INTRODUCTION. 
These pages are intended for those who, having 
only a limited knowledge of Botany, are not satisfied 
with admiring and collecting Ferns, but would willingly 
become better acquainted with such species as grow in 
their immediate neighbourhood, were they not deterred 
by the difficulties attending a voluminous reference or a 
minute scientific phraseology. 
2. By a few characters capable of easy observation, 
the ferns growing in the Himalayas and Northern India, 
regionally grouped apart from all other species, can be 
readily distinguished by comparison one with another. 
Character, where it could possibly be avoided, has how- 
ever not been taken from what would seem a ready dis- 
tinction, i.e., size , for the reason that it is subject to most 
variation ; intermediate plants of stunted growth would 
often have been difficult of recognition. Those who 
desire fuller information, — and it is theobject ofthisGuide, 
by making its access more easy, to stimulate, and not to 
satisfy, — should procure Hooker’s Synopsis Filicum, 
edited by Baker, (Hardwicke, 1873) which is now the 
standard work on this subject. Rudimentary principles 
of Pteridology may be further studied in Oliver, Balfour, 
or any other botanical work at hand. Beddome’s Ferns 
of British and Southern India contains figures of most 
of these species, to which reference has therefore been 
made for those who are able to consult so valuable and 
