Conclusion 



attached four bands, very sensitive to changes in the 

 humidity of the air. 



3. The spore capsules are fixed to hexagonal scales 

 arranged in clusters round the head of the stem. 



4. Horsetails have both barren and fertile stems, in 

 some cases very unlike, in others very similar. 



In concluding this little book we add a word ot 

 warning. The descriptions of plants herein given, be 

 it noted, refer only to fully grown specimens. It is a 

 common failing of young enthusiasts to pick up immature 

 plants, especially fern fronds, in the expectation that 

 they will be able to identify them from the book 

 descriptions. Of course, it is possible to do so in 

 some cases, where particular plants have some 

 very distinctive feature peculiar to themselves alone, 

 but in the majority of cases such practices lead only to 

 failure and disappointment. There is no class of plants 

 so difficult to identify in the young state as the fern 

 group ; therefore the beginner should always seek out 

 at first only fully mature specimens. Having done so, 

 he can then turn with confidence to the book for 

 guidance as to names, etc. 



With this note of warning we conclude this Peep at 

 Nature, with the hope that it will remove some of the 

 difficulties which beset the path of the young botanist 

 who goes forth to learn something of the wild ferns, 

 clubmosses, and horsetails of his native land. 



