\ 



WOOD-SORREL INDIAN CRESS. 365 



Moreover, as full-grown animals hardly appropriate any of the 

 phosphates, these, when oilcake is given merely to fatten, will 

 all pass out with the excrement. 



Professor Johnston, founding on theoretical considerations 

 derived from the abundance of phosphates in flax seeds, has 

 proposed the following feeding-substitute for linseed oilcake : 



Bruised linseed, . . . 40 Ib. 



Bran meal, . . . . 60 



Bone meal (ground bones), . . . 4 



104 Ib. 

 The constituents of which, in every 100 Ib., are 



Starch, . . . . . 40 Ib. 



Proteine compounds, . . . 27 



Fat, . . . 11 



Saline matter, . . . . . 7 



Water and husk, . . . .15,, 



100 Ib.* 



Oxalidacecz, Wood-sorrel order. The Oxalis acetosella, or 

 wood-sorrel, was formerly officinal, being esteemed refrigerant 

 and antiscorbutic. It was also used in salads. It was called 

 cuckoo's bread, and in France "pain a coucou," because it 

 flowers about the time when the cuckoo is heard. It has not 

 been observed whether any animal naturally at times eats this 

 plant. 



The Oxalis crenata bears tubers, which are used as potatoes, 

 but insipid. Oxalis deppei has fleshy roots, which are used as 

 culinary vegetables, and are deservedly growing in esteem. 



Oxalis crassicaulis, 0. tetraphylla, and 0. esculenta, are 

 said to possess similar good qualities. 



Tropceolaccce, Indian Cress order. Tropceolum majus, the 

 Indian cress, improperly called Nasturtium, has the peculiar 



* For further particulars respecting oilcake, see Stephens's ' Book of the 

 Farm,' vol. i. p. 275-278. 



