THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS. 173 
occur here. It is described as follows: 
Rootstock short, ascending; stipes 
tufted, one to three inches long, some- 
what blackish at base especially on the 
inner side, usually glabrous; fronds 
lanceolate, broadest above the middle, 
thin, two to three pinnate, three to six 
inches long, acuminate at the apex, 
narrowed at the base; segments deeply 
dentate with spinulose teeth ; sori one 
to four on each segment. The indu- 
sium is slightly curved, and for this  4sAlentum fontanum 
reason it is often proposed to place this species with the 
Athyriums. Our illustration is drawn from specimens 
from Central Europe, in the author’s herbarium. 
The generic name Asflenium is derived from the Greek 
and means without a spleen in allusion to the belief once 
current that herds which fed upon this plant were with- 
out spleens. In an old. volume we find the statement 
that ‘“‘If the asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eates 
of this herbe and so eases himself of the swelling of the 
spleen.” There are about three hundred and fifty spe- 
cies in the world. 
