136 FERNS 



but miscellaneous designs are on the market. 

 The most amusing product is certainly the 

 fern monkey. This facetious idea is so well 

 developed that on one occasion the attendant 

 of an Italian organ grinder took off his hat 

 and respectfully saluted a new acquaintance 

 of his own kind. The failure to return the 

 compliment, however, awakened curiosity, 

 and the flesh-and-blood monkey attempted 

 to tear the stuffing out of the vegetarian 

 without further ceremony. 



The original of the photograph is given 

 a daily bath for five or six months of the 

 year, and in October or November is usu- 

 ally relegated to the cellar, where he 

 hangs in a comatose state from the water 

 pipe for several months, having, it is 

 said, a beneficial effect on delinquent 

 plumbers. 



The fronds of the davallia are light and 

 airy and delicately curved, and on the pres- 

 ent subject prove clearly that there is no 

 place where a fern can be other than 

 graceful. 



