Vegetable and Animal 



heather moors of Kirkconnel Moss (near Dumfries) and 

 Flanders Moss (near Stirling), one comes, here and there, 

 upon a small, dense tussock of thick grass, which is 

 bright fresh green and as different as possible from the 

 neighbouring vegetation. Moreover, the grasses of these 

 tufts are not moorland species, but regular pasture or 

 roadside forms. 



One finds at such places that the gulls are nesting 

 on this part of the moor, and these patches have been 

 naturally guanoed by them. Indeed it is by no means 

 unlikely that sheep could change moorland into good 

 grass simply by close grazing, and provided only the 

 ground is dry enough. On the other hand what havoc 

 has been caused in Greece, Spain, and even in our own 

 moorlands by the ravages of sheep, goats, and cattle ! 



The result of their hunger is to leave only a curious 

 collection of poisonous, strongly smelling or otherwise 

 inedible shrubs instead of pine woods and rich grass 

 pastures. 



In Australia, which has a flora of a very ancient type, 

 there are many poisonous plants. Many animals are 

 killed every year by the deadly Mirbelia and Gastro- 

 lobium. Even strong oxen will die in six hours after 

 eating the leaves. Dogs which eat the flesh of the cattle 

 may also be poisoned by it. Pigeons, however, eat the 

 seeds and are not injured, and when such birds are 

 cooked, they are quite good to eat. 5 Even in Britain 

 many really poisonous plants still exist. In lochs, 

 marshes, and elsewhere, the poisonous Equisetums 

 (palustre, silvestre, and arvense) are by no means rare. 

 These species had ancestors in the coal-measure days, 

 who no doubt protected themselves against whatever 

 animal ate their foliage by similar poisons. 



The wild animals of a country, or even domestic 

 cattle, when allowed to graze freely with an old beast 



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