24 ON GENERA AND SPECIES. 



being Bernkardi, Robert Brown, Bory, Desvaux, Kaulfuss, 

 Gaudichaud, Raddi, Martins, Presl, Don, and others*. In 

 these works a number of new genera are characterised, but 

 it is not necessary to enter into further details regarding 

 them here, more especially as the principal of them are 

 given hereafter, either as accepted genera or as synonyms. 



These authors were followed by C. Sprengel, who, in the 

 fourth volume of his " Systema Yegetabilium," published in 

 1827, brought together and arranged in systematic order 

 the whole of the species of Ferns known to him. Although 

 this work cannot be looked upon otherwise than as a 

 hasty compilation, and is of little value as a work of 

 reference, yet it has the merit of bringing into a brief 

 compass a descriptive enumeration of all the Ferns known 

 at that period, collated from previously published works; 

 the total number of his circinate Ferns being 1,309, which 

 he arranges under fifty genera. This shows that a con- 

 siderable increase of species had taken place since the 

 time of Willdenow, and a glance at the author's names 

 above mentioned proves that the study of Ferns had not 

 been neglected. 



The discoveries of Blume and Reinwardt in Java, led to 

 the publication in 1830 of Blume's enumeration of the 

 Ferns of that and other of the Malayan Islands, in which 

 460 species are described. Of these 300 were new, the 

 whole being arranged under fifty genera, six of which were 

 previously unknown. 



This was followed by the splendid folio work, Blume's 

 " Flora of Java," which contains finely-coloured plates 

 of Ferns ; and in the letter press he gives many new ideas 

 respecting genera. At this period Link and Kunze 

 published several treatises on Ferns, the first an enumera- 

 * See list of authors and books. 



