Fernery

A place or building expre ly devoted to the culture and preservation of ferns. Fer'ney, a village of France, dep. Ain, 5 m. N.W. of Geneva. This place not merely owes its celebrity, but even existence, to its having been for a lengthened period the residence of one of the greatest writers of modern times. Voltaire purchased this estate in 1768, and conferred the greatest advantages on F. Out of a paltry village, consisting of a few miserable cottages, he constructed a neat little town, in which he established a colony of industrious artisans, principally consisting of watchmakers from Geneva. The château, to which a fine small theatre was attached, was fitted up in a style of elegant simplicity; and his hospitalities were on the most liberal scale, Voltaire resided here, with little interruption, for more than 20 years. During the whole of this period, P. was to the literary and refined what Mecca is to the Mohammedan world; and the most distinguished personages of the time eagerly resorted to P. from all parts of Europe, to pay their respects to its illustrious master. Voltaire quitted F. for the last time, on the 6th of Feb., 1778. The inhabitants still cherish the remembrance of their benefactor, and admirers of Voltaire still make pilgrimages to Ferney, although the castle in which he lived has undergone so many alterations that it contains but few relics of him. Fern Leaf, in Kentucky , a P. O. of Mason co. Fern'-owl, n. (Zool.) A name applied to the goatsucker. Fern-root, n. See LASTREA. Fern'ticle, n. A term applied, in some parts of England, to a freckle on the skin, appearing like the seed of a fern.