50 



generic arrangement was far in advance of anything that pre- 

 ceded it. 



Smith was president of the Linnean Society (London) for 

 many years and after his death his collection was purchased by 

 the society, at whose rooms it is now easil)' accessible for exami- 

 nation. The plants are well preserved, but, as in many of the 

 early collections, many ferns are represented by tips of leaves 

 only and some of these have served as types of new species. 



Olof Swartz issued the first formal enumeration of all known 

 ferns in his Synopsis Filicnni (1806) and presented the next 

 general conspectus of fern genera. In this and previous works 

 he described a large number of species and established the 

 genera Marattia, Graurniitis, Aspidiiim, Diplaaium, Lygodmm, 

 BotrychiujH, Chcilanthcs, Anemia, Mohria, and Psilotiim. His 

 Synopsis recognized thirty-eight genera and his work is usually 

 regarded as the first real datum-line for the systematic study of 

 ferns. To show how clearly he outlined the system so long 

 familiar to fern students in the later Syjiopsis Filiaini of Hooker 

 and Baker (1868, 1874) we give an outline of his classification : 



I. GVRATAE 

 Soris nudis 

 AcROSTiCHUM (46*), Meniscium (3), Hemionitis (8), Gram- 



MITIS (13), TaENITIS (i), POLVPODIUM (l02). 



Soris indusiatis 



ASPIDIUM (93), ASPLENIUM (75), CaENOPTERIS (9), SCOLOPEN- 

 DRIUM (2), DlPLAZIUM (9), LONCHITIS (4), PtERIS (79), VlTTARIA 



(6), Onoclea (12), Blechnum (14), Woodwardia (8), Lindsaea 

 (14), Adiantum (32), CuEiLANTHEs (i6), Davallia (29), DlCK- 

 soNiA (16), Cyathea (10), Trichomanes (21), Hvmenophyllum 



(28). 



II. SPURIK GVRATAK 

 Capsulis riniatis 

 Sciiizaea (6j, Lygodium (ii), Anemia (17), Mohkia (i), 

 OsMUNDA (6), Todea ( I ), Mertensia (7), Gleichenia (3), 

 Angiopteris (i). 



* The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of species of each genus 

 descriljcd in the Synopsis. 



