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those who are now foremost among fern students were 

 just beginning to be able to distinguish the Christmas fern 

 from the cinnamon fern and the maidenhair when the 

 Fern Bulletin put forth its first tiny leaves. Some of 

 these youthful efforts, however, are still worth a reading, 

 and we hope to give the first in a short time. 



Notwithstanding the wisdom of the couplet which ex- 

 claims 



" O how wondrously you vary 

 Polypodium vulgare!" 



it is probable that few of us realized the extent of the 

 variations of this common fern within our territory until 

 the publication of Mr. Gilbert's article. A close study of 

 any widely distributed fern, however, is likely to give 

 equally surprising results. This being so. it may strike 

 the thoughtful student that it is possible to make too much 

 of the forms in certain groups, especially in those that 

 exhibit a natural tendency to vary. 



Although a meeting of Fern Students was announced 

 to take place at New Orleans during the holidays in 

 conjunction with the meetings of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, the scarcity of fern 

 students in the Gulf States and the distance of the meet- 

 ing from the centers where such students are most nu- 

 merous decided the promoters of the meeting to cancel 

 it and to help swell the audience at the general botanical 

 meetings of the Association. Three papers intended for 

 presentation at the meeting are therefore given to the 

 public through the Fern Bulletin. Their titles are: 

 " Dryopteris Mix-mas in Vermont," " An Alabama Sta- 

 tion for Botrychium b'xternaium " and " Tropical Ferns in 

 the Southern States." 



