74 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



excelsa and australis ; and then you are led up so 

 as to get a sight of the tops, which is quite en- 

 chanting. The crevices of the rocks have mosses 

 growing in them most luxuriantly ; a large number 

 of species, many of them rare, having been col- 

 lected from their various habitats specially for this 

 purpose. Todeas also are the near neighbors of 

 these, and many species of Trichomanes and Hy- 

 menophyllum are beginning to make themselves 

 conspicuous. There are also to be found hanging 

 from the roof in company with ferns, and in vari- 

 ous other parts of the house, many orchids from 

 the temperate regions of Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, 

 &c., and thriving well : indeed, the whole collection 

 is in excellent health and keeping." 



Shirley Hibberd speaks of several interesting 

 collections ; but the establishment which pos- 

 sesses the most merit for originality is that of 

 Alfred Smee, Esq., of Carshalton : "The walls 

 are formed of solid banks of peat, which extend 

 on either side of the plate on which the rafters 

 rest, so as to form borders within and without. 

 The house may be about eighty feet in length. 

 The banks on either side are varied in outline ; and 

 there is in one spot a basin tenanted with gold- 

 fish, and surrounded with ferns of peculiarly novel 

 aspect, which are constantly bedewed by the spray 

 from a fountain. The roof is a span running east 

 and west : the south side of it is covered with felt, 



