
THE MALE FERN. 187 
at the erown of the root, which are the bases of the future stalks 
and brew them into beer, adding thereto a third portion of malt. 
In times of great scarcity they mix the same with their bread. He 
adds, that if cut green and dried in the open air, this Fern affords 
not only an excellent litter for cattle, but that if infused in hot 
water, it becomes no contemptible fodder for goats, sheep and other 
cattle, which readily eat, and sometimes grow fat upon it,—a circum- 
stance, Lightfoot observes, well worth the attention of the inhabit- 
ants of the Highlands and the Hebrides, as great numbers of their 
cattle, in hard winters, frequently perish for want of food. The 
dried fronds are, moreover, a good protective material for plants. 
The stems of this Fern, with their young incurved and yet unex- 
panded fronds, have been turned to superstitious use, the St. John’s 
hands, or ‘lucky hands,’ being prepared from them, and sold to 
eredulous and ignorant folk as preservatives against witchcraft and 
enchantment. These preparations are figured under the name of 
* Johannis Hand,’ by Schkuhr, at t. 46 b, fig. 1, of his work on Ferns. 
The culture of the Male Fern is not at all difficult. It may be 
grown in any cool shady place, in almost any kind of soil, the best 
being a sandy loam, moist, but not wet. It may be planted with 
good effect about shady walks, in woods and wilderness scenery, 
and on shady rockwork. The variety incisa is very striking, where 
effect only, and not variety, is the object; and fine plants of the 
variety paleacea are very noble in appearance. Potted plants require 
ample space, and should be plunged out-doors in winter. Though 
a common, it is a very handsome plant, and one of the most 
desirable in large ferneries. It is increased by division. : 
It may be mentioned as a curious fact, that the permanent 
so-called varieties of our hardy Ferns are very generally, if not 
in every case, reproduced from their spores, and in most cases 
abundantly so. The crested form of Filix-mas, the multifd 
Asplenium Trichomanes, and some of the most remarkable of the 
forms of Scolopendrium, have been raised by hundreds in this way. 
The fact of reproduction from the spores has been in some instances 
considered as the test of a species, and it is a test to which one 
would, at first thought, be inclined to submit; but the experience of 

