XVII 
23. Spores may be best made to germinate by 
broken bits of seeded pinnae beinq - laid on pieces of char- 
coal placedin a flowerpot half filled with wood-ash, pounded 
bricks,, or earth well burnt so as to destroy other germs. 
The pot must be well drained, covered with a bell glass 
or tumbler, and kept standing in a saucer of water ; in the 
bath-room, if in the plains. A plate of glass does not suf- 
ficiently exclude the dry hot air, damp tolerably uniform 
heat being essential to germination. Young plants, as 
they are formed, must be rem> wed by cutting the charcoal 
through beneath with a penknife, and placed in a shaded 
pot similarly kept damp and protected, the soil for which 
may be made with equal parts river sand and leaf mould 
(decayed leaves). Good drainage is a necessity, and small 
pieces of gumlah should be freely placed at bottom of the 
pots, on which shreds of old Jcuskus grass or moss may be 
laid beneath the earth, and the sides, as well as bottom 
of the pots should be bored low down. Spores may 
generally be shaken from paper in which fronds are 
kept. 
24. Perns are grouped by genera and sub-orders into 
an Order Filices. The parts above described together 
form an individual plant or species, which differs from 
other individuals by slender shades of differentiation, yet 
always retains its own character and propagates itself only. 
Several such species are grouped into a genus, which 
holds them together by a character common to all ; genera 
of true ferns are similarly grouped into Tribes, and these 
again into Sub-orders. Naturally the Order consists of 
