08 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
having no natural affinity with the typical representative 
of that tribe. I have, therefore, characterized them as 
a distinct sub-order. Mettenius, in his work on Hyme- 
nophyllece, published in 1864, removes them from the 
position they have hitherto held between Cyathece and 
Gleicheniece, and places them before Polypodiece, as- 
signing to them the lowest rank amongst the Ferns ; 
in their downward relationship they would border on 
mosses. It, however, appears that as far back as the 
year 1828 the elder Reichenbach regarded the Hy- 
menophyllece as the lowest group of Ferns, and indi- 
cated their relationship to be with Hepaticce. But to 
discuss the views of these two authors on this subject 
would require more space than this work will allow. 
These, with a few others, are the principal changes 
I have introduced ; more might be made, but as, 
without being accompanied with full explanations 
showing my reasons, they might be considered un- 
necessary, I defer my views on the subject for 
another and more general work on the genera of 
Ferns, already alluded to. 
The limited size of this book does not permit me to 
give descriptions of the species; but in order to assist 
in referring species to their respective genera, I have 
given the general characters and a woodcut of each 
genus, and also the principal synonyms, with refe- 
rences to one or more published figures. The native 
country of each species I have given only in its widest 
sense, as many species have a wide geographical distri- 
bution, and to state their precise localities would require 
much space, and is the less necessary, as the special 
localities of each species are given by Sir W. J. Hooker 
in his great work, the “ Species Filicum,” now happily 
