300 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
probably owing chiefly to their want of flowers that they are indebted for 
that amount of non-appreciation which they certainly do meet with. 
Certainly the ferns are fortunate in their present advocate. Mr. Heath 
writes about them with a knowledge derived from years of study, and with 
•an enthusiasm which ought to carry his readers with him. In his 11 Fern 
Paradise,” a fourth copiously illustrated edition of which has just appeared, 
his descriptions of ferny scenery, especially in Devonshire, the land of ferns, 
suffice to inspire the reader with a longing desire to join in the shady walks 
and pleasant rambles which are so vividly presented to his imagination, and 
.gain infinitely by their contrast with the brick walls and glaring pavements 
among which it is the fate of so many of us to pass the greater part of our 
lives. This portion of Mr. Heath’s book is beautifully illustrated with 
numerous photographic views of the scenery described, reproduced by the 
Woodbury process. These views have been selected with the eye of an 
artist. 
Mr. Heath’s task does not end here, however. The missionary’s business 
would be but lamely performed if he merely convinced his converts of the 
existence of Paradise without teaching them how to get there ; and our 
author’s mission would be equally unfulfilled if he stopped short at merely 
■convincing his reader’s mind that ferns are very beautiful things. Mr. 
Heath’s conviction is that the contemplation of the beautiful forms and 
delicate colours of ferns, the taking an interest in them and learning some- 
thing about them, cannot but have a refining and improving influence upon 
the mind, and that the cultivation of ferns may in this way be most bene- 
ficial. He further shows that this cultivation may be very easily effected, so 
that those to whom a country ramble comes like a brief ray of sunshine in 
an otherwise clouded existence may surround themselves at home with the 
beautiful feathery forms of these children of the woods and green lanes. 
Some of them may be grown in almost any scrap of garden, in houses, 
windows, yards, and even in the areas of city dwellings. Lace and jewels, 
fine furniture, pictures, statues, and vases, are all beautiful things, but to 
get them is the lot of but few ; the u Fern Paradise,” on the contrary, 
may be realized by almost everyone and in almost any situation. As a 
guide to such of his readers as may desire to put his teachings to practical 
use, Mr. Heath gives a series of descriptions of British ferns, free as far as 
possible from scientific technicalities, and accompanied by statements as to 
the habits and needs of the various species. This section of the book will 
be very useful to the beginner, whose determinations of the species will be 
materially facilitated by the figures, showing the ferns in white upon a 
black ground, with which it is illustrated. 
While we cannot go quite so far as our author in his belief in the amelio- 
rating influences of fern-culture, we can sympathize with him in his desire to 
see these beautiful plants more generally cultivated. The mere tending of 
them and watching their growth must be a source of pure pleasure to those 
who can be induced to take an interest in them ; the contemplation of their 
beautiful forms and delicate colour must also be a source of gratification ; 
and unquestionably the influence of such pleasures upon the mind must be 
beneficial, even independently of any knowledge of natural phenomena 
which may be picked up by the way. We can recommend Mr. Heath’s 
