THE BUTTER-WORT. 193 



into the cheese produced from its curd, it is not 

 more usual to make butter by a curdling process 

 than it is to make cheese in a churn ! 



In some parts of England the plant is known by 

 the names of Sheeprot or Rotgrass, which have evi- 

 dently been bestowed upon it from the circumstance 

 of its abounding in lands which are prejudicial to 

 that animal. Yet it would not appear that the pin- 

 guicula itself is to blame, as it is stated, on good 

 authority, that neither sheep nor any other herbivo- 

 rous animal will eat it. Gerarde calls it "Yorkshire 

 sanicle/' The Welsh name Toddaidd melyn, signi- 

 fying yellow sap, is given to it from the bright yel- 

 low stain produced on paper or any other material 

 by its juice. Old herbalists employed it, as the 

 Welsh peasants still do, as a cathartic medicine : 

 thus practically disproving the general opinion that 

 plants of the order Lentibulariacece have no percep- 

 tible qualities ; an idea which may be dispelled by 

 biting a leaf of the butter- wort, which is very bitter 

 and acid, and leaves a burning sensation in the 

 throat for several hours. Its mucilaginous exuda- 

 tion is, however, perfectly insipid. Gerarde recom- 

 mends the plant for chapped or fractured skins ; and 

 an allusion has been already made to its use as 

 rennet, but though it may perfectly answer the pur- 

 pose with the milk of cows, it appears to act very 

 differently on that of the rein-deer ; for Linnaeus 

 tells us, that when the fresh warm milk is poured 

 on the leaves, and permitted to remain for a day or 

 two, it acquires a tenacious consistency, in which 

 neither the whey nor cream separate ; when treated 



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