36 
RAMBLES IX SEARCH OF FERNS. 
in the middle and tapering above and below, and the pinnules were 
sharply cut. The plants growing outside the bridge were laden with 
seed, the masses running together, but those more in the shade had the 
seed more scantily distributed. 
We had some difficulty in getting along the brook side. Again 
and again we had to cross the stream, springing from one boulder to 
another. Where some boulders standing near an undermined bank 
formed a cave-like recess, I discovered some more of the Bladder fern. 
Its paler foliage, blunted leaflets, and more pliant stalk, pointed it out 
as the species or variety named Dentata (Fig. 2). Whether this be a 
different fern, or only a variety of the Brittle one, I could not decide. 
I am inclined to think that its shaded position was the cause of it 
differing from the one I had gathered off the bridge. 
“ I have a fern something like that in the garden,” Esther said ; 
but it is broader and shorter, and the foliage is more dense. They told 
me it was something Dickieana, and I remembered the name as a kind 
of feminine of Dicky. I will give you a frond of it, if you like.” 
“ Thank you ; I shall like it extremely. If it be Dickie's Bladder 
fern, as from your description I believe it is (C. Dickieana , Fig. 3), it 
will be valuable, as another member of the family which comes next 
the Spleenworts in order. The Alpine Bladder fern resembles the 
Fragilis, but is smaller, the leaflets more deeply cut, and the fronds 
more perishable. It is said to be a native of the Derbyshire Hills. 
The Mountain Bladder fern is said by Moore to be the scarcest of 
British species. It has three branches, and its general bearing 
resembles that of the Limestone Polypody, but the form of its fruit 
masses and covers agrees with that of Cystopteris. 
We made our way to the foot-bridge, and I would fain have 
followed the well-known path, but this, Esther said, would be a breach 
of treaty, and I must continue on the margin of the stream. We 
came to a very wet bank, where a spring contributed a small quantity 
of water to swell the brook, but without providing it with a channel ; 
so that it diffused itself over the low ground by the brook side. I 
