356 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



Whether the property of purifying the blood belonging to 

 such cruciferous plants that is, of proving antiscorbutic in the 

 human body, extends in any measure to cattle and sheep, is 

 still an unsolved problem ; but it is one, in this age of epi- 

 demics in our herds, which well deserves attention. 



Resedacece, Eeseda order. Reseda phyteuma is eaten as a 

 kitchen esculent in the Greek Archipelago. 



Capparidacece, Caper order. Capparis spinosa, the caper 

 tree or caper bush, a shrub with the habit of a bramble, 

 affords the well-known capers. The capers are the pickled 

 flower-buds of the plant grown in France and Italy. They 

 belong to the order of condiments. Cratceva nurvala has berries 

 agreeable to the taste. 



Sixacece or Flacourtiaceoe, Arnotta order. The Bixa orel- 

 lana is the plant which affords arnotta, so well known for- 

 merly in dyeing, and still in great request to colour cheese and 

 butter. The arnotta is the pulp which covers the seeds. It is 

 a native of the West Indies. The pulp of oncoba is sweet, 

 and eaten in Nubia. The fruits of some of the flacourtias 

 are eatable and wholesome. 



Malvaceae, Mallow order. Some of the malvse or mallows 

 were in former times used as food. Miller remarks of the 

 common mallow, Malva sylvestris, that cattle are not fond of 

 it ; but the important question for solution is, Do cattle ever 

 spontaneously eat the mallow leaves? 



Hibiscus esculentus. There is a well-known substance 

 "ochro, okra, or gombo, used in the West Indies in soups, 

 which is the fruit of a plant of this order," the Abelmoschus 

 esculentus, formerly called the Hibiscus esculentus. 



The flowers of the Abutilon csculentum are used in the 

 Brazils as a vegetable. It belongs also to the Malvacece. 

 Gossypium herbaceum, the cotton plant, affords seeds which 

 in the Levant are esteemed salubrious food. The seeds of all 



