46 
ASFLENIUM MAKINUM. 
Ray, who, like many clergymen of his time, combined 
the study of Medicine with that of Divinity, is rather 
strong in the narration of the medicinal qualities of 
this Fern. He says—“ It is given in obstructions of 
the viscera, but especially of the spleen. Its gummy 
extract applied outwardly to bums has afforded relief 
when all other applications have failed.” ( Synopsis 
Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum, 119.) 
We know of no one who has succeeded in cultivating 
this Fern in the open air. Its roots cling so firmly to 
the sides of the chinks of the rocks where it grows 
naturally, that they are scarcely capable of being 
separated from the rocks undestroyed, and seemingly 
afford a warning that the soil and situation they prefer 
must be sedulously puovided for them. 
It should be planted in a well-drained pot, in a mix¬ 
ture of equal parts sand, small fragments of brick, and 
peat, and kept in the most shady part of a greenhouse, 
where the temperature never falls below 35°. The water 
employed should have half an ounce of common salt 
dissolved in a gallon; and this Fern should not be 
watered over the leaves, though it delights in a moist at¬ 
mosphere, and, therefore, flourishes under a glass shade. 
When grown “in a hothouse it will attain a large 
size, and when the air is kept moist, does not require a 
glass. In such circumstances, I have seen the fronds 
eighteen or twenty inches long; certainly it luxuriates 
in warmth.”* ( Souierby's Ferns by Mr. Charles Johnson.) 
* An evidence of its liking warmth is afforded by its being found a 
native not only of the south of Franco and Spain, and in northern 
Africa, the Canaries, and Madeira, but in no other part of Europe. 
