154 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



is, however, so wide and comprises so many various features, thai r 

 was not possible on that occasion to do more than merely allude 

 to what in Bombay are generally called Ferneries. These possess 

 however in themselves so many interesting features, that they quite 

 deserve to be dealt with as a separate subject, though many of the 

 remarks preceding the sketch of Bombay Gardens refer equally well 

 to our Ferneries, and are quite necessary for explaining several 

 circumstances that might not be found sufficiently clearly accounted 

 for. This paper should, therefore, be taken as a continuation and 

 complement to the paper on Bombay Gardens, 



Bombay Ferneries correspond, to a certain extent, with our conser- 

 vatories, greenhouses, store and hot-houses at home, in that by their 

 aid it is possible to cultivate a great number of plants, which, under 

 ordinary circumstances, could not at all, or at least only with the 

 greatest care, be grown in Bombay Gardens. The number and 

 variety of plants for which these structures are essential or at least- 

 beneficial, is so great and their uses for decoration so important for 

 the embellishment of our rooms and verandahs, that Ferneries will 

 deserve the attention of every inhabitant in Bombay who is fond of 

 a bright and cheerful home. 



The name Fernery is undoubtedly, to a certain extent, misleading, 

 as it applies to any structure calculated to afford shelter, and a 

 somewhat different climate to any kind of plant, and not only to struc- 

 tures exclusively devoted to the cultivation of ferns. Such words 

 as plant-shed, plant-house, or conservatory, would be far more correct 

 expressions, if it were not for the fact that structures bearing these 

 names at home are of so entirely different a character that the use 

 of these terms would easily convey a wrong idea. In other parts of 

 India, where different materials are used in the construction of 

 Ferneries, such names as grass-house, betel house, chick-house, 

 lattice-house, &c, are applied, and following this system we might 

 call our Bombay Ferneries "coir-houses," but it is not a well-sound- 

 ing name and would be as much Greek to people unacquainted with 

 Bombay as " grass-house" is for most Bombayites. It will, therefore, 

 I believe, be preferable to retain the well-sounding name of Fernery, 

 except in such cases, which however still are almost unknown in 

 Bombay, where the structure is devoted to a single class of plants 



