50 SCALY SPLEENWORT. 



The outline is long and narrow, very deeply divided 

 into rounded lobes standing in an oblique position 

 towards the mid-rib. 



The short tough roots of this fern insinuate them- 

 selves into the crevices of old walls and ruins, in rocky 

 places, and especially in limestone districts in England 

 and Ireland. It is rare in Scotland, but is found in 

 middle and southern Europe and in Africa. 



On the old walls of -churches and ruins this pretty 

 fern seems to be quite at home, and is often found in 

 company with the Wall Rue. It is to be seen on the 

 walls of Jerusalem. Its medicinal properties were at 

 one time thought to be of great value, but it has fallen 

 into disuse with the progress of knowledge, and the 

 discovery that all these supposed peculiarities, existing 

 iu various herbs and plants, depend on some astringent 

 or other principle which is better supplied to the 

 system in a more concentrated form from some other 

 source. 



The common name Spleenwort takes it origin in 

 a curious story, that in Cerito there is a river which 

 divides two portions of land, the Ceterach growing 

 abundantly on one side of the stream and not on the 

 other. On the side where this fern grows, the pigs 

 are said to have no spleen, but on the other side no 

 such deficiency is recorded. Hence the name Spleen- 

 wort, or Asplenon. To this day, Arabian and other 

 eastern writers believe in the virtues of this fern in 

 diseases of the spleen and liver. 



To cultivate this fern with any success, its natural 

 habit must be attended to as much as possible. It 



