which are indigenous: of these we shall mention the following:
1. The pratense, or Common Clover;
2. The medium, v. alpestre, or Red, Perennial Clover;
3. The procumbens, v. agrarium, Hop-clover, or Hop-trefoil; and
4. The repens, or White Clover. See vol. ii. pp. 9—12.
5. The Melilotus officinalis, or Melilot-trefoil. See Melilot the Common.
6. The arvense, or Hare's-foot Trefoil, grows in sandy pastures, corn-fields, and chalky situations; where it flowers in July and August. This species is strongly aromatic; and, when dried, retains its odour for a considerable time:—it affords a grateful food to cattle; and is, by Bechstein, recommended as a valuable substitute for oak-bark, in tanning leather.
7. The fragiferum, or Strawberry Trefoil, thrives in moist meadows, chiefly in the vicinity of London, where it flowers in August.—This perennial vegetable is industriously cultivated by the Greenlanders, who propagate it by seed, and also transplant the stalks, which thus attain the height of seven feet. Its whitish and reddish flower-heads are nearly globular, and slightly compressed on the upper surface. The whole plant affords as nutritive food to cattle as the Common or Meadow-clover.
TREFOIL, the Common Bird's-foot, or Lotus corniculatus, L. an indigenous perennial, growing in meadows, pastures, heaths, and road-sides, where it flowers from June to August.—This plant is eaten by cows, goats, and horses; but, according to Linnæus, is not relished by swine or sheep; though it is propagated in Hertfordshire as pasturage for the latter animals.—Dr. Anderson strongly recommends it to be cultivated for cattle; and Mr. Woodward remarks, that it may be raised to great advantage; as it attains a considerable height in moist meadows, and makes good hay.—Its flowers, when dried, acquire a greenish cast; in which respect, they resemble those of the plants producing Indigo: it is, therefore, probable, that they may be advantageously employed for obtaining a substitute for that expensive dyeing material.
According to Bradley, an infusion of the seeds, flowers, and leaves of the Common Bird's-foot, in wine, operates as a diuretic; and at the same time tends to allay the irritation of the urinary canal.
TROUT, or Salmo fario, L. a fish inhabiting the British lakes and rivers: its head is short and roundish; the tail is broad, and the mouth of a large size; the whole body attaining from one to two feet in length, and weighing from 5 or 6 oz. to 4lbs.
Trouts are extremely voracious; preying on small fishes, insects and even shell-fish: they likewise, occasionally swallow gravel, or small pebbles, to assist the comminution of testaceous food.—There is a species caught in certain lakes in Ireland, called gillaroo trouts, that are remarkable for a muscular substance found in their stomachs, which occasionally forms a dish at the Irish tables, under the name of gizzard; on account of its resemblance to that organ of digestion in birds.
Trouts are taken at all seasons of the year, but are most palatable during the summer; for their flesh, in the winter, is white and insipid; in the former season, it is fat, and of a reddish hue:—to the angler,
