COWITCH. 
ticed in the article Barxim. The urine-sewer 
ought to be flagged in the form of a long and 
comparatively narrow trough; and the rest of the 
floor may either be causewayed, or otherwise so 
formed as to be firm, dry, and resistive. Other 
features of the cow-house are the same as those 
of the stalled ox-house. See the articles Ox-Srauus 
and F'arm-Burnpines. 
Mr. Harley’s byre of Willowbank at Glasgow 
was long regarded, not only as one of “the sights” 
of the commercial metropolis of Scotland, but as 
the best-appointed cow-house in Britain; and 
therefore deserves to be briefly noticed. It con- 
tained, under one roof, stalls for ninety-six cows, 
placed in double rows across the building, two 
rows facing each other, with an intermediate 
| passage from which the cows of both rows were 
fed. The floors reclined toward the centre, so as 
to discharge all liquid upon them into a central 
or common drain, which communicated with a 
common reservoir; and they daily underwent a 
thorough cleansing. The temperature was com- 
| pletely commanded by an apparatus of ventila- 
tion, and was maintained, as nearly as possible, 
at about 60° Fahrenheit. The divisions between 
the stalls consisted of grooved pillars of cast-iron, 
' and intermediate boards fixed into the grooves 
| of the pillars; and each cow was bound to an 
iron rod or slider, by means of a slight iron chain 
round her own neck, and a sliding ring upon the 
slider; and when she was fed with potatoes, a 
pin was so inserted in the attachment as to pre- 
vent her from so far raising her head as to incur 
the risk of being choked. 
COWITCH,—botanically Mucuna. A genus 
| of curious, evergreen, tropical climbing plants, of 
the kidney-bean division of the leguminous order. 
About twenty species are known to botanists; 
and twelve of these have been introduced to the 
hotheuses of Britain. Two of the introduced 
species, MM. gigantea and WM. aliissima, attain a 
height of respectively about 20 and about 50 feet ; 
and all the others have usually a height of about 
10 or 12 feet. The leaves of all resemble those 
of kidney-beans; the flowers of d/. wrens are yel- 
low, of A. nivea are white, of WM. gigantea are 
green, and of most of the others are purple; 
and the pods of MM. monosperma are one-seeded, 
of the others are variously from two-seeded to 
six-seeded, and of most are exceedingly wrin- 
kled, furrowed, scaly, or lamellose. A dense pu- 
bescence of short, hard, brittle, and excessively 
stinging hairs covers the ripe pods of most of the 
Species ; it readily breaks off, sharply pierces the 
skin, and causes a powerfully irritating pain as 
of an intense and intolerable itch; and this pu- 
bescence gives excessive annoyance to domestic 
animals in the tropics, and hence derives its po- 
pular name of cowitch. The several species 
climb among hedges, among shady thickets, and 
among jungles by the sides of rivers; and there- 
fore are in the very situation to fling their pubes- 
cence upon animals in quest of shade or drink 
COW-PARSNIP. 889 
during the heat of the day. The pubescence, or 
cowitch proper, is particularly abundant on the 
pods of Uf, pruriens, M. urens, and M. monosper- 
ma, the first of which was introduced to Britain 
from India in 1680, the second from the West 
Indies in 1691, and the third from India in 1816. 
It has several very powerful medicinal properties, 
and is used in tropical America as an anthelmin- 
tic, and in India in violent diarrhcea; but though 
imported to Britain and often to be found in our 
drug-shops, it seems to be far oftener used with 
us for purposes of mischief and torment than for 
any useful purposes. White says, “It is a pow- 
erful anthelmintic in the human subject, and 
would probably be found very serviceable in the 
horse; but I believe it has never been tried.” 
When given as a medicine, it is usually adminis- 
tered in honey or treacle. The pubescence of 
the caterpillar of the procession moth, Lastocampa 
processtoned, So Common in gardens, is supposed 
to be very similar to it in manner and power of 
medicinal action. The pods of the several spe- 
cies of Mucuna, while in an unripe state or be- 
fore the pubescence hardens, are used as food in 
the same manner as other esculent legumes. 7. 
urens was formerly assigned to the genus Doli- 
chos; and five or six of the species are sometimes 
designated by some other generic name than 
Mucuna. 
COW-PARSNIP,—hbotanically Heracleum. A 
genus of hardy, herbaceous plants, of the umbel- 
liferous order. The common species, Heracleum 
sphondylium, grows wild in hedges, by the side 
of brooks and ditches, and in moist meadows, in 
many partsof Britain. Its rootis whitish, sweetish, 
aromatic, and somewhat mucilaginous, hasa fleshy 
consistency and a fusiform or carroty shape, and 
strikes deep into the ground; its stem is hollow, 
furrowed, branchy, and usually from 4 to 6 feet 
high ; its lower leaves are produced from large | 
membranes or sheaths, and stand on very hairy | 
footstalks,—they are rough to the touch, a deep 
green above, and pale below,—and each consists 
of three pairs of large pinnate wings, placed along 
its midrib, while each of the wings consists of 
two or three pairs of pinnes and a terminating 
odd one; the upper leaves are produced singly at 
each joint of the stem, and are of the same shape 
as the lower leaves, but smaller and sessile; its 
flowers have either a white or a reddish colour, 
and appear in May and June, and are produced | 
in large umbels at the top of the stems,—each 
umbel composed of about 22 partial umbels, every 
third having longer footstalks than the others; 
and its seeds are flat, bordered, brown, and abun- 
dant. The whole plant is good, nourishing food 
for cattle; and is extensively used in Sussex for 
fattening hogs. Other popular names of it than 
cow-parsnip, are hogweed, madrep, wild parsnip, 
and meadow parsnip. 
The narrow-leaved species, Heracleum angus- 
tifoliwm, grows wild in waste places in some parts 
of Britain, and has a very similar height, appear- 
i 
