36 Mr Simson on the Finding [sess. li. 



rocks and caves on the coast to the north of Glen Sannox in 

 search of Asplcniuni marinum. He told me I would be sure 

 to find it, and that he had got a nice plant of it himself a 

 few days previously. 



After some hours' hunting among the cliffs and caves on 

 the shore I was only successful in getting one or two very 

 small specimens of A. onarinum within reach. A very low 

 cave into which I could scarcely crawl was, I found, the 

 den of a real wild cat, now very scarce. I need hardly say 

 I saw the cat take its departure before I ventured to explore 

 the interior. 



In passing Corrie on my way home, I again met my post- 

 man fiiend, who asked if I had been successful. I told 

 him I had found only one or two very small specimens, 

 whereupon he asked me to accompany him to his cottage, 

 and he would show me the plant he had found. 



In a little garden at the back of the cottage he had lying 

 on the ground, wi'apped up in moss, a number of small 

 parcels of ferns made up for sale. One of these he picked 

 up, and handed to me as the plant of A. marinum he 

 had been speaking about. Instead of A. marinum, I 

 was much surprised to find a fern which I had never 

 seen before, and as to whicli, at the first glance, I felt 

 quite puzzled. But, on unwrapping some of the moss, 

 and seeing the winged ribs of the fronds, it flashed on my 

 mind that this must be the Killarncy fern, a picture of which 

 I had seen in a small handbook of Ferns I had at home. 

 So I told Douglas that his fem was not A. marinum, and 

 that 1 thought it was a very rare fern indeed, but that, as I 

 had never seen it before, I could not be positive about it till 

 I had referred to a book I had at home. I took a frond 

 with me, and said I would lie al)le to tell biin next day 

 what the fern was. 



It so happened that on that day I had arranged to go to 

 Campl^eltown for a time on an exploring and fern-hunting 

 expedition. To get there I walked from Jjrodick to Loch 

 Kanza, where I met the steamcir- from Glasgow to Campbeltown. 

 On my way to Loch IJanza I met Douglas, told him that I 

 was right in my supposition tliat his fern was very rare 

 indeed, the T. radicans, and thiit I had never heard of its 

 having Ijeen found in Scotland Ijefore, and did not believe 



