Page:Parsons How to Know the Ferns 7th ed.djvu/244

 of our continent I have sent home to my friend for description and publication sixteen new ones. Yet I trust that the fern hunt upon which he started me in 1873 is still far from its close."

The above quotations illustrate fairly the enthusiasm aroused by a pursuit which is full of peculiar fascination. Almost anyone who has made a study of our native ferns will recall hours filled with delight through their agency, companions made more companionable by means of a common interest in their names, haunts, and habits.