1 . ' 
THE BRACKEN. 
Pteris ciquilina. 
Plate 2, Fig. 1, Page 185. 
The most familiar form amongst the inhabitants of the Fern 
world naturally claims the foremost place in these chapters 
of descriptive enumeration. There are probably very few 
people who can say that they have never seen a Fern of any 
kind. Those who have had but little opportunity of visiting 
the country, and can with difficulty indicate their hazy im- 
pression of the points of difference betweeii flowerless and 
flowering plants, will perhaps attempt to shield themselves 
from a suspicion of entire ignorance of the subject by de- 
scribing how and under what circumstances they saw what 
they believed to be £ Ferns.’ If further inquiry be made, it 
will generally be found that the £ Ferns ’ thus seen are 
£ the common Brakes,’ or Bracken ; on some hilly slope ; by 
the margin of an open stream ; under the shelter of a little 
wood, or upon the undulating surface of some wide extending 
common — briefly noted, perhaps, during a hurried journey, or 
during the short leisure of a holiday ramble. 
Desceiption. — The botanical name of the Bracken conveys 
some idea of the form and habit of this Fern : for it might 
be freely translated as ‘ Eagle’s-wing.’ Pteris is from the 
Greek qtteron, a wing or feather: aquilina from the Latin 
aquila, an eagle. The generic name might apply to most 
Ferns, on account of their feathery appearance, but it has an 
