Economical Ufe of the Ranunculus aquatllis. 17, 



jecStcd by all the five fpccics of animals, on which thefe trials were 

 made. It does not appear by either edition of the Pan Suecus, that 

 any trials were made with R. arvenfts ; and though horned cattle and 

 horfes will eat this fpecies greedily, (although not without fublc- 

 quent injury,) yet it is known to have been highly deleterious to 

 flaeep. A notable inftance of this occurred in Piedmont, in the 

 year 1786, where a number of thefe animals died, as it v/as at firft 

 fuppofe<^, of an epidemical difeafc ; but fubfequent examination dif- 

 covercd, that this deftru6tion was owing to the Ranwiculus arvenfis. 

 The hiflory of this accident is circumflantially related in the 

 Memoirs of the Royal Acatleniy of Turin, by M. Brugnon*. The 

 herb grows luxuriantly in Piedmont, and the flicep fed with much 

 eagernefs upon it. The efFeds here mentioned were not imme- 

 dia,te, but progreflive ; and M. Brugnon, on further inveftigation, 

 was convinced they were principally owing to the roots of the plant; 

 fmce by experiments purpofely made on dogs, thefe animals were 

 almoft inftantly killed by them. On the difledtion of the llieep, all 

 the four conco£tive organs were found afFe6led with eryfipelatous 

 and gangrenous fpots ; but more particularly the abomafum, which 

 he found much more deeply ulcerated than the others ; and the 

 mifchief had extended into the fmaller inteftines. 



The avidity with which fheep, horfes, and cows, eat the Ranun- 

 (ulus arvenjis, is, as M. Brugnon juftly obfervcs, an exception to the 

 commonly received maxim, that herbivorous animals are, by inftindf, 

 led to rejefl whatever is noxious. We fee frequently, that hunger 

 will impel our domefticated cattle, efpccially on being firfl turned 

 to grafs in the Spring, to eat almoft all vegetables promifcuoufly : 



• Memoires de L'Academie Royale des Sciences. Annees 1788— 17S9, a Turin. 

 4:0. 1790. 



Vol. V. D Some 



