THE OAK. 31 



companions, that pretty and simple fern which 

 captured his imagination in early youth. The oak 

 seems to take pride in holding the fern in its giant 

 arms; the fern shows us how the grandest thing 

 may be enriched by the simplest, just as great 

 men, gifted with the might of wisdom, and able 

 to pour forth in unbroken streams, music that 

 makes our very soul come up and sit listening in 

 our ears, still delight to be clasped by the sweet 

 tendrils of simple hearts, to watch and help their 

 strivings after the amiable and the true, to listen 

 to their innocent songs, and to bless them with 

 their bountiful protection. 



The fern upon the oak must not be confounded 

 with that one specifically termed " oak-fern/' and 

 technically called Dryopteris ; nor yet must it 

 be confounded with another which gives a quaint 

 resemblance to the oak in the section of its stem. 

 " Oak-fern " has no necessary connection with oak- 

 trees, and is as often found far away from them as 

 near. It is so called because the general outline 

 or profile, when a leaf is laid flat, gives a pleasing 

 idea of that of an oak standing alone, and viewed 

 from a distance. This fact of resemblance in out- 

 line between things in other respects totally un- 

 connected, is one of the most striking in nature. 

 We should expect it in some degree from the inti- 

 mate affinities everywhere displayed to the man of 

 science. But it is independent of these, lying oiit- 



