8 14 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



calls to mind the fact that in personal service have originated a 

 number of family names. The old Saxon had his face scraped 

 by a barber, whence our swarm of Barbers, Barbars, Barbors, 

 Barbours, and Burbers ; while in those days the hair of the ladies 

 was artistically " tired," whence the Tyers, Tyrers, and Tyermans 

 of the present day. When sick, or " ill," as his descendants now 

 say, he sent for the leech, and this worthy has left a numerous 

 progeny among the Leeches, Leaches, and Leachers. His letters 

 were written by scriveners, who still remain among us as Scrib- 

 ners ; and, when he needed relaxation, he was entertained by Play- 

 ers, Dancers, Whistlers, and Singers. 



■* » » 



THE HOME OF THE FERNS. 



Br T. JOHNSTON EVANS. 



IN the New World, as well as in the Old, there is many a charm- 

 ing spot, far away in the wild woodland or within the sunless 

 recesses of deep-furrowed mountain gorges, which might well 

 merit the designation by which this paper is prefixed. Indeed, for 

 a very long period the ferns of North and South America have 

 received considerable attention at the hands of botanists ; nor must 

 it be forgotten that, centuries before the white man set his foot 

 upon the great continent of the West, several species of these 

 beautiful plants were much sought after by the aborigines. The 

 common polypody {Poly podium vulgare), which is one of the most 

 frequently met with ferns in the Eastern States, was highly valued 

 by the various Indian tribes for its medicinal properties, while 

 Kalm also relates that the red man seems to have universally used 

 the beautiful maiden-hair {Adiantum capillus Veneris) as an infal- 

 lible cure for cough and difficulty of breathing. Fascinating, 

 however, in the eyes of botanists, as are the various homes of these 

 beautiful plants in the Northern and Southern States, there is 

 beyond the Atlantic one spot above all others upon which Nature 

 has lavished her most glorious gifts, which, par excellence, may 

 well be termed " the home of the ferns." 



Justly celebrated for the wondrous beauty of its diversified 

 scenery of waterfalls and lakes and towering mountains, crimson 

 in their autumnal glory with the ripe berries of the arbutus, this 

 favored locality is also especially remarkable for the luxuriant 

 growth of the rarest and most highly prized by collectors of Euro- 

 pean ferns. 



Accompanied by a few scientific friends, among whom were a 

 practical geologist and a skillful field botanist, I recently paid a 

 visit to this fascinating region. It was toward the close of Septem- 



