BRITISH FERNS. 
21 
hunt as here ; the poking and prying and intrusion into the 
out-of-the-way nooks and corners which are liable to harbour 
good things, are all, it may be, attended with danger by 
harbouring bad ones, and we ourselves have still a vivid 
recollection of a fine rattlesnake in Mexico which turned up 
just beneath a lovely patch of Nothochlaenas and Cheilanthes. 
Even here (in Ireland) we once let ourselves drop down the 
face of a rock to inspect a mass of Hymenophyllum, only to 
find a wasp’s nest as big as one’s head within 6 inches of 
our nose. Fortunately, by standing perfectly still, the dis- 
turbed swarm, after a chorus of buzzing, obviously took us 
for a fallen rock, and permitted us to glide gradually away 
unmolested. The main point, however, is that the explorer 
abroad is usually a general botanist on the look-out only for 
new species, and a general glance satisfying him as to the 
species, he passes on and does not pursue the individual 
investigation necessary to the variety hunter pure and simple. 
When, however, a man with an eye for varieties goes abroad, 
as did the late Mr. S. Brown, to the Azores, very fine 
varieties crop up, as, for example, Woodwardia radicans 
cristata, two grand crested varieties of L. dilatata and Asp. 
Hemionitis multifidum and cristatum, a form of which we 
ourselves also found recently when there, plus a finely crested 
Pteris aquilina. In the United States Ferns are so popular 
that a special “Fern Bulletin’’ is issued quarterly and a Fern 
chapter is instituted for the encouragement of research. Here, 
again, quite recently varieties have been found, and we are 
the happy possessor of Phegopteris hexagonoptera truncata, like 
a huge Beech Fern, with most tips squared and thorned, and 
Dennstaedtia punctilobula cristata, prettily tasselled, sent us by 
Mr. W. R. Maxon of the Smithsonian Institute, while fronds of 
a nicely crested Athyrium were sent us not long since by a 
lady there. These facts point, to our mind, to the conclusion 
that wherever Ferns are plentiful it only needs proper hunting 
to find varieties, and the keener and more persistent the 
hunter the more there will be found. Mr. J. Moly, for 
instance, resident in Dorset, discovered in the course of years 
no less than 600 distinct varieties, numbering among them 
many of our finest, mainly within the district, and Dr. Wills, 
his neighbour at Chard, found a very large number in addition. 
We cite these facts at length because they constitute an encou- 
ragement to anyone enjoying opportunities of search in Ferny 
districts. In the large majority of instances the “finds” are 
either solitary plants or clumps originating presumably from an 
originally single sport, though now and again, as might be 
expected, seedlings have established themselves near by, so 
