5 57 



Besides the type-specimens I liave had for examination the whole material of 

 tlie species dealt with, that is contained in the museums of Copenhagen, Stock- 

 holm, Berlin, Washington, Herb. Presl, and the large collections in Herb. 

 RosENSTOC.K and Herb. Christ. Dr. Christ's very valuable collection of ferns is 

 now incorporated in Herb. Roland Bonaparte, Paris. Smaller collections I have 

 received from Prince Bonaparte, the museums of Lund, Bruxelles, München 

 and Vienna. 



To the curators of the museums enumerated above I owe my most sincere 

 thanks for the kindness they have shown to me by lending me such comprehen- 

 sive collections for study. My special thanks I must convey to His Highness, 

 Prince Roland Bonaparte, for the great aid I received during my sojourn in 

 Paris, to Dr. H. Christ and Dr. E. Rosenstock for numerous courtesies, to Miss 

 Margaret Slosson, New York, and to Mr. W. R. Maxon, Washington, for his most 

 valuable assistance by sending to me the very comprehensive collections from Cen- 

 tral America and the West Indies contained in the U. S. National Herbarium. 

 These collections, consisting nearly exclusively of specimens collected during the 

 last twenty years, f. inst. the large collection gathered in Central America by J. 

 DoNNELL Smith and his collectors, are very rich in beautiful and complete spe- 

 cimens. 



Finally I beg Dr. C. H. Ostenfeld, curator of the Botanical Museum, Copen- 

 hagen, accept my best thanks for his never failing benevolence, without which I 

 scarcely should have got sucli a large material for examination. 



Under each species I quote the specimens seen by me, indicating in a paren- 

 thesis where the specimen is to be found. The letters in parenthesis mean: 



B = Herbarium Berolinense, Berlin. 

 RB = Herb. Roland Bonaparte, Paris. 



C = Herb. H. Christ, now in Herb. Bonaparte. 

 CC = Herb. Carl Christensen, Copenhagen. 



H =- Herb. Hauniense, Copenhagen. 

 Kew = Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



L ^ Herb. Lundense, Lund. 



R = Herb. E. Rosenstock, Gotha. 

 Rg == Herb. Regnellianuin, Stockholm. 



.S ^ Herb. Holmiense, Stockholm. 

 W = U. S. National Herbarium, Washington. 



The 46 figures, illustrating 88 species, are about all illustrations of type-spe- 

 cimens and show, as a rule, a pinna reduced to ' .. of its natural size, and two or 

 three segments enlarged IWa. 



