The usual demand in such a work is that it shall be written in a "popular" style and in "popular" language--in other words, that all technical terms shall be avoided in descriptions. Books of this class are in the majority of cases unsatisfactory, usually lacking that scientific accuracy which is the first requirement of such works, but chiefly being defective in conciseness of description and exactness of phraseology. They fail to satisfy those who want scientific descriptions, and are not sufficiently explicit for those who have little knowledge of the subjects treated of.
A large technical vocabulary has grown up round the literature of ferns, which it is impossible to ignore altogether. No one can claim to a knowledge of these plants without knowing something also of this terminology; for it is impossible to examine ferns without finding characters and points of structure which our ordinary vocabulary fails to describe aptly. There is hardly any pursuit or study which has not a terminology of its own, and the student of ferns will find that there is such a terminology in his branch, and that it has to be mastered before he can make satisfactory progress in the identification of species.
The author has therefore deemed it advisable to write the descriptive part of the work in technical language, avoiding, however, all unnecessary multiplication of terms; and at the same time--by a clear introductory chapter on the structure of ferns and their allies, and by the aid of a complete glossary--to enable the reader to understand every term used. There is no serious difficulty in mastering these terms, as a little patient application will prove, and there is no satisfactory way of avoiding their use without sacrificing the scientific value of the descriptions.
If any are afraid to enter upon the study of our ferns because there are some apparently hard names to be got over, we would advise such persons to turn their attention to something else. If the subject is worth studying, no one need grudge taking a little trouble about it.
