INTRODUCTORY. ix 
wicket-gate, will supply subjects for thouglit and 
study; helping to turn the child's heart to the 
love of the pure and beautiful instead of the vile 
and the debasing. 
We may all help each other in studies of this 
kind ; giving or lending books, dividing a fortunate 
discovery with less successful Fern-hunters ; in a 
hundred ways we may one and all help in diffusing 
the pure and happy thoughts which the study and 
knowledge of natural objects give ; and in making 
others happy, we shall most assuredly find the 
easiest way of becoming happy ourselves. 
In the following pages it will be found that I 
have mentioned every distinct species of British 
Fern, with many of their varieties. I have de- 
scribed the localities in which I found them, the 
conditions requisite for their well being, and the 
nature of the soil they like. I have given simple 
yet full directions for their planting and for 
the construction of the Fernery, with my own 
