330 FERNS. 



wider, diffusion of the principles of correct taste is 

 training the eye of the multitude to discern other 

 charms than those of gorgeous colour ; and to seek, in 

 flowing lines and graceful curves, in minutely fretted 



the artist and engraver have bestowed much care upon the subject, 

 and the drawing on the block was corrected by myself. In the 

 left-hand corner of the foreground is Drynaria quercifolia, not 

 having yet formed the oak-shaped barren fronds, which impart 

 such a charm to this fine species. In the centre of the foreground, 

 on the wall of the tan-pit, is Darea vivipara, with drooping, mi- 

 nutely-divided fronds ; and behind this, still on the pit-wall, is that 

 very remarkable fern, all bristling with black hair, Dictyoglossum 

 crinitum. To the left of this, on the end-wall of the pit, is Cam- 

 pyloneurum pliyilitidis, with erect strap-like fronds, much like 

 those of our Hart's-tongue. Over the head of this are seen the 

 fronds of Pteris quadriaurita, var. argyrea, with a band of snowy 

 white along the centre of each pinna, seated at the end of tall 

 slender footstalks, which grow from a pot standing on an inverted 

 pot, almost concealed by the Drynaria first-named. 



Occupying the right front corner of the picture (but beyond the 

 pit in actual distance) is a large crown of fronds of the majestic 

 Drynaria morbillosa; beyond this, close to the door-sill, is T/iam- 

 nopteris nidus-avis, the Bird's-nest fern, a very noble form; and 

 above the former, on a block hanging against the side o\f the door, 

 is the Elk-horn, Platycerium alcicorne. 



Beyond the tan-pit two sloping buttresses project in succession 

 from the back-wall towards the middle of the house. They are 

 built of brickwork, hollow, and pigeon-holed ; and are so thickly 

 stocked with ferns and clad with Lycopods (to the number of about 

 a hundred and fifty species), that only their outline can be detected 

 in the engraving. There are, however, some very fine tufts of 

 Gymnogramma chrysophyllum, which may be seen between the 

 Pteris and the Dictyoglossum; and some fronds of a large creeping 

 Hypolepis, (? tenutfolia), arch from the summit of the nearest but- 

 tress, near the glass roof. 



The pendent baskets in front contain Orchids (Stanhopeas); but 

 near the door are seen various small ferns in suspended baskets, 

 and among them a Neplirolepis in a cocoa-nut shell. 



