This published observation was bi 

 had treasured, and, the ice being no 

 to direct attention to the ferns gei 

 them, which he did in 1881, thro 

 " Our Native Ferns." The volun 

 and its title page bore the followii 



The work contained synoptical descriptions of 147 species, and 

 its object was to guide to their study as well as to their classifi- 

 cation. This work has passed through six editions, the fourth 



in his treatment of the subject ; it includes the fern allies, and 

 adopts a modern classification and a rational nomenclature. That 

 it created a widespread interest in the study of ferns is shown by 

 the successful career of the Fern Chapter and Fern Bulletin, both 

 of which profited largely thereby. A more striking evidence is 

 the great-number of fern specimens that soon poured in upon the 

 author from students in all parts of the country, which enabled 

 him to accumulate a very valuable collection, now possessed by 

 the New York Botanical Garden. 



During the progress of his work on ferns, Professor Underwood 

 became impressed with the need for some systematic presentation 

 of the North American Hepaticae, which, serving as a convenient 

 guide, might lead to the more general study of this neglected 

 group. This project was carried out in 1883, when he published 

 his descriptive Catalogue of these plants in the Bulletin of the 

 Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. 



One of his most cherished objects was the publication of an 

 elaborate Index Hepaticarum, and in 1893 its first part, on 

 bibliography, appeared. It is characteristic of the author that 

 this first part is presented so that it can form a convenient basis 

 for the continuation of the work by another. In 1894, he pub- 

 lished a highly scientific paper on the evolution of the Hepaticae. 



Professor Underwood's natural tendency to breadth of study 



