1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



53 



closed might be of some value to show the 

 sudden changes of a northern New York climate, 

 I send it, and also the weather report for De- 

 cember, 1877, which you will notice is very 

 mild. Our first real snow storm (northeast) is 

 at hand to-day, after another change last night 

 from 7° below zero to 10° above. 



•'The January number of the monthly is just 

 prime A 1, and you see that the article on 

 ' Stoking a Fire ' is needed in this part of the 

 country." 



[The Daily Saratogian., New York, as referred 

 to above, says : 



" Between 11 o'clock last night and 7 o'clock 

 this morning the temperature of the weather 

 changed 27 degrees. At Terwilliger's green- 

 I houses on South street at 11 o'clock the ther- 

 j mometer indicated 14° above zero, and at 7 

 I o'clock 13° below, making a difference of 27° in 

 I eight hours." 



] It has been, so far. n delightful winter. For 

 a couple of nights in Germantown the ther- 

 i mometer made a hasty visit to 10° above zero, 

 but to-day, January 12th, the temperature is 50°, 

 and the atmosphere as genial and balmy as an 

 April day.— Ed. G. M.] 



Literature, Travels I Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



"THE FERNS OF NORTH AMERICA." 



BY T. G. GENTKY. 



The first part of the superb work, which bears 

 the above title, has lately been issued by the 

 Naturalists' Agency. A work which should 

 accurately describe and appropriately illustrate 

 our American species of ferns, has long been 

 needed in this country. The few which have 

 been delineated are scattered through so many 

 foreign publications that considerable trouble is 

 experienced in finding them. Even in many of 

 our finest libraries these works are generally 

 wanting. 



But the one before us, judging of the whole b}' 

 the past, cannot fail to meet the necessity. The 

 high character of Prof. Eaton, who prepares the 

 text, and the reputation of Mr. Emerton, the j 

 ai'tist, whose drawings are unequalled, are assur- j 

 ances that the work will be carefully, thoroughly 

 and accurately done. The interest which is 

 manifested in the undertaking by Dr. Gray, and 

 others no less eminent in science, should con- 

 vince us of the excellence of the work, even 

 though other guarantees should be lacking. 



Ferns have always attracted the attention and 

 won the admiration of every true lover of 

 Nature, not more by the elegance of their dark 

 green foliage than by the gracefulness of their 

 forms. Although ignorant of their names and 

 the details of their growth and structure, man 

 has never ceased to show his fondness for them. 

 Shut out from such knowledge by the technicali- 

 ties of science which enters so largely into our 

 common text-books, a deep interest is never- 



theless manifested in these beautiful objects of 

 creation. This is evidenced by the care bestowed 

 upon their culture, and upon the arrangement of 

 them into suitable devices for the boudoir and 

 drawing-room. 



Who does not love ferns? The laughing, 

 romping schoolgirl, as she trips leisurely along, 

 anon stops from her journey to pluck them from 

 their hiding places. And even the careful, busy 

 housewife steals away from her weary labors to 

 tend these idols of her affection. It is not merely 

 to the scientific student that they bring unnum- 

 bered pleasures, for all in whom dwell a love for 

 the beautiful in Nature render homage to these 

 lovely children of the groves. But it is to the 

 naturalist that they yield their profoundest 

 wonders and most inspiring beauties. 



There is no reason why these things should be 

 hidden from minds that move in narrower 

 spheres. Every effort that is made tending to 

 the popularization of science, should be en- 

 couraged by ever}' laudable means. Books should 

 be written, not to reflect the erudition of authors, 

 but to render easy and simjile, as well as intelli- 

 gible to the masses, the truths of which they 

 speak. A due amount of pure science is often 

 indispensable and sometimes unavoidable. En- 

 glish writers should adhere more rigidly to the 

 Saxon element of the language and show less 

 preference to the Lathi and Greek elements. 



Few books of a scientific character are written 

 that fully commend themselves to popular favor. 

 Those that do exist are mostly replete with the 

 dryest details, which are clothed in Latinized 

 expressions. Their tedium is often unrelieved 

 by a single illustration. Not so with the 

 one about which we are writing. In it a happy 



