1 FERNS. 



size of forest trees. In such cases, Orr tells us, the cli- 

 mate is damp and equable, and the variety of Ferns 

 small. Their comeliness of form and lightness of foliage 

 fill the hearts of beholders with adoring wonder — these 

 stately foreign relations uphold the family grandeur in 

 the present age. Thus the Ferns have their family his- 

 tory — legends of obscure light caused by vaporous atmo- 

 sphere, a grand catastrophe, and a universal tomb ; and 

 their past provides light, warmth, and comfort for our 

 present — furnishing coal, gas, and even dyes. Certainly 

 they throw a glowing light upon God's fatherly care in 

 turning the ruins of immature nature into a blessed pro- 

 vision for the creature of His special favour — man. 



'• And so the heart, intently gleaning 

 O'er fields of legendary lore, 

 May light upon a holier meaning — 

 A meaning never found before." 



I had come into the wood to search for one special 

 family of Ferns, the Polystichums, which come next in 

 order, according to my book, to the Polypodiaceae. These 

 Prickly Shield-Ferns are of an elongated form ; the pinnse 

 are divided again, or bipinnate, and the masses of seed- 

 cases have round covers, attached by a thread in the 

 centre. One species is decidedly evergreen ; the others 

 are so in sheltered situations. They are of a firmer 

 tougher texture than any other of our native Ferns, and 

 should be placed as the vanguard of the fernery, as they 

 bear wind and weather better than any others. Beauti- 

 ful Ferns were growing in rich profusion around me, but 

 these were triangular in form, and their spore-masses had 



