FEKXS AND MOSSES. 
65 
dashes beneath, or else beside them, as in the instance 
just cited ; but then the roots are firmly fixed among stones 
or pebbles. Such plants as pertain to this fragile genus are 
of small size, of erect and elegant growth, and remarkably 
brittle. " One species only belongs to this country, and on 
this much labour and ingenuity have been expended, in the 
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BRITTLE FERN. 
hope that some of the most remarkable of its Protean fronds 
may be exalted to the dignity of species." Thus far the 
naturalist of Godalming, who has beautifully delineated 
many a wild occupant of wood or roek. 
We rejoice to find the Potytrichum aculeatum, or Com- 
mon Prickly-fern, in one isolated spot ; the more especially 
because this fern, though universally distributed, seems to 
delight in the neghbourhood of man, itp favourite habitat 
being hedgerows, and the vicinity of cultivated fields ; 
when sown by winds on moors, or the sides of mountains, 
it rarely attains its full development ; and he who sees the 
Common Prickly-fern growing luxuriantly in .a hedgerow, 
beside some way-side cottage, would scarcely recognise it in 
a desolate and unpeopled district. The same fern, however, 
grew luxuriantly in one of the wildest parts of Dartmoor. 
" Perhaps," we said, while looking at it, "men TO ay have 
dwelt here in ages long past, and these friendly ferns, 
watching on the sight of some deserted home, continue as 
memorials of the past." 
