C|)c €xoB$mc^ ot Jjcrns. 



By col. ARTHUR M. JONES. 



TDEFORE ontoriiif!; on the snbjoct of this evouiug't) paper, 

 J—^ I slioald liko, with your indulgence, to aay a few words 

 in jnstico to a naturalist of no mean order, who, though 

 ])orhaps scarcely known to any of you, lived, and for many 

 years did good work, in your own district— I allude to the 

 Rov. Charles Padley, formerly of Bulwell Hall, Nottingham- 

 shire, and who died last year Rector of Envillo. 



Mr. I'adley was a l)orn naturalist, and though chiefly dis- 

 tinguished as a botanist, lus interest was not confined to 

 that brancli of science. To him, more than any one else, 

 are the lovers and cultivators of British ferns indebted, 

 for ho was one of the most original, intelligent, persevering, 

 and successful of discoverers, and one of the most generous 

 also ; and as, in addition to other obligations which I, in 

 common with others, owe him in connection with such 

 matters, I have been chiefly indebted to him for the material 

 with which I have worked in my experiments in " The 

 Crossing of Perns," I fool it only just to make some acknow- 

 ledgment. 



When Mr. Padley, leaving Nottinghamshire, made his 

 home in the West of England, and began to interest himself 



8S<J 



