ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENERIS. 7 



dually into the foot-stalk, and seem to be of quite a different 

 shape from those of the Arran specimen. The characters pre- 

 sented by the fronds sent, are constant in the plants under cul- 

 tivation. I may here mention, that when I received the roots 

 they were hastily planted in a common garden-pot, and were 

 afterwards much neglected, until I thought they had quite 

 perished for want of water. If they had not been more than 

 usually tenacious of life such would have been their fate ; but 

 by careful nursing they were saved, and have ever since grown 

 vigorously in a greenhouse, without artificial temperature dur- 

 ing the winter. At the time when the roots were first gathered, 

 the fronds were very small and imperfect." — Phytol. iv. 71. 



I have represented the most characteristic of the fronds 

 accompanying the foregoing communication at fig. d, page 8 ; it 

 will at once be seen how closely it resembles fig. a at page 1. 

 This form occurs almost invariably in the Isle of Man, on both 

 sides of the Bristol Channel, and about the Land's End. 



The third form, represented at fig. e, is more lax ; the stalks 

 of the pinnules are set on at an acute angle, and the pinnules 

 themselves are more deeply divided. It is the Adiantum dis- 

 sectum of some authors, and is treated as a variety of A. tenerum 

 by Martens and Galeotti (FU. Mex. 7 1), and as a variety of A. 

 CapiUus-Veneris by Sir W. J. Hooker, (Sp. FUicum, ii. 36, tab. 

 Ixxiv. B). It is certainly a less frequent plant in the British 

 Islands than the preceding, occurring only on the Atlantic coast 

 of Ireland, and on the southern coast of Devonshire ; the spe- 

 cimen figured having been obligingly sent me by Mr. Flower 

 from Mewstone Bay. It must, however, be observed, that the 

 British forms, so different in extremes, become nearly united 

 by others of an intermediate character occasionally found in all 

 the localities. 



The Maidenhair is a beautiful fern in cultivation. It grows 

 freely in a greenhouse, without any artificial heat beyond that 

 which the protection of the glass supplies : it should never be 

 exposed to the rays of the sun. The soil should be a mixture 

 of loam, leaf-mould, and silver sand, mixed with small pieces 



