[23] See ‘European Ferns,’ by James Britten, F.L.S.; with coloured illustrations from Nature, by Dr. Blair, F.L.S. Cassell. London.--A work full of information on the culture, classification, and history of ferns. I am indebted to it for many of the details here given of the economic value of ferns. The species of _Dicksonia_ which has been supposed to have given origin to the fable of the “Scythian Lamb” has, from that circumstance, received the name of _Barometz_. It was formerly known as _Cibotium glaucescens_. It was introduced into cultivation in conservatories in this country about the year 1830, and was shortly afterwards described as _Cibotium barometz_, but the genus _Cibotium_ is now generally united with _Dicksonia_. Its long caudex, or root-stock, creeps over the surface of the ground in the same manner as that of the better known “Hare’s-foot” fern, _Davallia Canariensis_, and this is covered with long silky hairs, or scales, which look something like wool when old and dry. These hairs or scales have been sometimes used as a styptic in Germany, and also, very commonly, in China, as related to Sir Hans Sloane by Dr. Brown. The similar hairs of other species of _Dicksonia_, natives of the Sandwich Islands, are exported to the extent of many thousands of pounds weight annually under the name of “Pulu,” and are used in the stuffing of mattrasses, cushions, &c. The hairs of _D. culcita_ are similarly utilised in Madeira. No more than two or three ounces of hair are yielded by each plant, and it is reckoned that about four years must elapse before another gathering can be obtained.