S3 
short, but a tolerably fair portrait of an oak tree. 
That, I think, is manifest enough. Indeed, some 
people call it King Charles in the Oak.” 
Uses. — It is extremely rich in tannin, and has 
been employed for tanning leather. There is a moth 
called the Fern Moth, which feeds upon it. The 
ashes are abundant in alkali. To collect these, mix 
them with water, mould them into balls, heat them, 
and use the lye for washing linen, was long a practice 
in Wales. They are now better off for soap. The 
root contains much starch. Medicinally, the plant 
is taken in cases of intestinal worms. Decoctions of 
the rhizome and frond have been given in obstruc- 
tions of the viscera and spleen. To lay a child with 
the rickets in a bed of the green leaves was looked 
upon as the sovereignest remedy. From its great 
yield of alkali, it has been employed in the manufac- 
ture of soap and glass. In Scotland it has been cut 
and thrown into the trenches when planting potatoes; 
and is said to produce good crops. In the Forest of 
Dean the young fronds boiled are used to feed pigs ; 
though some say it is poisonous to cattle, and gives 
the trembles to sheep. In Silicia they employ the 
rhizome in the proportion of one third to two thirds 
of malt, in brewing their ale. In England the prin- 
cipal use of this valuable plant seems to be set forth 
in that absurd anecdote above, which I have requested 
you not to read. 
W here found.- — On all the hills encircling Sid- 
mouth, and here and there in the lower grounds. 
Culture. — The rhizome, or root-stock, creeps hori- 
zontally beneath the soil, sending its radicles down- 
wards and its fronds upwards. The root, however, 
sometimes descends very deep. It has been found 
fifteen feet below the surface of the ground. The 
best mode of transplantation is to take up the plant 
in balls of earth. Like the Hart’s-tongue, it dislikes 
a chalky soil. The young shoots spring up in May, 
but a frosty night will sometimes cut them off. The 
mature fronds soon perish before the approaching 
cold of the autumn. 
B 
