28 FERNS. 



green ; the leaflets of an irregular egg-shape, lobed on 

 one side, and toothed along the margin, in substance 

 thick and glossy. Afterwards I saw some plants of it 

 among the rocks surrounding Looe Island, off the Cornish 

 coast, and some fronds were given to me from the main- 

 land. It is rarely, if ever, successfully cultivated in a 

 fernery, but does very well in a Wardian case. 



One little plant of the Spear-shaped Spleen wort (A. 

 lanceolatum), was given to me in the south of Cornwall. 

 The fronds were only three or four inches long ; but I 

 know that it often attains a much larger growth. The 

 pinnae extend for three-fourths of the length of the 

 rachis, and taper to the base and summit, in the style 

 that is called lanceolate. The leaflets are triangular in 

 form and bright green, and the spore-masses are less 

 elongated than in any other of the family, except the 

 A. fontanum. To my great grief my treasured plant died, 

 and I had no chance of procuring another, until, when 

 staying in Kent, an Irish hawker came to the door with 

 Ferns to sell. He had selected this mode of gaining a 

 livelihood for the love of its irregularity ; it was at any 

 rate better than work. He was overjoyed at our appre- 

 ciation of his Ferns, of the nature and character of which 

 he was thoroughly informed, and he eagerly assured us that 

 he would get us any Ferns that we wanted when he went 

 his rounds, if we would give him the honour of a letter 

 of commands. The address he gave for our expected com- 

 munication was the most amusing part of the transaction — 



" Patrick O'Leary, 

 Jolly Sailor Inn, 

 Mount Zion, 



Tunbridge Wells," 



