UPEIGHT MEADOW 

 CKOWFOOT. 



Ranunculus acris. Nat. Ore?., 

 llanuncitlacece. 



,.E hav r e already seen in our 

 remarks on other species of 

 crowfoot or buttercup, that 

 the genus is distinguished 

 by a peculiar acridity, a 

 quality which finds its 

 maximum in the flower 

 before us. Though we have 

 never ourselves experienced 

 it, we are told by various 

 authorities that the mere 

 carrying of the plants in 

 the hand is often sufficient 

 to cause blistering and in- 

 flammation. This property 

 it loses when made into hay, 

 but the plant is in any case 

 unwelcome to the agricul- 

 turist, for cattle dislike it 

 exceedingly in its green state, or if hard pressed for forage, 

 can only eat it at the expense of blistered mouths ; while in 

 its dried state, though it has lost its hot and biting pun- 

 gency, it is at best but hard and tough, and yields little or 

 no nourishment. It is, therefore to the interest of the 

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