Introduction. 
xxxi x 
possession of the British Museum as the result of a lawsuit which some may remember to 
have taken place a few years back. Dr. YVelwitsch’s notes, copies of which are attached 
to the British Museum specimens — the originals being in the possession of the Portuguese 
Government — show how much can be done by a botanical collector in the way of making work 
easy for those who elaborate the material which he has obtained. 
One of the most popular and useful works upon British ferns exclusively is the late 
Edward Newman’s “History of British Ferns,” of which the first edition appeared in 1844, 
while the fifth, or people’s edition — a most handy little volume — was published only two or 
three years since, not long before the death of its lamented author. No one probably has 
done more for the study or the cultivation of ferns than Edward Newman; he not only 
induced people to go and collect the plants in a living state, but he did much to promulgate 
the use of the “ Wardian case,” which he was among the first to adopt. Of this method 
of cultivation, which has so greatly facilitated the growth of ferns, especially of certain genera — 
such as Trichomanes and Hymenophyllum — which are not easily grown, we have spoken more at 
length at page xxi. The preface to the first edition tells us that “ it was while wandering among the 
Welsh mountains, in the autumn of 1837,” that Mr. Newman “first felt any desire to know the 
names of ferns;” and the difficulty which he experienced in working out and naming the specimens 
he collected by the aid of Withering and Smith so surprised him, that he set to work upon a 
volume which should render the task lighter to others than he had found it for himself- 
It would be impossible to over-estimate the impulse given to the study and cultivation of 
ferns by Mr. Newman’s book, its descriptions and figures being possessed of a clearness 
and accuracy which have materially lessened the labours of his successors. The introduction 
to the “People’s Edition” is very interesting reading: and the work done by Newman in the 
matter was really so very great that we may excuse him if he seems a little over-conscious 
of the result of his labours. He says: “It is a great satisfaction to me to believe that the 
study, originated by myself, has been a source of profit to others . . . By introducing this 
new study, I have afforded pleasure to thousands and pain to none ; wherever I go there are 
ferneries in the open garden, in the greenhouse or the dwelling-house, and ‘ Newman’s Ferns,’ 
albeit sometimes under other names, has become a household book.” Mr. Newman died on 
the 1 2th of June, 1 876, lamented by a large number of sympathetic friends. He may fairly 
claim to have originated the popular literature specially devoted to ferns, and his own con- 
tribution to it is, as we have already said, by no means one of the least important. 
The most comprehensive work upon British ferns — the usefulness of which is only 
limited by its expense, which is considerable — is the octavo edition of “ The Nature-printed 
British Ferns,” by Mr. Thomas Moore, curator of the Chelsea Botanic Garden. The plates 
are the same as those employed in the magnificent folio which preceded this work ; and 
the letterpress may be said to exhaust the subject. Beginning with a comprehensive intro- 
duction, the genera and species are described with a detail and fulness which are to be found 
in no other work upon the subject. The geographical distribution of each, both British and 
extra-British, is carefully worked out ; all the countries producing each fern being enumerated, 
with, in many instances, definite localities ; so that up to the date of the volumes (1859) it may be 
said to be in every respect complete. The synonymy given is very copious, and contains references 
to all the authors by whom the ferns have been described. A special feature of the book is to be 
found in the prominence which it gives to the varieties which each fern presents ; these are often 
very numerous. Of the Hart’s Tongue ( Scolopendrium vulgare) alone, as many as a hundred and 
fifty-five are enumerated and described. Many of these are represented in the plates (a hundred 
