BRAKE, OR BRACKEN 97 



Kev. M. J. Berkeley speaks of bread made from it, 

 " better to my taste, and probably not less nutritious, 

 than Cassava bread." These root-stems are also, on 

 account of the quantity of tannin and astringent 

 matter contained in them (which, by the way, would 

 rather interfere with the asparagus flavour), much 

 used abroad in preparing chamois and kid leathers. 

 The alkalic properties of the fronds make them useful 

 too in soap. Farther, the Bracken is not without a 

 medicinal reputation : it is still retained in the Materia 

 Medico, as a remedy for worms, and a bed of the green 

 plant is looked upon by country folk as " the sovereign- 

 est thing on earth " for rickets in children. Common 

 as the plant is there do not seem to be many varieties. 



VARIETIES. 



crispa, Araside, J. M. Barnes. 



multifida, Levens, J. M. Barnes ; Windermere, P. Clowes. 

 variegata, Windermere, P. Clowes. 



