18 
BOTANY AS APPLIED TO VETERINARY SCIENCE. 
ject, in readily obtaining all the more detailed information we 
require. 
“ I)ancus carota” ( common carrot ).— “Fruit lenticular, com¬ 
pressed from the back ; carpels with four secondary ridges, 
which are of equal size, winged, and completely broken up 
into prickly teeth ; a biennial , with a fleshy tap-root; stem 
trispid ; leaves two or three, pinnate, not at all shining ; leaflets 
of the involucre trifid and pinnatifid, as long as the umbel.” 
— Linclley . 
This little, insignificant plant, with its tough, wiry, and 
somewhat disagreeable-flavoured root, is found growing wild 
on gravelly soils in the fields and hedgerows in many parts 
of this country. It is familiarly known by the resemblance 
of its umbels, when ripening its seeds, to a bird’s nest. It 
is supposed by most authors to be the original source from 
which, under the influence of agriculture, the present luxu¬ 
riant and richly flavoured carrot has been obtained. There 
are several varieties, such as the Dutch, the Orange, and the 
Altringham (several magnificent specimens of the latter, 
exhibited by the Duke of Portland, attracted much attention 
and obtained a prize at the Birmingham Cattle Show), but 
the long red and the white being the most extensively cul¬ 
tivated, a brief description of them will suffice. They thrive 
best on a loose, sandy, but deep soil. The seed is generally 
sown at the end of March or the beginning of April, the plant 
flowers in July, and the crop is generally taken up towards the 
end of October. The produce varies considerably, according 
to the soil, &c., being from ten to twenty tons per acre. 
The red carrot contains much more nutrition than the 
white. As food for animals, both the leaves and root of the 
carrot are of great value, and much liked by them. They are 
considered also very valuable in diseases of the respiratory 
organs, such as in u chronic cough ” and “ broken wind,” also 
in diseases of the skin, and when given to assist in restoring 
horses from any debilitating disease. 
Ci Pastinaca saliva ” ( parsnip).—“Calyx almost obsolete; 
petals roundish, entire, involute, with a broad, indexed, blunt, 
middle segment; fruit flattened at the back, surrounded by a 
dilated, flat margin; carpels with very fine ridges, the three 
dorsal equidistant, the two lateral contiguous to the dilated 
margin ; channels with simple bittas; involucre neither universal 
nor partial, or with very few leaves; flowers yellow; leaves 
simply pinnate, downy beneath, or oblong-obtuse, crenated 
leaflets, of which the lateral are lobed at the base.”— Lindley. 
This plant is found growing wild in many parts of this 
country, especially in the chalk districts, and it much re- 
