stout rootstocks of which formed the basis of a marvellous tale 

 current in early times, to the effect that on a vast lofty plain to 

 the eastward of the Volga occurred a wonderful plant, having the 

 appearance of a lamb, its skin being covered with soft down. 

 This animal, so the story ran, grew upon a stalk, and was so at- 

 tached that it could turn in all directions and feed upon the sur- 

 rounding vegetation, drying up and pining away when this was 

 exhausted. The native name was said to be Barometz, and it 

 was known to the travellers of those days as the Tartarian lamb, 

 or as Agnus Scythicus, the Scythian lamb. 



In the baskets overhead are a number of desirable ferns that 

 may be readily grown in hanging baskets. N Among these are 

 specimens of the Boston fern, and of others equally desirable, 

 such as Davallia dissecta, from Java, Davallia fijiensu, from the 

 Fiji Islands, and Davallia bullata, commonly found in the Jap- 

 anese fern-balls offered for sale at the florists. Another decorative 

 fern is Stenochlaena tenuifolia, from southern Africa, useful not 

 only for baskets, but for a column or wall, as it is a strong climber. 



In the central part of the house are the graceful tree-ferns, 



world over. They are quite common in the West Indies, and 

 many of these here exhibited have been secured by the various 

 Garden expeditions to those parts. They are generally found in 

 the mountainous regions of the tropics, commonly at an elevation 

 of fifteen hundred feet or over, and are exceedingly picturesque 

 in appearance, especially when their trunks are thickly covered 

 with masses of delicate filmy ferns, mosses and hepatics. In the 

 geaus Alsophila will be found A. australis, a native of Australia, 

 A. aspera, common throughout the West Indian region, and 

 A. armata, of tropical America generally. In addition to Cibotium 

 Barometz, to which allusion has already been made, will be found 

 Cibotium regale, from Mexico, with graceful arching fronds 

 several feet long. In the genus Cyathea are C. arborea, generally 

 distributed throughout tropical America, C. concinna, known only 

 from Jamaica, and C. insignis, from Jamaica and Cuba. Cnemi- 

 daria grandifolia, known from many parts of tropical America, 

 is represented in several specimens. 



