Introduction. 
XXXV11 
are not noticeable when the specimens are dried and placed in the herbarium. But even if 
we take the lowest estimate of the species of ferns, it must be admitted that our knowledge 
of them has made gigantic strides since the time of Linnaeus ; only about one hundred and 
ninety species being known to that author, as contrasted with the two thousand six hundred 
and fifty described in the last edition of the “ Synopsis Filicum,” to which a considerable 
number may already be added. 
It would not be fair to conclude this notice of Sir William Hooker without referring rather 
more in detail to one whose name we have more than once had occasion to mention, and 
who was associated with him for very many years, and to whose energy and perseverance 
the living collections of ferns at Kew are largely indebted. We allude to Mr. John Smith, 
whose connection with Kew Gardens lasted nearly half a century, and whose devotion to 
pteriology equalled, if it did not exceed, that of his chief. Mr. Smith went to Kew in 
1822, at which time he found not more than forty species of ferns in cultivation there ; 
and when he left the Royal Gardens, in 1864, the collection boasted nearly a thousand 
species, from all parts of the world. In one of the works on ferns* which Mr. Smith has 
published since his retirement, he has given some interesting details as to the advance of 
fern cultivation in this country. With regard to the introduction of living ferns, only eighty- 
three were known to be in cultivation in England up to 1813, upwards of one-half of these 
being West Indian species. Adiantum pedatum was one of the earliest introduced, having been 
brought from Virginia, by John Tradescant the younger, about 1628. Francis Masson, one of 
the earliest collectors sent out from Kew, despatched home several species from the Cape and 
Madeira in 1775-9. The first introductions from Australia were made by Mr. George Caley, 
in 1808, among these being the now well-known Stag’s-horn Fern (P/atycerium alcicorne), 
Doodia aspera, and Davallia pyxidata. The first colonial garden from which ferns were received 
at Kew was that of Ceylon, from which place Mr. Alexander Moon, when director, sent home 
a collection, among which was Niphobolus costatus. Jamaica has supplied more ferns to Kew 
than any other part of the western hemisphere, a fact largely due to the activity of 
Mr. Nathaniel Wilson, who was director of the botanic garden there. The West Indian 
islands have, indeed, contributed a very large proportion of the tropical ferns now in cultivation, 
comparatively few having been received from the American continent. The ferns of the Cape 
region are those least fully represented at Kew, although South Africa is extremely rich in 
plants of this order. Sir William Hooker makes ample acknowledgment of the assistance which 
Mr. Smith rendered in bringing the collection of living ferns at Kew to the high state of 
perfection which it has attained. In the preface to his “ Synopsis Filicum ” he says : “ The 
formation of this fine collection is mainly due to the exertions and ability of Mr. John Smith, 
who for forty-three years held an important position among the officers of the Royal Gardens. 
His knowledge of ferns, and his writings upon them, justly entitle him to rank among the 
most distinguished pteriologists of the present day.” Mr. Smith has written copiously upon 
ferns, the most useful of his books being the one already referred to, “ Ferns, British and 
Foreign,” which has passed into a second edition. This contains chapters upon the organo- 
graphy and classification of ferns, with an enumeration of the genera under which the species are 
grouped. The genera only are described, the species being arranged in groups marked by one 
or more distinctive features, with details of geographical distribution, and numerous references to 
figures and descriptions. There are a large number of figures illustrating the genera, and the 
* “ Ferns, British and Foreign ; their History, Organography, Classification, and Enumeration. 1 ’ 
j 15 
