146 
THE MORAL OF FLOWERS. 
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 
Niokt, 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, 
“ We have the receipt of fern-seed, — we walk invisible.” 
A passage which is thus explained by Johnson : — 
“ Fern is one of those plants which have their seeds on the hack of the 
leaf, so small as to escape sight. Those who perceived that fern was 
propagated by semination, and yet could not see the seed, weie much at 
a loss for a solution of the difficulty; and, as wonder always endeavours 
to augment itself, they ascribed to fern-seed many strange properties, 
some of which the rustic maidens have not yet forgotten.” 
