128 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



formation of all our valleys and glens by the 

 atmospheric denuding agencies we now see in 

 operation ; and tlie wonder is ratlier that much 

 more has not been removed, for during these past 

 ages the climate must have changed more than 

 once, snow and ice alternating with almost tropical 

 warmth, and therefore every agent having its full 

 powers in turn. 



One most interesting point clearly comes out 

 from the consideration of this history; viz., the 

 much greater age of our Cumberland mountains 

 than many of the snow-capped ranges of foreign 

 countries. The rocks forming the summit of the 

 Dent-duMidi were being deposited beneath the sea 

 -during Tertiary times, when the Cumberland 

 mountains had for ages past been slowly assuming 

 their present form. The chains of the Alps, the 

 Apennines, and much, at any rate, of the Hima- 

 layas, are but infants in age compared with our 

 humble English group of mountains, and while they 

 can boast of their present sublime height, these our 

 hills can pride themselves in their past great age. 



In bringing these remarks to a close, I would 

 call attention to the fact tliat that which often 

 seems to us destruction and decay, a blot on the 

 'fair face of nature, may, after all, when rightly re- 

 garded, be but the harmonious ringing out of 

 nature's changes ; that though the storm wastes 

 the mountain-sides, and the frost splits up the 

 ■ craggy rocks, yet are the mountain-form and craggy 

 • outline but the offspring of these actions. 



THE EUROPEAN BRISTLE EERN. 

 {Trichomanes radicans.) 



THE following hints gained from personal ex- 

 perience might, I thought, prove useful to 

 some of your numerous readers. 



In the first place, to grow the Trichomanes, or 

 KUlarney Fern as it is sometimes called, satis- 

 factorily, we should endeavour to imitate nature as 

 ■far as possible. All the ferns belonging to this 

 genus are widely distributed over the warmer 

 regions of both hemispheres, but are more especially 

 abundant in tropical America. " They grow (writes 

 Dr. Moore) only in situations where shade and 

 moisture abound : indeed, their structure is not 

 adapted for situations which are exposed or in- 

 fluenced by a trying atmosphere, and exposure for 

 a few hours to conditions like these would suffice to 

 shrivel up their fronds. Their natural habitats are 

 the deep recesses of tropical forests, where they 

 luxuriate on the trunks of trees or on dripping 

 rocks, surrounded by an atmosphere loaded with 

 vapour." To imitate these conditions as far as 

 possible, there is no better contrivance than the 

 Wardian Case, and the modus operandi is as 

 follows : — 



The case selected should be of moderate size ; 

 indeed I think it better to have it rather large than 

 otherwise, on accouut of this fern, owing to its 

 mode of growth, being somewhat difficult of removal; 

 one say 3 ft. long by li in width, and 2s feet high, 

 would do very well. The sides should be constructed 

 of single panes of glass, and it is essential that 

 both top and sides be made to open, as all filmy 

 ferns require to be constantly sprinkled overhead. 

 The soil-box should be entirely independent of the 

 glass case, so that it can be lifted off and on at 

 pleasure, and should be about six inches deep : a 

 neatly-made wooden one lined with pitch, having a 

 small tap at the bottom to let away any excess of 

 water, is far preferable to one constructed of zinc 

 or other metal. 



In preparing for planting, the first thing is drain- 

 age. I generally commence this operation by 

 placing at the bottom of the box two or three 

 small upturned flower-pots, also a few good-sized 

 lumps of sandstone, the tops of which should rise 

 half an inch or so above the soil when put in ; then 

 fill up all around with bits of broken flower-pots or 

 pumice-stone — the latter is better, on account of its 

 lightness — to within about an inch and a half of the 

 rim of the box. So far so good ; the next thing is 

 to prepare the soil. 



The compost which suits the Killarney fern best 

 I have found on trial to be about equal parts of 

 silver-sand (combined with bits of charcoal, small 

 cinders, pumice-stone, and pounded flower-pots) 

 and nodules of turfy peat : be careful to allow none 

 of the d.cixx'dS. peat -soil to get mixed in it, as it is apt 

 to impede the drainage. Now, before you amalga- 

 mate these several ingredients, place the peat in a 

 basin and put in the oven, give it a good baking for 

 at least forty-eight hours, in fact, until the soil is 

 quite dried up, so that you are sure that all grubs, 

 seeds, &c., which may be latent in the soil, are de- 

 stroyed. This last operation, although not often 

 stated in the various pteriological manuals, I can 

 fully vouch the importance of, and, if not attended 

 to, will occasion endless trouble. 



After the baked soil has been brought to a proper 

 state of consistency, by watering with water pre- 

 viously boiled, and combined with the sand and 

 other materials, it may be spread over the crocks in 

 the box, and the interstices between the bits of 

 sandstone and peat which may occur filled up with 

 silver sand. 



Nothing now remains but to fix the creeping 

 rhizomes of the plant down on the soil by means of 

 incorrosive wire ; then finish off by two or three 

 moderate waterings at intervals of half an hour, 

 and when thoroughly drained, the case may be 

 closed and placed in position. 



Lastly, I may add, with regard to that position, 

 that it ought to be somewhere out of the sun ; 

 warm, and well shaded; a piece of oiled lawn thrown 



