398 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



by goats, sheep, and swine, but not to be relished by horses. 

 The young tender leaves are in some countries boiled and eaten 

 as greens, and it is even asserted that the tender shoots of the 

 smooth variety, boiled in the manner of spinage, are superior 

 to any greens not in common use. Nearly the same thing 

 may be said of S. arvensis, S. palustris, and other species.* 

 S. tenerrimus, a native of the south of Europe, is eaten by 

 the common people in Italy as a salad. 



Hypochceris radicata is a very common plant in Britain. 

 H. glabra and H. kispida are less common. H. radicata, or 

 long-rooted cat's-ear, has long roots, which, like the roots of the 

 other species, are eaten by pigs with avidity. The name 

 Hypochceris indeed signifies for pigs. 



2. CynarocepTialce, Artichoke or Thistle order. Arctium 

 lappa, the burdock. The burdock is common over the whole 

 of the Old World. Few quadrupeds, except the ass, will eat 

 the plant, but birds feed on the seeds, and snails and cater- 

 pillars on the leaves. The stems, stripped of their rinds be- 

 fore the flowers appear, may be eaten, either boiled or raw, 

 with oil and vinegar. Carduus marianus, the milk-thistle ; 

 C. nutans, the musk-thistle ; C. acanthoides, welted thistle ; 

 C. tenuifolius, the slender-flowered thistle, are natives of 

 Britain. 



The foot-stalks of the leaves of most or all of the species of 

 this and the allied genera might be eaten in the manner of 

 cardoons if similarly blanched. The dried flowers of C. arabi- 

 cus and C. nutans will curdle milk. The seeds of all the spe- 

 cies of Serratula, Cnicus, Onopordum, and similar genera, are 

 greedily eaten by small birds, especially the finches. 



Cynara scolymus, the common artichoke, is a native of the 

 south of Europe. Owing to the moisture of our climate, it 

 thrives with us better than in its native country. It bears 

 * London, 'Encyclopedia of Plants/ pp. 668, 669. 



