39 A 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
ARTICLE IX. 
TO CULTIVATE STOVE FERNS.— Bv Mr. Marnock. 
The following is a tolerably successful method of raising Stove 
Ferns from seed ;— 
Fill any convenient sized pot with sandy peat earth, and on the 
top allow a few pieces to rise above the rest. 
When this is done, merely shake the seeds on the top and sides of 
these pieces. It will be readily understood, that the minuteness of 
the seeds requires this precaution, for by sowing them in a pot on a 
level surface, the whole of the seed would be subjected to the same 
kind of treatment, which fiiight happen to be either too wet, or too 
dry; indeed, it is not impossible even with the greatest care, that 
both may occasionally happen. 
The soil in which the seed is sown ought to be scalded with boil¬ 
ing water, in order to kill any seeds of the common hardy kinds that 
may accidentally have found their way into the soil, such as Aspi- 
clium Filix-mas, and some others, which, even with this precaution, 
will not unfrequently intrude themselves. 
They seldom succeed so well in a close frame in a cool part of the 
stove, where evaporation can be most effectually prevented; and they 
will by no means endure to be continually kept close under bell 
glasses. 
Water must never be applied to the surface of the pots; but by 
keeping the pots in feeders which contain a little water, they will 
generally keep themselves sufficiently moist. 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
Article X.—A FEW REMARKS ON THE NEW THEORY OF THE 
DEPOSITION OF DEW. 
BY J. B. JUN. 
In page 293,1 perceive your correspondent, G. I. T. has, amongst 
other reforms in science, introduced a total and radical one on the 
deposition of dew, which is there stated to depend on certain powers 
possessed by living vegetable bodies as conductors of electricity; 
entirely overthrowing the ingenious theory of Dr. Wells, which since 
its discovery has been found fully sufficient to explain all the circum¬ 
stances attending that phenomenon, and which in my mind, at least, 
still remains unshaken. 
The theory of dew being deposited on plants by their power of 
