22 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



hooded milfoil (reticularia vulgaris), forget-me-not (myosotis 

 palustris), perfoliate pondweed (potomageton perfoliatum), 

 long-leaved cowbane (cicuta virosa), long-leaved sundew 

 (drossera longifolia), water pepper (polygonum hydropiper), 

 sweet-flag (acorus calamus), water crowfoot (ranunculus aqua- 

 tilis), great spear-wort (ranunculus lingua), and water milfoil 

 (myriophyllum spicatum). 



There are other plants which either grow in shady spots, 

 or moist pastures, which all cattle reject. Such are the 

 common thornapple (datura stramonium), common henbane 

 (hyoscyamus niger), black-berried nightshade (solanum ni- 

 grum), dwarf-elder (sambucus ebulus), mountain dryas (dryas 

 octopetala), black horehound (bdllota nigra), common white 

 horehound (marrubium vulgare), impatient lady's smock (car- 

 damine impatiens), common celandine (chelidonium majus), 

 and the blue erigeron (erigeron acre). It must, here, how- 

 ever, be noticed, that many of these plants, when very young, 

 are sometimes cropped by the cattle, without any ill effects ; 

 and that, on the contrary, some nutritious plants are, when 

 in seed, refused from their perfume being too strongly dif- 

 fused. But, after the animals have endured a long-continued 

 fast, their eagerness interferes with their discrimination. 



Some plants are often eaten by cattle, while green and 

 fresh ; yet, singular to say, they are refused if offered in a 

 faded or dry state. Among these are cock's- comb (rhinanthus 

 crista galli), the horsetails (equisetum), the bedstraws (galium), 

 which spoil the hay, and the common buckbean (menyanthes 

 trifoliata). Again, there are others, such as the crowfoots 

 (ranunculus), and the swallow-worts (asclepias), which lose 

 their noxious properties when dried, and may be eaten by the 

 cattle without injury. 



Some plants are stimulants, or cordials; such are the 

 garlics (allium), and the docks (rumex). 



The goat not only feeds with impunity upon several plants 

 refused by other cattle, but even eagerly seeks for them. Of 

 these we may mention the common mare's-tail (hippuris 

 vulgaris), common prickly seed (echinospermum lappula), 

 the greater water plantain (alisma plaritago), highly injurious 

 to other domestic animals ; the wood anemone (anemone 

 memoralis), the meadow anemone (a. pratensis), the spring 

 anemone (a. vernalis), celery-leaved crowfoot (ranunculus sce- 

 leratus), the knotty-rooted figwort (scrophularia nodosa), 

 and tame-poison (asclepias vincetoxicum), of which it is ex- 



