228 CROWFOOT. 



" Nettles, cuckoo-flowers^ 



Darnell, and all the idle weeds." 



The genus Ranunculus is very extensive, comprehending 

 nearly two hundred individuals, and forming the type of a natu- 

 ral order whose chief characteristic is the presence of an acrid 

 principle. They are chiefly herbs with white or yellow flowers, 

 some of them very handsome, especially the Garden-Crowfoot, 

 {Ranunculus asiaticus,) of which there are endless varieties. 

 The British species are fourteen in number, and of these 

 the bulbous and creeping kind are, together with the subject of 

 this article, the inost common ; the former distinguished by its 

 bulbiferous roots, furrowed flower-stalks, and reflexed calyx, 

 and the latter by its creeping scions. The Celery-leaved 

 Crowfoot (R. sceleratus) is extremely poisonous and will 

 be introduced hereafter. The Water-Crowfoot {R. aquatilis) 

 is known by its finely-divided leaves, white petals, and trans- 

 versely wrinkled pericarps ; it is abundant in rivers and lakes, 

 and in some districts, particularly near the Avon, it is ex- 

 tensively used as food for cattle. 



A variety with double flowers is cultivated in gardens under 

 the name of Bachelor's-button, or, as the French term it, 

 houton d'or. 



Qualities and general Uses. — Although acridity is a pro- 

 minent characteristic in this plant and its congeners, it is of so 

 volatile a nature that, as Krapf observes, simple drying, infu- 

 sion in water, or boiling, are sufficient to dissipate it ; it is 

 neither acid nor alkaline ; it is increased by sugar, wine, honey, 

 and spirit, and the mineral acids, and is only to be overcome by 

 vegetable acids and water. Hence we are not surprised to find 

 that the peasantry of some countries boil the herb and eat 

 it with impunity. In its recent state it is so acrimonious, says 

 Mr. Curtis, that by merely pulling up the plant and carrying it 

 some little distance, considerable inflammation has been pro- 

 duced in the palm of the hand. According to Linnaeus, sheep 

 and goats eat it, but other animals refuse it. The popular 

 opinion, that the yellow colour of butter is owing to this plant, 

 needs scarcely to be refuted, as cows are never known to touch 

 it, except when turned hungry into a meadow where it grows, 

 and then their mouths become sore and blistered. When made 

 into hay it loses its acrid properties, but then it seems to be too 

 stalky and hard to afford much nourishment ; if it be of any 



