Mav 1, 1S65.] 



SOIENCE-GOSSIP. 



lOlJ 



CULTIVATION OF TERNS. 



T NOTICE many qucstious iu Scie>;ce Gossip re- 

 -^ lative to Fern Culture, and think that a few 

 words respecting the manner in which German gar- 

 deners propagate Ferns by seed may prove in- 

 teresting. 



They take a cube of turfy peat about one inch 

 and a half square, and this they dip iu boiling water 

 iu order to destroy all the animal life it contains ; 

 all life, iu fact, animal or vegetable, that is in it must 

 be destroyed ; it is then laid in a Hat saucer, and 

 the spores are sprinkled upon the upper side. A 

 small quantity of water must be poured into tlie 

 saucer, and it should be covered over with a bell- 

 glass. A little water should be added from time to 

 time, as evaporation takes place, but great care must 

 be taken to pour it in without washing the seeds off 

 the turf, and iu five or six weeks a green moss-like 

 substance will cover the turf, and the young fronds 

 will gradually develope themselves. 



It is a singular fact that fern-seed, which has 

 been gathered and dried three or four years, will, 

 when sown, germinate more quickly than fresh 

 spores. 



One of your correspondents, " W. Ormerod," 

 seems in trouble respecting his young Ferns, which 

 are infested with a sort of fungus. I remember 

 being so vexed a few years ago, when I first began 

 to try and raise Ferns from seeds, by a black mould, 

 which my more experienced friends told me pro- 

 ceeded from the moisture of the soddened peat 

 rising to the surface through the sandstone. I gave 

 up all kinds of stone at once, and have used well- 

 burnt cinders ever since with decided success, 

 having never been trou.bled witli fungus afterwards. 

 I should be inclined to attribute " H. J. D.'s" find- 

 ing of strange Ferns iu the pans where he had sown 

 his spores, to the wild Fern-seed in the soil. 

 The German, method I have just described of pre- 

 paring the soil, i. e., dipping the turf in boiling 

 water, effectually prevents this. 



There are strange superstitions about Fern-seeds 

 in various parts of England, aud I know of some 

 very curious ones in Wales. Beu Jonsou, too, 

 and Beaumont" & Fletcher, allude to the "in- 

 visibility" of the person who carried 'Eern-seed 

 iu his pockets ; whilst the ancients believed that 

 Fern-seed was invisible from its very minuteness. 

 Shakespeare, however, with his usual good sense, 

 ridiculed the idea that it conferred the power of 

 becoming invisible on the bearer. 



Helen Watj^'ey. 



We behold all round about us one vast union, iu 

 which no man can labour for himself, without 

 labouring at the same time for all others. — Hi/perion. 



SIMPLE OBJECTS.— III. 

 Feixged scale-moss (PaHditm ciliare L.). 



rr^IilS is one of the most elegant of British scale- 

 -*- mosses, aud well worthy the attention of tlie 

 microscopist. It occurs abundantly in heathy places, 

 where it forms large purplish-browu patches, and, 

 at first sight, looks almost like a kind of moss, but 

 closer inspection dispels the fancied resemblance. 



The stems arc from one to three inches in length, 

 and prostrate, bearing on each side a profusion of 

 short branchlets, which are again and again sub- 



Fiff- 79.— Fringed Scai,e-Mo?s 

 (Natural size, and slightly rragnifled). 



divided. The leaves overlap each other, and are 

 placed in two rows on opposite sides of the stem. 

 Each leaf is divided into two unequal lobes, and 

 each lobe is again cleft into two pointed segments, 

 all of which are fringed along their margins with 



Fig. 80. — Pair of Leaves (further magnified). 



long, pointed, cellular hairs. At the base of the 

 leaves, on the under side of the stem, are smaller 

 leaves or stipules, which are likemse cleft aud 

 fringed with hairs. All these parts, when viewed 

 with a higher power ( x 300) are found to consist of 

 roundish cells, having a disposition to become hexa- 

 gonal, except in the hairs, where the cells are cylin- 

 drical, and placed end to end. 



Dr. Carrington recommends the following method 

 for the preparation and examination of these plants : 

 — " Take a leaf ; place it between two slips of glass, 

 with a few drops of equal parts of Liquor potassa 



