CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR. 247 
All sorts of medicinal virtues were once ascribed to 
this plant, but at present, little or no use is made of it. 
It is slightly astringent and is the species originally used 
in making “ Syrup of Capillare.” 
In 1898 a large colony of this fern was found along 
a stream fed by hot springs, in the Black Hills of South 
Dakota. Its occurrence in this place, at so great a dis- 
tance beyond its ordinary limits, is no doubt to be ex- 
plained by the fact that the warmth of the water modifies 
the temperature of the region in winter rendering it 
similar to that which prevails in the stations further 
south. The species has also been reported from New 
York and Pennsylvania, but the evidence is hardly con- 
vincing. 
The name Adiantum is from two Greek words mean- 
ing without wet, and has reference to the fact that the 
fronds of most of the species are so smooth that water 
runs off without wetting them. There are about seventy- 
five species, mostly in the American Tropics. Some of 
these are among the handsomest of ferns, and no species 
in the genus is unattractive. 
