n] Ranunculaceae 11 
bourhood, it is used by the peasantry as fodder. They collect it in 
boats and give it to their cows and horses, allowing the former about 
twenty to thirty pounds a day. One man is said to have kept five 
cows and a horse, with little other food but what they could pick up on 
the heath, using no hay but when the river was frozen. Hogs eat it 
and will live upon it alone until put up to fatten." (Johnson and 
Sowerby Useful Plants of Great Britain.} 
R. scekratus L., or Celery-leaved Buttercup, is probably the most 
toxic species, and it is stated that in man a single flower may cause 
poisonous symptoms resembling those due to Anemone and Colchicum. 
It is considered especially dangerous to cattle, and has caused many 
losses: among its French names are Mort aux Vaches, and Herbe sar- 
donique. Poor people have been known to eat the young shoots when 
boiled, heat dispelling the poison. 
R. Flammula L., the Lesser Spearwort, has repeatedly proved fatal 
to horses and cattle. 
R. bulbosus L., the Bulbous Buttercup, is somewhat variable in 
toxicity, and is least dangerous after the flowers have dropped their 
corolla, and the bulb-like rootstock is most harmful in autumn and 
winter. The flowers are the most dangerous part. 
R. Ficaria L., Lesser Celandine, varies in toxicity with locality and 
season, being most harmful at the flowering period. It is stated that 
wood-pigeons eat the roots with avidity, and that the young shoots 
have been eaten as a salad in Germany, as they are not toxic. An 
English veterinary surgeon (Flower) recorded that three heifers were 
poisoned by it (Vide Cornevin). 
R. acris L., Acrid Buttercup or Tall Crowfoot, is a frequent cause of 
poisoning in cattle, and Cornevin says it is perhaps the species which 
causes the most accidents. 
Toxic Principle. The buttercups contain an acrid and bitter juice, 
the chemical properties and composition of which are not well known, 
but it is believed that the substance is identical with the Anemonin of 
the Anemone sp. (q.v.). Beckurts isolated Anemonin and Anemonic 
acid from R. acer. Pott, however, states that the poisonous species 
contain the two alkaloids Aconitine and Delphinine. 
Symptoms. The buttercups are acrid, burning and narcotic, causing 
irritation of the mucous membrane, with inflammation of the intestinal 
tract. 
Cornevin shows that R. sceleratus induces gastro-enteritis, colic, 
diarrhoea with excretion of black foul-smelling faeces, vomiting when 
