SE RS ES ER ee a ee a—

6. DISOUISIT Poy

fheep, goats, horfes, and fwine*. But as it is by no means certain that animals always fhow a preference for thofe kinds of plants that afford them the moft nou- rifhing food, or the reverfe+; the plan

that

* See the Appendix.

+ Although it may be prefumed, that in general, in- {tinct points out to animals the plants that are hurtful to’ them, or the reverfe; yet experience fufficiently fhows, that this cannot be relied upon as an invariable guide —-among domeftic animals at leaft; which, by having

little freedom of capice from their infancy, have their

«| tafte, in all probability, deprave ie as well as our own.—! have feen an ox that on no account could be brought

to eat turnips; and there are very few put upon them, who do not eat them at firft with fome degree of re- lu€tance, if they have not been fometimes accuftomed to tafte them before: yet it is.very well known, that few kinds of food are more nourifhing or palatable to cattle, after thes have been once accuftomed to it. In the fame manner, fheep that have~been accuftomed to eat whins(furze) browfe upon them at all times greedily, ate efer them to‘alot every other kind of fends whereas, others that have not been accuftomed to this Se will never touch it, till they are reduced to the eateft extremity by hunger; although few plants, per- aa none, afford a more nourifhing food for fheep than this.: The fame ight be faid of Burnet, Myrrh, and a great many other plants, which are for the moft part fufed at firft by fuch animals as have not been ac-

cuftomed

I

aE mae