114 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
weather; the second, (Plate 8) the same colony as it 
appeared forty-eight hours later, after a good soaking 
rain, in as good condition as ever. When the period of 
dry weather is long drawn out, it sometimes happens 
that the colonies of this fern on the driest parts of the 
rocks are too far gone to recover. 
Quotations from other most interesting American 
writers could be given if space permitted, but surely 
enough evidence has been presented to prove ‘‘the 
irresistible influence that has captured and controlled 
the intellect” of many of us. 
Of course we are all duly impressed by the technical 
and scholarly descriptions of the ferns by our recognized 
experts, and we realize that they are a most important 
and necessary part of this publication. Yet I feel that 
articles such as I have quoted, from the pens of those 
who are enthusiastic writers on the less technical phase 
of what might be termed “the romance of the ferns in 
their homes” would be sadly missed from FERN JOURNAL. 
By all means let us have more of them! 
For, to quote from our friend Gosse once more, 
“there are more ways than one of studing natural 
history. There is Dr. Dryasdust’s way which consists 
of mere accuracy of definition and differentiation, 
statistics as harsh and dry as the skin and bones in the 
museum where it is studied. There is the field-ob- 
server’s way, the careful and conscientious accumu- 
lation and record of facts bearing on the life history of 
the creatures, statistics as fresh and bright as the forest 
or meadow where they are gathered in the dewy morn- 
ing. And there is the poet’s way who looks at nature 
through a glass peculiarly his own, the aesthetic aspect, 
which deals, not with statistics but with the emotions 
of the human mind.” “In my many years wander- 
ings through the wide field of natural history, I have al- 
ways felt toward it Ek: of a poet’s heart though 
destitute of a poet’s genius.’ 
