THE FERN PARADISE. 
writer ascribes the love of what is most beautiful 
in Nature to the refining influence of civilization. 
He says, — 4 The more advanced civilization is, and 
the more developed our natural tastes, the more 
do we seek admiring and loving communion with 
Nature in its ten thousand forms of magnificence 
and beauty. Its rising and setting suns, its 
clouds and shadows, its mountain ranges and 
forests, its great seas and running streams, 
attract our attention and relieve the hardness and 
monotony of business and every-day life. None 
of the plants which adorn our world exceed in 
beauty, gracefulness, and variety the Ferns, which 
are so fitted to lend a charm to sunless and arid 
spots.’ 1 4 It is impossible,’ exclaims the Re- 
viewer, 4 to look on these plants, clothed in 
foliage rich and graceful, and presenting that 
freshness of colour to the eye which verdure 
never fails to yield, without feeling an inner, 
inexpressible pleasure, which statuary and paint- 
ing cannot excite. And all can command this 
pleasure to a certain extent. The man whose 
1 The British Quarterly Beview. 
4 6 
