i8 95 . SOME NEW BOOKS. 57 



alarming prices which have to be paid for the aristocratic orchid, 

 may find some satisfaction in the cultivation of the much cheaper, 

 if humbler, fern. These plants will thrive and flourish in the most 

 unlikely and unpromising situations, such as in bottles, upon pieces 

 of cork and "other things." In this, the only rival is the ubiquitous 

 Penicillium, which is, according to Professor Huxley's " Elementary 

 Biology," equally satisfied with jam or old boots as a home. The 

 fern, too, can be readily transported from foreign parts ; the thrilling 

 stories of adventure which accompany the gathering of orchids — so 

 graphically told by Mr. Frederick Boyle — seem to find no place in 

 the peaceful history of fern discovery ; a pinch of dust from the 

 under side of the frond, and the fern is safely got. Though this 

 dust does not now, as it did long ago, render the possessor invisible, 

 it allows of the gathering together of a large amount of material in 

 a small space. Mr. Sandford particularly dwells upon and recom- 

 mends for cultivation the tree ferns. These magnificent plants were 

 until lately a rarity in this country ; but they will readily grow — at 

 least a good many of them will — in the open air ; and there can be no 

 question in the minds of those who have seen them of their suitability 

 as ornamental plants. Tree ferns do not grow quite so rapidly, 

 perhaps, as might be desired ; but we are told by the author that 

 Cyathea mediillavis will grow from spores to a height of ten feet in less 

 than twenty years ; another species of the same genus grew five and 

 'a half feet in two years, which is a respectable rate of growth, and 

 should be sufficient to content the nomad inhabitant of our suburbs. 



Another great advantage which the fern has as a plant for the 

 amateur is its large immunity from insect parasites. Mr. Sandford 

 is indeed able to dismiss this subject in half a page. " White and 

 brown scale " are among the most disastrous foes of fern life ; but the 

 omnivorous woodlouse, like the slug, has a fancy for the tender 

 fronds. These animals are so well-known to the gardener that no 

 special directions are needed for their destruction. 



The fern is not conspicuous from the economic point of view ; 

 litter for cattle and food for piglings seem to be its chief uses ; but the 

 author quotes from the traveller Hue a statement that the young 

 fronds taste when cooked like asparagus — a vegetable which plays 

 a part relative to strange and unknown plants much like that which 

 veal plays in relation to the flavour of outlandish animals. Mr. 

 Sandford's descriptions of the one thousand species are in some cases 

 fairly full, and in all cases the derivations of the generic names are 

 given. In describing colour he divides green somewhat curiously 

 into " light " and " dark " and " pleasing." The book can be safely 

 recommended as a useful handbook, the want of illustrations being, 

 perhaps, its most serious drawback. 



Plant Life. 



Le Monde des Plantes, par P. Constantin, agrege des sciences naturelles, professeur 

 au lycee de Rennes. 2 vol. gr. in-8 de 750 pages ; illustres de 2,000 figures. Se 

 publie en 48 series a 50 c. ou en 8 fascicules a 3 fr. Paris : Bailliure et Fils, 

 1894. Fascicule I., pp. 192, figs. 276. 



" Le Monde des Plantes " forms the botanical contribution to 

 the series of volumes issued by A. E. Brehm under the title 

 " Merveilles de la nature." It is a somewhat popular description 

 of the plant kingdom, in systematic order, family by family, starting 

 with the dicotyledonous flowering plants with free petals and 

 passing downwards, on the Candollean hypothesis, through 



