766 BOTANY AS APPLIED TO VETERINARY SCIENCE. 
with its green and gold.” It possesses all the acrid proper¬ 
ties peculiar to this tribe of plants. 
A very interesting account of its effects upon animals was 
recorded by Mr. Flower, M.R.C.V.S., of Derby, in the 
Veterinarian for July last, in which the death of three valuable 
heifers had been caused by the plant. Through the kind¬ 
ness of Mr. Flower I had the great pleasure afforded me of 
making, in conjunction with himself, an examination of the 
herbage, &c., growing in the pasture in which the animals 
had been kept, which investigation resulted in the con¬ 
clusion that the death of the animals had been caused by the 
Ranunculus ficaria. In no pasture that I had hitherto ex¬ 
amined had I found this plant growing in such luxuriant 
abundance. A few plants only were in flower, but several 
parts of the pasture, upon which the animals had recently 
been feeding, were thickly covered by the bright-green 
foliage of the plant, which at this time was possessed of its 
. most active properties. There are many more varieties of 
the Ranunculus, all more or less possessing the same acrid 
properties, which are considerably influenced by the soil and 
situation in which they grow. The following general re¬ 
marks respecting the Ranunculaceae, by Sir Gilbert T. 
Burnett, from his 6 Outlines of Botany/ which appeared in 
the Veterinarian for April, I860, may not be out of place 
here :—“ Nearly two hundred species of Ranunculus are 
known, and these have been distributed into five or six 
sections, err sub-genera. The whole have pretty, and some 
very showy blossoms. They are remarkable for their general 
acridity ; some are violent poisons, such as R. scutatus, which 
was formerly employed by the Swiss hunters to envenom 
their darts with which they shot the wild beasts; and others, 
such as R. sceleratus and acris, are scarcely less virulent. 
They excoriate the skin, and form ulcers that are difficult to 
heal; and even carrying specimens for a short time will 
occasionally inflame the hand. The water crow-foot (R. 
aquatilis) is less acrid than any of the rest, and Dr. Pulteney 
extols it as a wholesome and nutritious fodder. In some 
parts of the country, as near Kingswood, on the banks of the 
Avon, the cottagers support their cows and even their horses 
almost wholly on this plant; and in wet situations, where it 
abounds, it would become, were its properties generally 
known, of considerable economical importance. Cattle will 
also eat the R. arvensis , but it is a dangerous food; and its 
juice is so poisonous that M. Bruynon says three ounces 
killed a dog in four minutes, and sheep have been poisoned 
by feeding on it near Turin,” 
