VI INTRODUCTION. 



tints are constantly appearing, and more mature' ones as tliey 

 pass through the different stages towards fructification, gain fresh 

 beauty in every change. 



An additional argument in their favour is, that in many 

 situations, where other plants could not exist. Ferns will not 

 only grow but impart a character which can be attained by 

 no other means. 



Although Ferns are now so generally cultivated, yet perhaps 

 no class of plants is so little understood. This arises partly 

 from the great difficulty of the subject, for in no other do we 

 find such uncertainty both in classification and names, and partly 

 from the fact that no work exists which, whilst being within 

 the reach of all, shall possess accurate coloured figures of the 

 plants described, without the assistance of which it is almost 

 impossible to detect the minute differences which in many in- 

 stances form the chief distinctioii between the species. This 

 desideratum it is the object of the author of the present work 

 to supply, for the valuable works of Sir William Hooker, 

 Bauer, Blume, Bolton, Brown, Dryander, Fee, Willdenow, 

 Sprengel, Greville, Hedwig, Kaulfuss, Kunze, Link, Martens, 

 Galeotti, Moore, Newman, Plumier, Presl, Sadler, Schkuhr, 

 Schott, Suminski, Swartz, Weber, Mohr, Smith, Langsdorf, 

 Fischer, Gaudichaud, Bory, Mirbel, Lindsay, Desvaux, Linnaeus, 

 etc., are either too expensive, or do not contain all the informa- 

 tion required in the present day. 



Although the present work is exclusively confined to the 

 delineation of the Ferns indigenous or introduced into England 

 from other countries, still a few words upon the Ferns of the 

 Ancient World will not prove uninteresting. There are fossil 

 as well as recent Ferns, and of the former species all which 

 now remains of them are their pictures, printed by nature upon 

 stones. Nevertheless in some instances, these monuments are 

 so perfect, that occasionally not only are the veinlets accurately 

 imprinted, but the form of fructification is beautifully shown. 



The great majority of the fossil Ferns are found in the coal 

 measures, and nearly all the species are arborescent, and this 

 last feature is the more remarkable, because in the present 

 day no Tree Ferns grow in Great Britain, clearly illustrating 

 that a very different climate existed in this country then, than 

 we now enjoy. If we turn to the Tropical regions we can 



