will be made in the future study of our American ferns, viz.: " the 

 delimitation of closely allied species that have hitherto been tied 



what will be " a very conspicuous feature of the fern study of the 

 next few years," that is, of the early stages of our native ferns. 

 He refers to the value of anatomical studies as casting light upon 

 systematic relationships. The writer had knowledge of much 

 deeper problems concerning the significance of fern anatomy 

 which occupied our author, problems indicating such questions 

 as "What is the frond," and "What is the relation of the fern 

 caudex to the ordinary stem." In the paper here considered he 

 speaks of the broadening of our present limited conceptions of 

 American ferns by including those of the American tropics. 

 " But these thoughts," he says, "take us far beyond the origi- 

 nal intent of my subject ; yet they only emphasize the fact that 

 the world is a unit, and that even in fern study we will do well 

 to bear in mind not to become too narrow in our conceptions." 

 The attitude of Professor Underwood toward fern study at the 

 time of his death is to be seen in the following quotation from 

 his very last paper : " The two ferns of the genus Lindsaea here 

 to be described, one from Colombia, the other from Cuba, we 



should hesitate to add to the list of names in a genus so thor- 

 oughly in need of careful revision." 



As a summary, from a careful review of this whole field of 

 labor, it may be said that Professor Underwood's systematic 

 study of the ferns was one of the most profound in its class, and 

 was performed in a manner to compel the admiration of all com- 

 petent critics. Convinced that the existing views of inter-rela- 

 tionship among the ferns were not only confused, but wrongly 

 founded, and that correction could be accomplished only through 



out faltering, although he did not in the least lack appreciation 

 of its magnitude. Although he dissected unsparingly the work 

 of others, his sense of responsibility as a critic was so keen as to 

 save him from any tinge of offensiveness, and he was never 

 known to yield to the personal in viewing either another's work 



