USES 
37 
ever, a great repute as items in the pharmacopoeia of the 
herbalist, on account of the medicinal properties possessed, 
or supposed to he possessed, by many of the species. In 
the economy of the arts and manufactures, they find, too, a 
place. Let us notice the chief uses, in the senses indicated, 
of some of the most familiar of our ferny forms. 
We will take first the Male Fern (Lastrea Jilix-mas). In 
Siberia it is said to, be used in brewing on account of the 
flavour which it imparts to ale; whilst in Norway the 
incipient fronds in their unfolded state are plucked, boiled, 
and eaten as a kind of ‘ asparagus.’ They are even 
preserved in a dry state, when gathered in the summer ; 
and, when winter conies, are given to cattle after being 
soaked in boiling-water. In many countries this Fern has 
been regarded as a powerfully astringent medicine, especially 
valuable as a vermifuge — the part used for that purpose 
being a powder made from the dried root-stock, and admi- 
nistered with syrup, treacle, or jelly, as an electuary. Cul- 
peper avers that beiDg burned, ‘ the smoke thereof driveth 
away serpents, gnats, and other noisome creatures which in 
ferny countries do in the night-time trouble aud molest 
people lying in their beds with their faces uncovered.’ As 
it abounds in alkali, it is also used in the dressing of 
leather, in the manufacture of soap, and for other purposes. 
Our native Brake ( P ter is aquilina), a Fern common to 
many parts of the world, has uses very similar to those of 
the Male Fern. In parts of Normandy it has been, it is 
stated, used as food. In the more northern countries of 
Europe, it is used in the manufacture of beer ; the propor- 
tion used for brewing being one part of the rhizoma to two 
parts of malt. Pigs, too, will eat the roots readily if they 
are boiled with their other food ; and we have often seen the 
green fronds cropped, with satisfaction, by horses. The 
ashes of the plant, when burnt, make a valuable manure, 
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