PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
circumstance that it is free from the uninteresting 
technicalities which have succeeded — in most 
works on Ferns — in making the study of these 
beautiful plants a hard task, instead of a pleasing 
and delightful occupation. 
To the kind Reviewers who have accorded 
such unstinted — nay, overwhelming — praise for 
a humble attempt to popularize the study of 
Ferns, to inculcate a love for the beauties of 
Nature, and to prove what a wealth of pleasure 
— derivable from a simple pursuit — is within the 
reach of the humblest, the Author tenders his 
most sincere and heartfelt thanks. 
September , 1876. 
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