PREFACE. 
For the general scientific part of this book I ana indebted to 
the Editor of Nature-printed Ferns — Mr. Thomas Moore — 
whose various works upon British Ferns have exhausted nearly 
all that can be said upon the subject. On this ground my 
book could hardly be more than a mere abridgement and 
paraphrase of his writing. For new and original matter I have 
to thank Mr. F. Clowes, of Windermere, who very kindly fur- 
nished me with the lists of local varieties, at the same time 
according me so much help and supervision as may, I trust, 
be sufficient guarantee for correctness. My obligations ought 
also to be expressed to Mr. Barnes and other collectors, from 
whom, through Mr. Clowes, I obtained information for these 
lists. The General Description and the Chapter on Meanings 
of Names and Terms have been added not only to give a more 
universal interest to the book, but as almost necessary for the 
collector or student, since nearly all the genera of British Ferns 
(sixteen out of nineteen) are found in the Lake Country. The 
engravings are from nature, and as many have been given as 
