, the hypocrite, and the Gentiles; Saint Eucher as the sinner; the Anonymous monk of Clairvaux as Christ; and others which I have forgotten.”

“These are many meanings for a single plant,” observed Durtal.  “But now if we want to specialize some chapels as dedicated to saints, nothing can be easier; at any rate, for such as have lent their names to plants.

“For instance, the Valerian, known as Herb Saint George, the white flower with a hollow stem, which grows in moist, places, and its popular name is quite intelligible since it was used in treating nervous diseases, for which the saint’s intercession was invoked.

“Then we have the plant or plants dedicated to Saint Roch:  the pennyroyal, and two species of Inula, one with bright yellow flowers, a purgative that cures the itch.  Formerly on Saint Roch’s day branches of this herb were blessed and hung in the cow-houses to preserve the cattle from epidemics.

“Saint Anne’s wort, a humble creeper, the samphire—­an emblem of poverty.

“Herb Barbara, the winter-cress, a cruciferous plant, anti-scorbutic—­a poverty-stricken flower, creeping along the wayside like a beggar.

“To Saint Fiacre is dedicated the mullein, with its emollient leaves; boiled to make a poultice, it relieves colic, which this saint has a reputation for curing.

“Saint Stephen’s wort is the enchanter’s nightshade, a beneficent plant with red berries on a hairy stem.  And there are many others.

“For the crypt, supposing we dig one out, it must certainly be filled with the trees mentioned in the Old Testament, of which this portion of the building is itself an allegory.  In spite of climate we must grow the vine and the palm, emblems of eternity; the cedar, which by reason of its incorruptible wood is sometimes thought to symbolize the angels; the olive and the fig, emblems of the Holy Trinity and of the Word; frankincense, cassia and balsamodendron Myrrha, a symbol of the perfect humanity of Our Lord; the terebinth—­meaning exactly what?”