KEYIEWS. 
433 
A POPULAR FERN BOOK * 
W E have been so inundated during the last few years with, books on Ferns, 
that we felt at first disposed to be angry with Mr. Cooke for providing us 
with another treatise. The work, however, is so good a one, and its price 
is so low, that we welcome it as a means of spreading a taste for a branch of 
botany, which, though much cultivated, is by no means exhausted. There 
is, too, a completeness about this little volume which gives it a superiority 
over some others of its class. No question connected with ferns is left un- 
answered in its pages, unless it be the question of distribution, which, in our 
opinion, has hardly received as much attention as the author might have 
given it. But, perhaps, in a popular treatise, this point is not of much import- 
ance. After all, the chief requirements of the botanist are, a knowledge of the 
natural history of the class he is about to study, and a clear and accurate 
account of those structural characters by which the several species may be 
identified. In these respects there is nothing wanting in Mr. Cooke's little 
volume. The titles of the introductory chapters give a good idea of the 
subject-matter of the book. They are as follows General properties and 
uses of ferns ; Structure ; How to grow ferns ; Pests and parasites (a point 
on which the author is one of our highest authorities) ; How to form an 
herbarium • classification. Then comes the description of the various species, 
the common name being given above, and the scientific description being- 
placed in a foot-note. The author’s classification is a convenient one, and, so 
far as we can perceive, there need be no difficulty in its employment. He 
divides all ferns into two primary groups ; those in which the spore cases are 
deprived of a ring — Exannulate, and those in which a ring is present — 
Annulate. The former include the Osmunda, Moonwort, and Adder’s- 
tongue;. the latter contains two subdivisions, those in which the ring is oblique 
embracing the filmy ferns and the Trichomanes, and those in which it is cir- 
cular including all the other species. The other groups are based on the 
character of the spore tufts and their covers. This classification is not merely 
convenient, it is eminently a natural one, since it brings together the 
Hymenophyllum and Killarney ferns, which all who are familiar with them 
must admit to be very near relations. The particular to which we object in 
this work is that to which we have already called attention, viz. that of 
distribution. More stations might, we think, have been given. This is 
especially true in regard to the distribution in Ireland, the Maiden-hair 
being the only rare fern whose 11 stations ” in the sister island are fully given. 
The statement which Mr. Cooke quotes, from the u Proceedings of the Dublin 
Natural History Society,” is perfectly correct. We have ourselves seen the 
Maidenhair covering the sea-cliffs of Clare and the islands of Arran, and 
growing as luxuriantly as the royal fern at Killarney. Both the filmy ferns 
may be found in great abundance in Killarney, especially in the neighbourhood 
of O’Sullivan’s Cascade, where they grow to a size which prevents even an 
ordinary passer-by mistaking them for mosses. In addition to the distinction 
between the two species, H. Wilsrni and H. Tunbridgense , given by the 
* “ A Fern Book for Everybody.” By M. C. Cooke. London : Frederick 
Wame & Co. 1867. 
