55 



their easier examination, so that any departure in the way of 

 expanded or divided tips or other sportive feature is easily 

 observed, and, in the second place, as variation on marked 

 lines is usually associated with diminution in size, incipient 

 sports, which have a chance of preservation in the struggle 

 for existence on the wall, are probably so heavily handi- 

 capped by their robuster neighbours in the wood, that 

 they have little or no chance of survival until the keen eye 

 of the Fern hunter detects a difference and rescues the 

 would-be gem from destruction by the overgrowth of its 

 neighbours. Some experienced fern hunters have also 

 entertained an idea that variation may sometimes be due 

 to some check or handicap in the conditions of environ- 

 ment, such as the restricted root growths resulting from 

 development in chinks of rocks or walls instead of in free 

 leafy soil, but so far there is little or no scientific evidence 

 of this, it is a mere hypothesis. 



Chas. T. Druery, V.M.H., F.L.S. 



THE CRANFIELD COLLECTION. 



Some time ago I promised to string together a few~ 

 notes to appease our Editor's craving for MSS., and 

 possibly to afford a hint here and there by which some 

 member may profit. I should like to acknowledge how 

 greatly I am indebted to our Editor and many of our 

 members both for gifts of plants and hints on cultivation 

 and explanations of strange happenings. The visits to 

 brother enthusiasts' collections afford such valuable means 

 of comparison and acquisition of knowledge and material 

 that one could wish they were of more frequent occurrence : 

 in my case they are red-letter days to be reflected upon 

 with pleasure and looked forward to with delight. It is 



