Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FER'ULE, a. [L. ferula, from ferio, to strike, or from the use of stalks of the Ferula.]

1. A little wooden pallet or slice, used to punish children in a school, by striking them on the palm of the hand. [Ferular is not used.]
2. Under the Eastern empire, the ferula was the emperor's scepter. It was a long stem or shank, with a flat square head. Encyc.