I20 West American Scientist. 



CONTENT. 



No rivalry among^the flowers ; 



They bloom as bright in nature's bowers, 



As in conservatories grand, 



Or at some gala public stand. 



No coveting another's dress, 

 No envying its loveliness ; 

 No mimicking each other's style. 

 Or heeding Fashion's foolish wile. 



The daisy is a daisy true, 

 And covets not the richer hue 

 Of roses, pinks, chrysanthemums, 

 Verbenas, or geraniums. 



The pansy and the marigold. 

 Though not together in one fold, 

 Look up and smile and give due praise 

 For sunny and for rainy days. — 6'. 



HA WAIIAN FERNS.'' 



The Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, the most important Poly- 

 nesian group in the North Pacific, consist of eight inhabited and 

 four uninhabited islands, lying between i8° 55', and 22° 2' north 

 latitude, and 155° and 161° west longitude. They were discover- 

 ed by Capt. Cook, in 1778, and were named Sandwich Islands, 

 in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. The native name of the group 

 is Irom the name of the largest island, Hawaii, (formerly written 

 Owhyhee), 74 by 90 miles, with an area of 3,950 square miles. 



The distance between the extreme points of the group is about 

 400 miles. The highest point is Mauna Kea, on Hawaii, 13900 

 feet in altitude. 



The islands are situated in the track of the trade wind belt, and 

 from their isolated position, present interesting and favorable lo- 

 calities for the study and collection of ferns. In many places, the 

 trees, shrubs, rocks and soil are so thickly covered by the differ- 

 ent species of these delicate and beautiful plants, as to impede the 

 progress of travellers. 



Miss Bird writes: 'In some places the forest becomes an im- 

 penetrable mass from the abundance of Gleichenia ' — a stiff-grow- 

 ing, wiry species, and that she collected seventeen species of ferns 

 growing upon the prostrate trunk of a tree fern 



In other places, the filmy, feathery fonds of ferns add an inde- 

 scribable charm and beauty to forest and landscape. The climb- 



