3 
people do many things for frolic or whim’s sake, I 
undertook a course of this beverage. To the best of 
my recollection I drank one or two breakfast-cups 
full night and morning for several successive weeks 
or months, without milk or sugar. The taste, some- 
what nauseous at first, soon ceased to offend. I forget 
whether I was ill when I began, or whether I was 
better when I left off. I cannot now say that it cured 
me, though I am certain it did not kill me. Wood- 
ville informs us that those plants are the best for 
medicinal purposes which grow on the stumps of the 
oak tree, though no good reason for this preference 
has been given. From the habit which this fern so 
frequently manifests of attaching itself to this tree, it 
has been styled the Polypodium Quercinum, from 
Quercus, an oak. As a demulcent and pectoral, its 
virtues have also been extolled. Joined with liquor- 
ice, its good effects have been experienced in coughs 
and asthmatic affections. It was once thought good 
in cases of mental aberration, especially in France ; 
but considering that that indiscreet malady is still 
suspected to be lingering in some corners of that 
country, its complete efficacy is now questioned. 
Where found. — It is met with more or less 
plentifully in any of the lanes or hedges immediately 
out of the town. The nearest place is perhaps in 
the new Ottery road, or in the lane from Cotmaton 
to Jenny Pine’s corner. If this does not do the 
seeker must go further. 
Culture. — It thrives well in a garden or fernery, 
I have generally transplanted those specimens found 
growing in the actual ground, instead of those in 
the stumps of old trees, thinking that the roots 
would be less sensible of the removal. We must 
not shock the sensibilities of plants, any more than 
the susceptibilites of our friends, by transitions too 
glaring and abrupt. 
