30 



FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



" They may be very large and handsome," said 

 Mary, " but I cannot fancy anything more beauti- 

 ful than the fern we brought home from the 

 woods. We little thought, as we scrambled 



through a mass of fern 

 leaves, that every one of 

 them was loaded with 

 hundreds of little seed- 

 vessels on the under 

 side. It was quite by 

 accident that I caught 

 sight of them, scattered 

 like little yellow beads 

 all over the back of 

 the leaf, or perhaps I 

 ought to call it the 

 branch, for there were 

 a great many small 

 leaves upon it." 



" In ferns it is called 

 the frond, and according 

 to its shape, and the 

 arrangement of the 

 seeds, you may discover 



THE LADY-FERN. 



