30 



FERNS. 



Both grow to the greatest perfection in damp and 

 shady places, or on open commons, and hence it is 

 that the seeds are arranged on the under surface of 

 the leaves, some in spots, others in long lines, others 

 again like lace-work on the serrated edges. Storms 

 may beat heavily upon them, and whirlwinds that 

 send the fruit from off the trees, and even sweep 

 from out their ancient fastnesses the firmest oaks, 

 may rage around them, but the fern-leaf bends and 

 trembles in the gale, rises when the storm has passed, 

 and bends again beneath its fury, but not a single 

 seed is scattered to the earth, before the season of its 

 full developement. 



Beautiful, too, and useful in its mountain habita- 

 tion is the vigahua, a single-leafed vegetable, about 

 five feet in length, and two and a-half in breadth, 

 which grows profusely in the sheltered valleys of the 

 Andes. The under surface is smooth, and of a vivid 

 green, divided down the middle with a thick rib; the 

 upper is white, and covered with a fine and viscid 

 down. Nothing can be more imposing than the 

 effect produced by these elegant leaves, when seen 

 beside the deep dark foliage of the fern. As the 

 wind passes over them, first one and then another 

 come into view ; now the white appears, and now 

 the green, and thus a graceful interchange of 

 mingled tints is blended in striking contrast with 

 the lichen-dotted rock, from which they spring. 



Travellers have often recourse to the leaves of the 

 vigahua, in order to construct a temporary shelter 

 in desert places from the storms that are frequent in 

 high latitudes. 



Bending over the vigahua, the arborescent ferns, 



