282 
HISTORY OF, BRITISH FERNS. 
nothing else beyond what well constructed rock work would 
supply. 
Perhaps the most interesting way of cultivating these 
plants would be as a group on a shady border, or in a 
separate bed. In damp cool soil they would be certain to 
succeed. The smaller delicate sorts, such as the procum¬ 
bent E. mriegatum , should be rather elevated between 
three or four rough stones, over which it would hang; and 
for the aquatic species, earthenware pans might be sunk, 
and these, half-filled with mud, and the remainder with 
water, would provide all that would be necessary for their 
well-being. All the other species would grow in the or¬ 
dinary soil, provided it were sufficiently moist and cool in 
summer; but the rambling propensities of the underground 
stems should be checked by planting them in pots sunk in 
the ground. 
The raising of the Equisetums from the spores, too, 
would be very interesting employment, and withal very 
instructive. The spores are very curious bodies, of roundish 
or somewhat oval form, having four elastic filaments, thick¬ 
ened at the ends, coiled around them. These, when the 
spore has become ripe, unroll; and their elasticity, no 
doubt, contributes to burst the case in which the spores 
