468 ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 
the various mixtures known as cattle spices. In fact, no 
seed has been more employed for quackery of all kinds than 
that of the Trigonella fcenum-grcecum or Foenugreek. At 
best it can have no active medicinal principle; at the same 
time, if it acts as a spice in flavouring vapid or washed-out 
hay, so as to make it more palatable, it may be of some 
slight service, but when used for flavouring inferior, meals, 
under the name of concentrated cattle food, it is a delusion 
and a snare. 
The T. ornithopodioides , Bird’s-foot Foenugreek, is a some¬ 
what uncommon native species, of which Mrs. Lankester 
says: 
“ It is placed in the same genus as Trigonella fcenum- 
grcecum , the common Foenugreek, which was formerly cul¬ 
tivated by the Homans, and is still employed in the agricul¬ 
ture of the South of Europe. The seeds have a medical 
reputation, not as given internally, but as poultices, fomenta¬ 
tions, and emollient applications. An old remedy in the 
Pharmacopoeia, f Oleum e mucilaginibus contained these 
seeds, but they are now no longer used, except by grooms 
and farriers, in veterinary medicine.” 
2. Melilotus. —Has a strong but a more agreeable flavour 
than the Fsenugreeks. We have three doubtful natives, 
as follows: 
Melilotus officinalis . Flowers bright yellow. 
,, arvensis . Flowers light yellow, sometimes 
inclining to white. 
„ alba . . Flowers white. 
The first of these is the common melilot, which is some¬ 
times so abundant, and especially on sandy and gravelly 
banks by the sea-side; it is called the common melilot, 
as it is the more common form in England. 
The following is an interesting account of the general uses 
and folk-lore of this species : 
“ At one time this plant was cultivated in England for 
fodder, but it is now seldom seen, having, like the mediek, 
given place to the clover. In Switzerland and the neigh¬ 
bouring countries it abounds in the pastures, and is an in¬ 
gredient in the green Swiss cheese called Schabzeiger, which 
is made in the Canton of Glarus, and is by many persons 
highly esteemed. It is stated in many books that this plant 
enters into the composition of the Gruyere cheese, which is 
altogether erroneous. The Schabzeiger cheese is made by 
the curd being pressed in boxes, with holes to let the whey 
run out; and when a considerable quantity has been collected 
