ALLOSORtJS. 
17 
plant until 1696, when Ray, in the second edition of 
his Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum, de¬ 
scribes it as found in Westmoreland, and other places, 
hy Mr. James Sutherland, the first curator of the Edin¬ 
burgh Botanical Garden. Ray calls it, as it was called 
by its first describer, Schwenkfeld, Adiantum album 
crispum alpinum (Curled Alpine White Maiden-hair). 
Linnaeus, who knew less about Eerns than about any 
other of the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, 
named it at one time Osmunda, and at another time 
Pteris crispa, whilst some botanists have called it 
Oryptogramma, and others Phorolobus, hut the best 
authorities now agree that J. J. Bernhardi, at the com 
mencement of the present century, was correct when 
he separated it from all other Ferns, and named it 
Allosorus. 
Uses. —We have seen that Ray and other early herb¬ 
alists considered this Fern an Adiantum, or Maiden-hair 
In those days plants were chiefly examined for their 
medicinal qualities, and all herbalists then agreed with 
our earliest writer on Plants, Dr. William Turner, that 
of the Adiantums, “ the juyce stayeth the heare that 
falleth off, and if they he fallen off, it restoreth them 
agayne." But it is quite certain that his remedy is as 
defective as his spelling and grammar. 
Though deficient in medicinal qualities, this Fern, 
as we have already noted, is well worthy of culture for 
its elegance. 
Culture.— When cultivated, it should be grown upon 
well-drained rockwork, moderately shaded, kept moist, 
c 
