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apex; this will be seen in the large or expanded
frond at page 13, in the erect frond at page 1 2 , and
in the frond at page 48 ; this main stem is called the
rachis. The branches on each side of this rachis are
ciiWeà pinnæ ; at page 1 2 , the frond is pinnatifid, the
pinnæ not being quite separated from each other;
the little fronds at page 30 are called pinnate, because
the pinnæ are quite separated ; in the frond at page 48
the pinnæ are not only quite separated, but they are
also deeply divided. The pinnæ of the frond at page 13
are divided into a number of branches on each side;
the branches are pinnuloe. The pinnulæ are again
divided into lobes.
The seeds of ferns are not preceded by any visible
flowers ; they are generally produced on the back of
the frond in capsules, called thecæ ; these thecæ are
clustered together in little masses, and are situated
on the veins in the divisions of the frond; see the
figure at the top of page 45, where it will be observed
that each mass has a small white kidney-shaped spot ;
this is intended to represent a white membranous
substance, something like a portion of the cuticle of
the frond, and is called the indusium.
While this Work has been in progress, I have
received the most kind and valuable assistance from
some of our most distinguished Botanists ; and I beg
to assure the gentlemen whose names appear below,
how all-important to one unskilled in the science
their services have been, and to return them my
sincere thanks :—Professor Don, who has afforded me
every possible information on the subject of nomenclature,
and in no single instance have I intentionally
changed a name in opposition to his views. This assertion
seemed requisite in justice to myself, lest, having,
in some way or other, altered more than half the
names employed by Sir J. E. Smith, (and therefore in
general use,) I might perchance be charged with the
most paltry of all ambitions—the desire to subvert an
established name : Mr. Smith, of the Royal Botanic
Gardens at Kew, who has also assisted me in the
nomenclature of genera, and of whom I have elsewhere
spoken; Mr. Foster, the highly respected
Vice-President of the Linnean Society; Mr. Ward,
of whose excellent plan of cultivating Ferns I have
already said so much, and whose extensive collections,
both of living and dried specimens, have always
been open to m e ; Mr. C. C. Babington, of Cambridge,
whose collection and valuable notes have
been unreservedly placed in my hands; Mr. White,
of Cloudesley-square, who has taken infinite pains to
determine for me the venation in Pteris, Lomaría,
Ceterach, and indeed in every genus that presented
any difficulty; Mr. Bowerbank, whose splendid microscope
has been constantly at my service; Dr. Gre-
ville, of Edinburgji; Mr. Moore, of the Dublin
Society’s Botanic Garden; Mr. R. Ball, of Dublin ;
Mr. J. Ball, of Cambridge ; Mr. Heysham, of Carlisle;
Mr. E. J. Quekett, of Wellclose-square, London; Mr.
T.B.Flower, of Surry-street, Strand, London; Miss
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