88 HANDY BOOK OP 
in some dull corner unvisited by sunbeams, dppressing the 
mind of him who is daily constrained to look upon them; 
contrast with this the pleasure of going forth into the woods, 
where, perhaps, some time-worn ruin recalls the memory of 
feudal greatness, and gathering from its walls tufts of the 
common Spleenwort to plant among the interstices or stones. 
If woods or memorial ruins are far away, you may seek for 
the same fern in other localities ; and to this succeeds the 
pleasure of planting, watering, and watching the unfolding 
of one small leaf, then another, till, as months pass on, 
the bare wall or stones are mantled with a luxuriant vege- 
tation. 
The roots are black, tough, and penetrating ; wherever 
the smallest fibre insinuates itself, there the common Spleen- 
wort makes good his footing, it may be in rock or wall, 
exposed to the fury of fierce winds or scorching sunbeams, 
or within the spray of waterfalls ; this matters not. The 
Spleenwort, is a citizen of the vegetable world, appearing in 
May and June, arriving at maturity in August and September, 
and remaining green throughout the winter. 
Would you seek to place this fern among your specimens, 
observe that the "rachis is naked for a third part of its 
length, smooth, shining, and black throughout ; that the 
frond is narrow, linear, and simply pinnate; the pinnaD 
dark green and very numerous ; irregularly ovate, obtuse at 
the apex, and more or less crenate at the margins ; that 
though they are usually distinct and distant, occasionally 
they are crowded, and each recumbent on the one preceding 
it ; that, moreover, they are attached to the rachis solely by 
their stalks, falling off like the leaves of phanogamous plants 
when the frond approaches decay, and leaving the rachis a 
bare denuded bristle." In size the common Spleenwort 
varies considerably ; at one time presenting a fairy-like 
app 'arance, at another one of considerable dimensions. 
Observe, also, that the lateral veins are forked shortly 
after leaving the mid- vein, the anterior branch bearing an 
