THE FERN PARADISE. 
looking at the question from the point of view 
of the considerations discussed in this chapter — 
in favour of the introduction of Ferns into our 
bed-rooms ? 
But before dismissing from consideration the 
subject of what may be called the physical effects 
produced by the presence of plants in rooms, we 
would call attention to the fact that there is 
another influence exerted by plants beyond that 
of the absorption of bad air and the respiration of 
oxygen, namely, the pleasant and cooling and — 
for the same reason — the healthful effects of the 
evaporation of moisture from plants. Plants not 
only breathe; they perspire— their exhalations 
consisting of pure and pleasant vapours. Who 
has not experienced the charming sensations pro- 
duced by plunging, during the heats of summer, 
into one of those woody nooks, — 
“ Where the copsewood is the greenest,” 
or into some deep 6 green lane,’ or by going down 
to the rocky base of a waterfall? A dry, hot 
atmosphere would be unendurable for any length 
of time; and even when, during hot summers, we 
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