6 
TElllHY COMBES. 
on a stone watched our movements, added to the 
wildness of the scene. Lastrea rigida is believed 
to grow' only on limestone, Asplenium viride to he 
confined to lofty positions, Woodsia to the highest 
mountains and most inaccessible cliffs, Lastrea The- 
lypteris is the inhabitant of marshes, Lastrea cris- 
tata of hogs ; yet remember there is many a bog, 
many a marsh, many a cliff, that has never been 
really well searched, and you may chance to stum- 
ble on a variety w’here least expected. To tell the 
exact spots where each plant grows would be de- 
priving you of one of the greatest pleasures and 
interests of the pursuit, namely discovery for your- 
self If you take a tour through Devonshire, and 
use your eyes as you travel, you w ill hardly fail to 
find most of the ferns I shall describe to you ; but 
it is no exercise of observation to walk straight to 
a given point, pluck a leaf, and walk back again ; 
no, a fern collector, if he really wish to make dis- 
coveries, must be ever on the alert, ever watching ; 
even on a w'all you have passed a hundred times 
without observing anything curious, the hundred 
and first time you may find a treasure you did not 
think w as within fifty miles of you. 
