5 
but it is the only one I had by me to print from. It 
is fertile. I cannot point to any exact spot where 
the enquirer would be sure to find it. Modifications 
of this variety seem to have been called proliferum 
and Virginianum. I have a frond from Buscombe 
Lane which combines the acuturn, lobatum, and 
crenatum, all on the same stalk. 
Cambkictjm. — Mr. Edward Newman, in his History 
of British Ferns, p. 46, tells us that Dr. Greville 
found a gigantic specimen of this rare variety at 
Sidmouth. I have a frond from Boomer Lane which 
is rather irregular, but is more like a cambricum 
than anything else. 
Uses. — No difference between the varieties seems 
to have been made. The ancients thought that pre- 
parations of the Polypodium were serviceable if 
applied to limbs out of joint, and to chaps between 
the fingers and toes. The Hindoos boil a kind of 
Polypodium with their shrimp curries. A muci- 
laginous decoction of the plant was once in vogue 
for colds and whooping-cough. The fertile fronds are 
in some places gathered and dried, and boiled up 
with sugar when wanted. The root dried and pow- 
dered has been taken like snuff, under the idea that 
it would cure polypus. The powdered root has also 
been used to roll pills in. We are not informed 
whether such pills are more savoury. 
