called Capillaire. Wonderful properties were formerly 
attributed to the seed of Ferns, and the procuring of it 
was considered a deed of some daring, as it involved a 
contest with the powers of darkness. Grose informs us 
that a person who went to gather it, reported “ that 
the spirits whisked about his ears, and sometimes struck 
his hat, and different parts of his body; and at length, 
when he thought he had got a good quantity, and secured 
it in papers and a box, when he came home he found 
both empty !” It was an exploit reserved for St. John’s 
Night, as the wonder-working seed was supposed only to 
be visible at the hour of his birth; and when the prize 
was obtained just “ in the very nick of time,” and 
worn about the person, it was imagined that its possessor 
might become invisible at will. Thus Shakspeare says, 
