CHAPTER II. 
WHAT IS A FERN ? 
will have been seen that we have 
made no attempt in the preceding 
chapters to offer any help in the 
study of Ferns. Botany is a beauti- 
ful science, and those who have 
time and opportunity will find almost endless 
instruction and amusement in studying it ; but, 
as we have shown, there are very many who do 
not possess the necessary time and. opportunity. 
All that we have attempted to do, is to give 
such general descriptions of those of our native 
Ferns which are to be seen in the west of England, 
as might conduce to the more extensive artificial 
cultivation of these beautiful plants. Of all the 
varieties which we have named, we have not, as 
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