350 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [November, 



Few readers of the ' Phytologist'' would wish to have a speci- 

 raen of this most elaborate descriptive history of Ferns. The 

 objects described are universally admitted to be the most inter- 

 esting and attractive of all the subjects of the Vegetable King- 

 dom ; and the few readers who pursue this branch of botany will 

 purchase and read, and judge of the work for themselves. It is 

 believed that but few of these have an adequate appreciation of 

 the immense labour and research bestowed on even a single page. 

 The references to authorities for some species amount to forty, 

 and twenty citations are not uncommon. 



Those who read the ' Species Filicum' will find Mr. Moore's 

 ' Index Filicum' a very useful, if not a necessary adjunct, to this 

 very elaborate performance. 



BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 

 An Afternoon's Botanizing in North Derbyshire. 



The most casual observer could not fail to note the total difference be- 

 tween the scenery of the millstone grit aud limestone, and the tame aspect 

 of the new red sandstone and the upper coal measures. And no less is 

 the difference in their respective Floras. The present flying visit, having 

 taken place just after a long season of wet weather, in the month of June, 

 and consequently at a time of promise rather than of actual harvests for 

 the vasculum-bearer, will be little more than a list of the Ferns met with, 

 which, in my opinion, imder the circumstances is a veiy good one. And 

 in the first place I must premise that several of these are very rare in 

 the neighbourhood of Manchester, our starting-point, though common 

 enough in many parts of England. Leaving Whaley Bridge station, we 

 steered at a brisk pace along the Buxton road. After about one mile's 

 walking, we fell in with Asplenrnm Triclbomanes, and Scolopendr'mm vul- 

 gare, both very luxuriant in the drainage-holes by the roadside. This set 

 us in good spirits at once, as these Ferns are " cyg-ni nigri " in the neigh- 

 bom'hood of Manchester, and common nowhere in South Lancashire, as 

 far as I am aware. At two miles' distance from Whaley Bridge is FemUee 

 toll-bar ; just past here is a bridge over a small stream. A fortunate look 

 over this bridge revealed to our delighted eyes some fine plants of Poly- 

 stichum lobatum with var. loucJiitldoides ; and flowering near, very abun- 

 dantly, was the beautiful Saxifraga grannlata. One or two Hieracia, not 

 in flower, had found an abode on the wall, in company with Scolopendrium 

 vulgare, and other mural plants. Eeturning to the road directly after, 

 sharp eyes revealed the tips of the fronds of Asplenliim Adiantum-nigruvn 

 (one of the rarest of the Manchester Flora), which were protruding from 

 the clefts, among the stones at the base of the road-waU, but very small 



