VIII. 
PREFACE. 
sufficiently redeeming character in another direction. Such 
a list, therefore, the British Pteridological Society, at their 
meeting in August, 1899, determined to furnish, and the 
following gentlemen were elected as a committee to that 
end : Dr. F. W. Stansfield, C. T. Druery, J. Edwards, 
W. Forster, W. H. Phillips, J. J. Smithies, W. Troughton, 
G. Whitwell, and J. A. Wilson, the writer undertaking the 
compilation and editorship. Great pains have been taken by 
all concerned to confine the list as far as possible to really 
fine symmetrical and constant forms. Exceptions as regards 
constancy had necessarily to be made in such cases as A. f. f. 
Kalothrix, Polyp, v. elegantissimum, S. v. Drummondiae, and 
others in which the dimorphic features appear rather to 
enhance than detract from their interesting character ; otherwise 
exclusion has been on strict lines. 
In compiling this list the thanks of the Society are due 
to all those whose catalogues have been used as a basis of 
selection, and especially to the late Mr. E. J. Lowe, whose 
little book above cited loses none of its value as a full record 
of all types by the side of this avowedly selected one. The 
Society’s list appeals to those who desire to form a collection 
of the finest kinds, Mr. Lowe’s, to those who, having found or 
raised a presumably new thing, need such a book for reference 
as regards classification or confirmation of absolute novelty. 
To render the list of greater general value it has been 
supplemented by a description of the various species and 
chapters on culture, propagation, &c., which constitute it a 
handy one for reference by beginners as well as connoisseurs, 
to which end it is also framed on non-technical lines, and 
the popular nomenclature adhered to. Where varieties have 
received more than one name from different authorities, the 
better or best descriptive one has been chosen, and in 
