INTRODUCTORY. 



more passionately loved than Ferns.' It is in- 

 deed probable that the pursuit of no other branch 

 of natural history has the same peculiar attraction 

 for its votaries as the pursuit of the study of 

 Ferns. Those, indeed, who have become thoroughly 

 inoculated with the passion for Ferns know well 

 what a singular fascination the search for and 

 cultivation of these beautiful plants have for 

 them; and this effect is undoubtedly produced, 

 as The Daily Telegraph remarks, by the ' subtle 

 grace and tender beauty ' of the flowerless 

 plants. 



A professional writer thinks that the sugges- 

 tions in 'THE FERN PARADISE' will be welcomed by 

 ' those who desire to see town life rendered 

 fresher and pleasanter than it is at present, when 

 the highest adjuncts of civilization have to be 

 paid for by the entire absence of that beauty of 

 form and colour which delights the eye in the 

 country.' 1 'The conditions of city life,' he con- 

 tinues, ' have brought together immense crowds 

 of inhabitants, and the green fields have perished 



1 The British Architect. 



49 



