THE YOUNG 



"a it trees, but only elongates by additions to the 

 A mit, hence they are called Aerogels or summit 

 givers. The so-called leaves of Ferns are 

 b<.nically called fronds. They may be called 

 la -like branches. Their mode of development 

 isl ;culiar to Ferns ; they continue growing at th e 

 a x as stems do, whilst in ordinary leaves the 

 a >c is formed first, and the rest of the leaf is 

 n le up of additions between the apex and the 

 h *. Fern fronds are sparingly supplied with 

 s nata or breathing pores, an essential 

 r nisite by means of which leaves decompose 

 c oonic acid gas, retaining the carbon and trans- 

 f ning it into starch, fat, &c. The process is 

 r»5t active in sunlight, and Ferns, having but an 

 i lerfectly developed apparatus for it, love 

 t ^ow in the shade and semi-darkness. Most of 

 ] ;ns have the fronds rolled up — circivate it is 

 oled. The only British species that are different 

 i the Adder's-tongue and the Moonwort, which 

 1 re them folded straight. The veins in the 

 nds of Ferns are forked, and as the spores are 

 xluced in a certain relation to the veins, their 

 ution is of considerable importance in identify- 

 ; species. They are borne on the back of the 

 nds and in some species cover tbe whole sur- 

 e. in others only certain portions. In some, 

 'the Hard Fern and the Parsley Fern, they are 

 , xluced in separate fronds ; in the Royal, on a 

 nsformed portion of the vegetative frond. The 

 Dres are minute microscopic bodies enclosed in 

 tie bags or sacs, which when ripe open and dis- 

 iarge the spores as a fine impalpable powder, 

 one of these be sown on a glass plate, kept 

 Dist and covered with a bell glass, it will form a 

 een heart shaped expansion called a prothallus. 

 a its under surface are formed two different 

 >dies, the Archegovia and the Antheridia. 

 r hen the Archegonia is ripe it opens and exposes 

 e germ cell. The Antheridium allows the 

 ntherozoids to escape, which, endowed with 

 comotion by their ciliary appendages, find their 

 ay to the Archegonium and fecundate the germ 

 j$L This then rapidly increases in size, developes 

 true Fern — root, stem and frond — while the 

 '■othallus withers entirely away. A not un- 

 mimon provision for the multiplication of Ferns 

 by the production of little buds, or bulbils, on 

 te margin or surface of the frond, which, while 

 ill attached to the plant, develop into little plant- 

 ts, which are capable of maintaining an indepen- 

 mt existence. 



NATURALIST. 85 



Appearing at such an early period of the world's 

 history, and so long before man's advent, it is no 

 wonder that Ferns are now of little use to the 

 human race. I know of no animal that would 

 willingly browse upon Ferns, and this very im- 

 munitv from attack makes them more highly 

 prized by the cultivator. The pith of the stem 

 and rhizomes of certain tropical species are used 

 by the aborigines there, much as we use sago, and 

 this appears to be the only case where Ferns are 

 used for food. In old times the Bracken and Male 

 Fern were used in this country in brewing, and 

 from the amount cf alkali they contain, some have 

 also been used in making glass and dressing leather, 

 while a foreign species ( Atpidium fragrans) has 

 been used as a substitute for tea. Their highest 

 repute has been for their medicinal virtues. The 

 Royal Fern has long been used as a vulnerary in 

 sprains and bruises. <~ apillaire is made by pour- 

 ing a boiling syrup over the fronds of the Maiden 

 Hair. It is, or was, considered good in coughs 

 and colds for removing the phlegm. When strong 

 it acts as an emetic. Adder's-tongue is used for 

 making Adder's Spear Ointment, a famous remedy 

 for cuts and wounds. But it is as a vermifuge — a 

 worm medicine — that Ferns are most celebrated. 

 From the old law of "signatures," by means of 

 which the herbalists deduced the virtues of a plant 

 from some imagined resemblance in connection 

 with the ailment. Thus, the rolled up frond of a 

 Fern resembling a knotted 'and twisted nest of 

 intestinal worms, was an indubitable proof of its 

 efficacy as a vermifuge. We may laugh at the 

 fables of our fathers, and it is to be hoped the 

 drugs of to-day are compounded with sounder 

 judgment. 



Culpepper's list of their virtues is not very 

 extensive. "Ferns being burned the smoak 

 thereof driveth away serpents, gnats, and other 

 noisome creatures which in fenny countries do in 

 the night-time trouble and molest people lying in 

 their beds with their faces uncovered." 



The Folk-lore of Ferns is very extensive. Fern 

 seed gathered at midnight on Midsummer eve, 

 with certain mystic rites, was deemed to render 

 the possessor invisible. The fairies gathered it 

 for this virtue. If you looked through a knot- 

 hole in a board you could see them, but if dis- 

 covered they took away the sight of the eye. 

 Moonwort was supposed to draw the nails from 

 horses feet that trod on it . The common Bracken 

 was used for divinatiom. If you cut the stem in 



