OCTOBKU 0. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
17 
D 
HI 
D 
W 
OCTOBER 9—15, 1855. 
1 Weather near London in 1863. 
Barometer. Thermo. Wind. 
Sun 
Kises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
11. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bf. Sun. 
Day t f 
Ve.ir. 
9 
Tn 
Feathered Footman Moth. 
29.823—29.662 
70—43 
S.W. — 
15 a 6 
20 a 5 
4 6 
28 
! 12 
35 
282 
10 
W 
Large Sword-grass Moth. 
' 30.014—29.993 
6.j—5 4 
S.W. 13 
17 
18 
5 17 
29 
12 
51 
283 
11 
Th 
Grey Shoulder-knot Moth. 
' 30.297—30.009 
62—28 
N.W. — 
18 
16 
set.s. 
© 
13 
7 
284 
12 
F 
Brindled green Moth. 
30.482—30.454 
53—29 
N. i — 
20 
13 
5 a 38 
1 
13 
22 
285 
13 
S 
Marvel du jour Moth. 
30.119—30.338 
60—34 
N. ■ — 
22 
11 
5 55 
2 
13 
36 
2s6 
14 
Son 
19 Su.NDAY .\FTER TkINITY. 
1 30.-291—30.211 
56—44 
W. 06 
23 
9 
6 16 
3 
13 
50 
287 
15 
HI 
Scarce Umber Bloth. 
J 29.135—30.053 
54—37 
S.W. 16 
25 
. 7 
6 45 
4 
14 
4 
283 
JIeteorology of the \VF,EK.~At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-eight years, the average highest and lowest 
peratures of these days are 59.8°, and ■12.2°, respectively. The greatest heat, 7G’, occurred on the mh, in 1815; and the lowest cold 
on the 14th, in :£33. During the period 100 days were fine, and on QG rain fell. 
tem- 
, 20 °, 
ASPLE'NIUM SEPTE'NTRIONA'LE. 
Tins is known to English herbalists by the name of the 
Forked Splecnwort, a name given to it on account of the 
form of its fronds. Its specific name, Sejitentrionale, 
alludes to its frequenting the northern districts of Great 
Britain. 
Its root is woody, branclied, tufted, and furnished 
with a mass of crooked, fibrous rootlets, Erom the 
tufts arise very numerous/foiKfd, forming dense patches. 
They vary in height from two to four jnphes. Thq 
N^CCCLNVif. ^VoL. XVr 
stalk, which is naked for about half its lengtli, is wiiy, 
and dark green, excejit at the base, where it is dark 
purjile. Tise upper part spreads into one, two, or three 
forked leaflets, which are narrow, strap-shaped, upriglit, 
smooth, and in colour a dull dark green. Each section of 
the fork has one or more teeth, and the sectiops are 
alternate. The upper surface of each leaflet is furrowed, 
but beneath, at first, they are covered with long wdiile 
membranes (indusium), originating from the inner edge 
of the veins, and meeting over the middle. Tliere is no 
mid-vein, but the veins arise from the base of the leaflet, 
and run parallel, and divide into as many branches as 
tliere are teeth at the end of each section of the leaflet. 
The fructifleation is dark brown, and as it increases in 
size, and runs together, it gradually throws off the mem¬ 
brane, and curiously twists the leaflet. The spores are 
ripe in August. 
It can scarcely be called a rare Fern, for although it 
has been found only in the extreme northern and western 
districts of England, partially in Scotland, and not at all 
in Ireland, yet wherever it does occur, there it is pretty 
abundant. 
It occurs in clefts of rocks, on mountains, and on old 
walls, and has been found at Craig Dim, and Carnedd 
lilewelyn, and Snowdon, in Wales; on Ingleborough, in 
Yorkshire; at Patterdale and Keswick, and above Ain- 
blcside, in Westmoreland ; on rocks in Edinburgh Park; 
on Stenton Rock, near Dunkeld; and on rocks on the 
southern side of Blackford Hill, near Edinburgh. 
It is not uncommon throughout Europe, but is espe¬ 
cially frequent in Germany and Switzerland. 
Gerarde is tlie earliest of our botanists who notices 
this Fern, and he mistook it for a Moss, calling it '‘3Iiisctis 
corniculaius, Horned or Knagged Moss.” The drawing 
ho published of it, however, shews that it is the same as 
our Forked Spleenwort. Parkinson recognises it as a 
Fern, and describes it as the Naked Stone Fern (Felix 
saxatilis Tragi). Ray writes of it under the same Latin 
name, but also calls it Horned or Forked Maidenliair. 
It may bo cultivated as wo have directed for the 
Asplenium ruta-niuraria; but !Mr. Charles .Tohnson is 
quite right in stating that “ it is less adapted for expo¬ 
sure in the open Fernery, at least in the eastern parts of 
England, the evergreen fronds being liable to sufler 
from frost, and especially during the dry, jiiercing winds 
of Spring. It will, however, live and flourisli when 
planted in a sheltered cavity better than under confine¬ 
ment. If potted, a cold, close frame, where it maybe 
