PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



years have now elapsed since the publication 

 of " Perns : British and Foreign," of which the 

 following pages are a corrected reprint. Since then, 

 a number of exotic species have been introduced, 

 making considerable additions to the cultivated col- 

 lections in this country, of which the names of many 

 have from time to time been noticed in the Horti- 

 cultural Journals and in Nurserymen's Catalogues. 

 These I have collected and arranged under their 

 respective genera and tribes, so as to form an 

 Appendix to the present edition. I, however, deem 

 it necessary to state, that shortly after the publication 

 of the first edition in 1866, my sight entirely failed, 

 and consequently I have not been able to follow up 

 my rule, which was, not to enter a species on the 

 list of living plants without first having seen it 

 growing, or had specimens sent me taken from plants 

 cultivated in this country. It being impossible for 

 me now to do so, I have consequently availed myself 

 of the great knowledge of Ferns possessed by Mr. 

 William Grower, formerly foreman of the Fern collec- 

 tion at Kew, whose name is already noticed in the 



