INSTINCT OR REASON ? 89 
venture to say. The other half of my frond may be only the 
variety that is known as Jonchitidoides, but I have compared it 
over and over again with veritable Jonchitis, and I can detect no 
difference. 
Almost every fern is subject to these and other forms of abnor- 
mal development, but to notice all the Fern Freaks would require 
avolume. Here, therefore, I must end my chapter, and refer 
the reader for further information to Moore’s ‘Handbook of 
British Ferns,” where most of the varieties are described. 
RoserT Houanp. 
Hustinct or Hensow P 
The following anecdotes may not prove uninteresting; whether 
exhibiting mere instinct, or some degree of reasoning, I 
will leave my readers to decide. Instinct and reason are so 
nearly allied, that though the latter be superior to the former, 
the shades of difference in many instances are so fine, that the 
result may without dispute be attributable to either. About 
sixty years ago a Captain Moore, of Mitcham, in Surrey, and a 
bachelor friend of the name of Potter, paid a visit to a farmer of 
the name of Chown, at Chorley, near West Wycombe, for the 
purpose of enjoying some sport in the way of shooting. They 
were accompanied by a brace of pointers, one belonging to each. 
Now, the dog belonging to Mr. Potter, was to him a com- 
panion both by night and day, being privileged to sleep in his 
master’s bedroom when athome. Arrived at Mr. Chown’s, the 
dogs accompanying their master in a chaise, no difficulty was ex- 
perienced until night, when the captain communicated to his 
_ friend the unpleasant intelligence that his dog could not be per- 
_ mitted to sleep in his bedroom; for their hostess was one who 
prided herself on her polished floors, and to have a dog sleep 
in a bedroom would be an act of unpardonable profanity. Ac- 
cordingly, with the assistance of their host, a nice bed was pre- 
pared in the calves’ pen in the cow-house, and just the last thing 
M 
