518 THE VITALITY OF FERNS. [AugUSt, 



having occasion to use this said tin vasculum^ I discovered^ on 

 opening it, that this perfectly dried, withered plant of Crypto- 

 gramma crispa was there, and my first idea was to throw it 

 behind the fire. On second thoughts, I placed it within a com- 

 mon garden-pot, the inside of which I had well moistened, set 

 the pot in a shallow pan, and covered the whole with a glass 

 shade, placing it within the influence of the morning sun, and 

 watched it carefully. It had not been more than a week under 

 this treatment before it began to show signs of vitality, first 

 gently swelling in the centre, then gradually unfolding its beau- 

 tiful circinate foliation, and is now (May 25 th) in apparently a 

 healthy, if not a comparatively vigorous state. 



Useful inferences may be drawn from the facts thus brought 

 under notice by purely accidental circumstances as above related. 



1. Here is a period of six months, during which time the plant 

 is enabled to maintain its vitality without any attention, mois- 

 ture, or extraneous nourishment of any kind whatever. 



2. The knowledge acquired by the simple fact above narrated 

 may surely be turned to account by those who are interested in 

 the successful transport of plants from one distant part of the 

 globe to another, for there are comparatively few voyages now of 

 so long duration, I think, as six months. 



3. If it be safe for one of so little experience in such matters 

 as myself to hazard an opinion, I would suggest that one very 

 principal reason why the plant did not perish, was the fact of 

 its having been taken from its place of growth in the Berwyn 

 mountains, firstly, by removing the loose pieces of rock, stones, 

 and debris, among which it grew, without injuring the crown, 

 rhizome, or fibres; secondly, by stowing it away after having well 

 shaken the small quantity of soil from its roots while in a dry 

 state ; thirdly, by its having been kept altogether in a dry state 

 during the winter months, — indeed, one is led to think that in 

 packing living Ferns for transport, they should be kept almost 

 entirely free from moisture, perhaps tied up in dry moss. 



Another lesson may be gathered from this matter. From the 

 whole we may learn that there is an almighty Power who is the 

 Author, the Giver, and the Preserver of vegetable as well as of 

 animal existence, " who holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth 

 not our feet to be moved." W. P. 



45, Frith Street, Solio, London. 



