BULLETIN 



OF THE 



UsTSTITTJTIE 



VOL. 4. SALEM, MASS., DECEMBER, 1872. No. 12. 



One Dollar a Year in Advance. 10 Cents a Single Copy. 



EEGULAR MEETING, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1872. 



Meeting this evening at 7 30 o'clock. The PRESIDENT 

 in the chair. Kecords of preceding meeting read. 



The evening was occupied by the reading of a commu- 

 nication, by Mr. John Robinson, on 



FERNERIES, HOW TO MAKE THEM, AND WHAT TO PUT IN THEM. 



Fern cases, or ferneries, as most of us call them, were 

 originally called Wardian cases, in honor of their inven- 

 tor, Dr. B. N. Ward of London, who published a book 

 upon the subject in 1842. These cases are only a modi- 

 fication of the handglass always used to force or protect 

 plants in the greenhouse or open air ; yet the placing of 

 this in a practical way renders it easy to import the plants 

 of foreign tropical countries, which otherwise could never 

 be seen here in a living state, besides enabling us to grow 

 at home as beautiful ferns and other delicate, moisture- 

 loving plants as are seen in the hot-house or conservatory. 



The fern case, as it conies from the cabinet-maker's, is 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN. iv 22 



