names of the Manual, and are indicated by a different type.
In every case the student has before him both the older and the more recent
terms from which to choose. However, since the book is written primarily
for lovers of Nature, many of whom are unfamiliar with scientific terms,
the common English names are everywhere given prominence, and strange to
say are less subject to change and controversy than the Latin. There is
no doubt what species is meant when one speaks of the Christmas fern, the
ostrich fern, the long beech fern, the interrupted fern, etc. The use of
the common names will lead to the knowledge and enjoyment of the scientific
terms.

A friend unfamiliar with Latin has asked for pointers to aid in pronouncing
the scientific names of ferns. Following Gray, Wood, and others we have
marked each accented syllable with either the grave (`) or acute ()
accent, the former showing that the vowel over which it stands has its long
sound, while the latter indicates the short or modified sound. Let it be
remembered that any syllable with either of these marks over it is the
accented syllable, whose sound will be long or short according to the slant
of the mark.

We have appropriated from many sources such material as suited our purpose.
Our interest in ferns dates back to our college days at Amherst, when we
collected our first specimens in a rough, bushy swamp in Hadley. We found
here a fine colony of the climbing fern (_Lygodium_). We recall the slender
fronds climbing over the low bushes, unique twiners, charming, indeed, in
their native habitat. We have since collected and studied specimens of
nearly every New England fern, and have carefully examined most of the
other species mentioned in this book. By courtesy of the librarian, Mr.
William P. Rich, we have made large use of the famous Davenport herbarium
in the Massachusetts Horticultural library, and through the kindness of
the daughter, Miss Mary E. Davenport, we have freely consulted the larger
unmounted collection of ferns at the Davenport homestead, at Medford,[1]
finding here a very large and fine assortment of _Botrychiums_, including a
real _B. ternatum_ from Japan.

[Footnote 1: Recently donated to the Gray Herbarium.]

For numerous facts and suggestions we are indebted to the twenty volumes of
the _Fern Bulletin_, and also to its able editor, Mr. Willard N. Clute. To
him we are greatly obligated for the use of photographs and plates, and
especially