CETEEACH OFEICINARUM. 61 
time by the light of the genius of my friend;" or 
''As I uprooted this Fern, a long-cherished 
prejudice was uprooted with it." 
Insensibly, in my mind, certain Ferns have 
become the embodiments of certain graces ; they 
act upon me as monitors, reminding me of voices 
passed away that I never heard save in tones of 
love and charity, luring me on to a life of truth 
and beauty open alike to all. 
Amongst my brightest representative Ferns is 
the Ceterach officinarum. I have never found any 
difficulty in cultivating Ceterach. Although it is 
a little wayward in the choice of its own habita- 
tion, yet where it does grow, the walls will be 
full of it, every niche and corner adorned by its 
prettily crimped fronds — now shining green, now 
russet brown, as the sunlight may fall. I have 
usually found Ceterach growing on old stone walls, 
where a good deal of lime has been used in the 
mortar. In this position the fronds do not attain 
any great luxuriance, and are often so curled that 
only the brown mass of spore-cases at the back 
