Butter-Cup, Butter FLOWER, Or Upright Meadow Crow - foot, the Ranunculus aris, L. ; a very common weed, abounding in meadows and pastures : it has hairy leaves, and ieaf-stalks; and bears yellow flowers in June and July.

Many continental farmers attribute the sudden death of cattle, which is often inexplicable, to their feeding on this plant; and therefore carefully extirpate it from holds and meadows. To ascertain this important point, we request our rural correspondents to communicate to us the result of their experience, which we propose to publish in a future Appendix to this Encyclopaedia. — It is, however. ;, that the seed-buds of the butter-cup are extremely acrid, and may therefore be employed for vesicatories, instead of the Spanish fly; though its blossoms are eagerly visited by bees. Indeed, the whole plant is very acrid, and easily blisters the skin. Nevertheless, it is eaten by sheep and goats, but refused by cows, horses, and swine, let their pasture be ever so bare.

Butter-Cup. - Although we have not been favoured with any communications, respecting the harmless or prisonous properties of this vegetable, yet we are happy to state the following fact, for the information of our country readers: its acrimony is so volatile, that its virulence is totally dissipated by drying. When made into hay, it is perfectly harmless, nay, even nutritious to cattle. For this important discovery, we are indebted to Dr. PulteneY (" Transactions of the Linnaean Society, " vol. v.), who extends the same observation to the Lesser Spearwort, the Bulbous, the Round-leaved Water, and the Common Crow-foot: he farther remarks, that the avidity with which sheep, cows, and horses eat the last mentioned plant, is an exception to the commonly received opinion, that animals are led by instinct to reject what is noxious.