THE FERN PARADISE. 



writer ascribes the love of what is most beautiful 

 in Nature to the refining influence of civilization . 

 He says, { The more advanced civilization is, and 

 the more developed our natural tastes, the more 

 do we seek admiring and loving communion with 

 Nature in its ten thousand forms of magnificence 

 and beauty. Its rising and setting suns, its 

 clouds and shadows, its mountain ranges and 

 forests, its great seas and running streams,, 

 attract our attention and relieve the hardness and 

 monotony of business and every-day life. None 

 of the plants which adorn our world exceed in 

 beauty, gracefulness, and variety the Ferns, which 

 are so fitted to lend a charm to sunless and arid 

 spots.' 1 'It is impossible/ exclaims the Re- 

 viewer, ' to look on these plants, clothed in 

 foliage rich and graceful, and presenting that 

 freshness of colour to the eye which verdure 

 never fails to yield, without feeling an inner, 

 inexpressible pleasure, which statuary and paint- 

 ing cannot excite. And all can command this 

 pleasure to a certain extent. The man whose 



1 The British Quarterly Review. 



