20 THE PERNS AND 



CHAPTEE III. 



ENUMERATION AND SPECIFIC DESCKIPTION OF FERNS ANI> 

 FERN ALLIES. 



Everyone desirous of acquiring a correct knowledge of these 

 interesting and beautiful plants should work out the ordinal and 

 tribal characters, as well as those of the genera and species ; but 

 to do this satisfactorily requires the use of a good pocket lens, or, 

 still better, of a simple dissecting microscope. Pocket lenses of all' 

 kinds are to be had, and at all prices, from one shilling to 

 thirty ; for the maximum amount of satisfaction I would recom- 

 mend Browning's* platyscopic lenses (medium size). They are more 

 expensive than ordinary glasses, but they possess the great advantage- 

 of bringing the objects out on a flat field instead of distorting them, 

 as so many of the higher power lenses do. They can be carried in 

 the waistcoat pocket attached to a thin silk or other cord, as from' 

 their small size they are apt to be lost when one is out scrambling- 

 after ferns. For examination of these plants at home, there is 

 nothing equal to a dissecting microscope, and they can be had of" 

 very various make and price. Thus Mr. Browning advertises a 

 cheap and useful instrument, " The Houston Microscope," furnished 

 with three glasses and a pair of forceps, all for the modest sum of 

 6s. 6d. An excellent instrument is Swift's,* " Convenient Dissect- 

 ing Microscope," with a circular glass top, and costing ^2. Of 

 more expensive instruments suitable for every description of 

 dissecting work, I would instance Beck's* (price £5 10s., without 

 accessory apparatus), and Swift's portable (price £Q 10s.), the last 

 a most convenient instrument for the traveller. But there are 

 numerous other makers who turn out most excellent instruments. 1 

 consider the best dissecting tools to be 3-comered needles, but as these- 

 cannot readily be obtained in the colonies, I employ short but stout 

 ordinary needles, ground flat on two sides and fastened into short 



* Messrs. James Swift and Sons, 43 University-street, London, W.C. j 

 Messrs. E. and J. Beck, 31 Comhill, E.G. ; Mr. J. Browning, 63 Strand, W.C. 



