ANDREWS ON HYMENOPHYLLA. 79 



extensive examinations of those ferns in all seasons and localities in this 

 country, I am more than ever confirmed in the truly distinctive charac- 

 ters of H. Wilsoni, and that no British nor foreign botanists had ever 

 before described it. This leads me to observe on the subject of discovery. 

 Dr. Graves, it would appear, first found and noticed H. Wihoni, but did 

 not even guess that there were two species of that fern existing in 

 Britain. Therefore to Mr. "Wilson, who distinguished and described the 

 plant, is eminently and justly due the discovery. It might just as well 

 be said that any collecting botanist who sent to Dr. Moore, Director of 

 the Royal Dublin Society's Botanic Gardens, and on whom the crypto- 

 gamic mantle of the late Dr. Taylor, of Kenmare, has fallen, a mass of 

 lichens or of mosses unnamed, and among which Dr. Moore found and 

 described new species, that the collector was the discoverer, not the 

 describer; I should certainly say that Dr. Moore would be the dis- 

 coverer. 



The cultivation of Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes seems to be but 

 little understood even by our most eminent nurserymen ; I mean to 

 exhibit them growing naturally, as in the recesses of their native glens. 

 I have seen those cultivated at Veitch's magnificent nursery at Chelsea, 

 and they certainly exhibited healthy characters of growth, but they 

 were crowded and cramped under huge bell glasses, through which the 

 outlines of the fronds were but dimly seen, and only a momentary glance 

 was permitted on the removal of the glass. I saw there beautiful plants 

 of that splendid fern, Trichomanes anceps, from Brazil, similarly growing. 

 In my own fernery, which is built in a shaded recess, those beautiful 

 ferns have ample field of growth, rambling over, with their spreading 

 and creeping rhizoma, the portions of rock and blocks of trees arranged 

 for their proteetion. 



Major-General Warre, C. B., a distinguished officer, who commanded 

 the 57th Eegiment inTaranaki, New Zealand, and now in command of 

 the Infantry Brigade at the Curragh, observed that it was like peeping 

 into one of the recesses of the rocky and wooded glens of that country. 

 Captain Clarke, his aide-de-camp, a good practical botanist, well under- 

 stands the ferns of New Zealand, and has made a good collection. 



Tew seem to attend to the best plans for the collecting and trans- 

 mission home of the plants of that beautiful tribe. The Wardian cases 

 are not so well suited, and moisture will blacken the fronds, and in 

 most cases totally destroy the vitality of the rhizoma. When on the 

 eve of leaving the country 7 boxes should be provided of suitable size, 

 which may be lined with zinc or tin. Collect masses of Hymenophyllum 

 in the fresh state, but with no moisture on them ; put a layer at the 

 bottom of the box ; then spread either Trichomanes or Hymenophyllum, or 

 other ferns that may be collected in the same state of freshness, but not 

 damp, and over them another layer of Hymenophyllum, or mass of mosses 

 or Lycopodiums ; and thus pack tightly till the box is filled, which may 

 be secured air-tight, and placed in the coolest part of the ship's hold. 

 The plants will thus keep fresh for many months. 



In concluding, I cannot too highly praise those gentlemen whose 



