48 
RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF FERNS. 
had found the Royal fern, growing by the lakes in just the situation 
in which Wordsworth describes it — 
“ To point out perchance, some flower or weed too fair 
Either to he divided from the place 
On which it grew, or to be left alone 
To its own beauty. Many such there were, 
Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall fem 
So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named ; 
Plant lovelier, in its own retired abode, 
On Grassmere’s beach, than Naiad by the side 
Of Grecian brook, or Lady of the Mere 
Sole sitting by the shores of old romance.” 
“ After all,” Esther said, “ you were wrong to go away so soon, 
for you did not discover all our treasures. Old Betty assured me one 
day that there was a valuable plant growing in the pasture opposite 
our house, and she went with me to introduce me to it. Carefully 
looking among the grass, she found some little ferns resembling 
miniature field arums — these she told me she frequently gathered to 
make into ointment for bruises and swellings. She would not let me 
take the withered pieces to send to you, and it is too late in the year 
to get fresh ones, the plant being an annual ; but she said she had 
some bonnie fresh bits in her Bible for markers, and the one that I 
send comes from thence. Having got into the spirit of enlightening 
me, she proceeded to another pasture, and showed me the Moonwort 
growing there. This, she said, was also excellent for ointment, but 
that folks were superstitious about it, even believing that it will open 
locks, and bring the shoes off horses !” 
I rejoiced over my new treasures. The Moonwort ( Botrychium 
unaria , Fig. 8 and G) had a double row of crescent-shaped leaflets, 
each marked with a dark stain in the form of a horse-shoe, a spike 
sprung up along with the leaflet, bearing cases of spores, in the same 
style as the Royal fern. The Adder’s Tongue ( Ophioglossum vulgatum. 
Fig. 9 and II) has its frond in the shape of a sheath, and its seed 
cases are arranged in a double row along the simple spike. Before 
returning to London, I was happy enough to receive a specimen of the 
