440 REVIEWS. [May, 



in beech-woods, nor did the author of Dryopteris name the P. 

 Dryopteris thus because it grows under Oaks. Names are not 

 alioays significant of the properties and accidents of the objects 

 which they represent. ' Always' is italicized, to draw attention to 

 a possible fact that although P. Phegopteris does not grow in 

 beech-woods in Britain, yet it does grow in woods, arid these 

 woods might in other lands and in other times have been beech- 

 woods. P. Dryopteris is so named because its leaf somewhat 

 resembles an oak-leaf, and because it grows among Oaks. P. 

 Phegopteris might have been so named from the imaginary re- 

 semblance of its fronds or jjinnce to beech-leaves, or it may, like 

 many other plants, have been named on the principle of anti- 

 phrasi$, as the Greeks would say, or on that of lucus a non lu- 

 cendo, as the Latins say ; or, as it may be said in plain English, 

 it was so called because it does not grow in beech- woods. 



The Cystopteris montana is doubtless the gem in the collection, 

 but the following are charming examples of less uncommon but 

 equally beautiful Ferns, viz. Asplenium Trichomanes, A. viride, 

 Lastrea dilatata, and Athyrium Filix-fcemina, var. molle. In 

 these it is difficult to say whether the skill and taste displayed in 

 the selection and mounting, or the objects themselves, are more 

 admirable. The external ornamentation, i.e. the binding of the 

 book, is very effective. The green colour of the boards, and the 

 gilding, harmonize well together. The typography is all that one 

 could wish in a work which, considering the style in which it is 

 produced, is by no means to be regarded as a costly ornament of 

 the drawing-room table. 



Possibly the fair authoress of these charmingly illustrated fern- 

 gleanings will not be displeased to learn that the exquisite example 

 of Asplenium vir'ide has a representative or a counterpart far be- 

 yond the bounds of Europe, if the following account does not 

 mislead us: — "On the higher part of the mountain (Mouna Kuah) 

 I gathered a Fern identical with the Asplenium viride of my own 

 native country, a circumstance which gave me inexpressible plea- 

 sure, and recalled to my mind many of the happiest scenes of my 

 early life.''^ 



Douglas's Account of his Travels m Hawaii, in Comp. Bot. Mag., vol. ii. p. 166. 



