FEUXS. 207 



[To illustrate this statement Mr. Hitchings showed twentj'-four 

 sheets, from his herbarium, containing one hundred and forty 

 specimens of Botrychium teriiatuvi varieties, a curious and 

 interesting exliibition.] 



But to get the most satisfaction from ferns one should collect 

 them. Shirley Hibberd, in his "Fern Garden," says, "I believe 

 no one can thoroughly enjo}^ or understand ferns until after having 

 actually hunted for them in hedgerows, woods, and amongst 

 rocks, and rivulets, and waterfalls. The . . fern may be allowed 

 to sing . . . : 



Through the woods, through the woods, 



Follow and find me. 



Search every hollow, and dingle, and dell, 



I leave but the print of my footsteps behind me ; 



So those who would find me must search for me well." 



If this were written of the little Adder's tongue fern, or some 

 of the smaller Botrychiums, there would be a great deal of truth 

 in it. Mr. Hitchings then quoted from Robinson's "Ferns iu 

 Their Homes and Ours," as follows : 



"There is a large class of persons who . . . have to do 

 oul}' what they choose. This class must have a ' hobby,' or they 

 will rust out. Another class are engrossed by incessant profes- 

 sional work which leaves them every day cross and tired. These 

 should have some outside hobby, or they will become one-sided 

 and crabbed, and wear out." For illustration he says : " Dr. Jacob 

 Bigelow, of Boston, being a hard and earnest worker iu his 

 profession, determined, for his own good, to select some sensible 

 form of recreation ; and chose the study of botany, as necessitat- 

 ing long walks and refreshing thoughts. The result was the publi- 

 cation, in 181-i, of his ' Florula Bostoniensis.'" "All this came 

 from a hobby," says Robinson, who further writes : " Every person, 

 old or young, outside of an asylum for the insane, should have some 

 one thing in which an intellectual interest is taken, — some hobby, 

 or something that ma}' grow into one." And while he would not 

 " claim that the fern-mania ... is a hobby superior to most 

 others, ... he does claim, that, properly guided, it can be 

 the means of stimulating pure and healthy exercise and study ; 

 and . . . may be the cause of great and permanent good." 



Mrs. Piper remarked that if one would transfer a Maiden-hair 

 fern from its native spot to the fern garden, it should be done 



