THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS. 173 



occur here. It is described as follows: 

 Rootstock short, ascending ; stipes 

 tufted, one to three inches long, some- 

 what blackish at base especially on the 

 inner side, usually glabrous ; fronds 

 lanceolate, broadest above the middle, 

 thin, two to three pinnate, three to six 

 inches long, acuminate at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base ; segments deeply 

 dentate with spinulose teeth ; sori one 

 to four on each segment. The indu- 

 sium is slightly curved, and for this A^ienium/ontanum. 

 reason it is often proposed to place this species with the 

 Athyriums. Our illustration is drawn from specimens 

 from Central Europe, in the author's herbarium. 



The generic n&meAsfltentum is derived from the Greek 

 and means without a spleen in allusion to the belief once 

 current that herds which fed upon this plant were with- 

 out spleens. In an old volume we find the statement 

 that " If the asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eates 

 of this herbe and so eases himself of the swelling of the 

 spleen." There are about three hundred and fifty spe- 

 cies in the world. 



