i6 



Hoffmann's specific name is founded. We must, therefore,, 

 give to Hoffmann the credit of having first noticed and 

 recorded the fact that this fern is scented. I cannot, 

 however, commend his power of discriminating odours, for, 

 after cultivating the two plants for a season and carefully 

 comparing their scents, the impression made upon me is 

 that the odour of the fern is entirely pleasant, while that 

 of the Geranium is decidedly disagreeable. The difference 

 is not merely a matter of degree (as Hoffmann's description 

 would imply) but one of kind, for though the two may have 

 something in common, there is in the scent of the fern a 

 sweetness which is not to be found in that of the Geranium, 

 while there is in the latter a rank heavy quality which is 

 always unpleasant however much it may be attenuated. I 

 should, in short, describe the Polypody as suaveolens and 

 the Geranium as graveolens. 



F. W. Stansfield, M.D. 

 Reading, July 2jth, 1915. 



A SURGICAL BIRTH AND ITS SEQUEL. 



11 let that angel whom thou servest 



Tell thee MacDuff was, from his mother's womb, 

 Untimely ripped." (Macbeth.) 



I have previously recorded (" Gazette," December, 1914) 

 the finding of a small offset upon our Editor's plant of the 

 original A .f.f. Clavissima and its presentation to myself. It 

 has occurred to me that a more detailed account of the 

 operation of removal and the subsequent history of the 

 plant may be of interest to readers of the " Gazette.'' The 

 time of year (end of October) was the one least favourable 

 to dividing operations in deciduous fronds, i.e. when 

 growth had completely ceased and was not due to re- 

 commence for a period of several months. Moreover, the 

 offset was a small one from a large plant. It was dug out 



