In article om,
" writes:
| On 10 Aug, 20:25, Robert wrote:
|
| The BHS would certainly disagree with you as far as danger to horses is
| concerned. You may wish to have a look at this which seems to set out
| their feelings (including some somewhat OTT quotes from a Professor
| Knottenbelt ! )http://tinyurl.com/2fgm78

If those quotes are correct, he is a professorial loon on a par with
Captain Cyborg (try a Web search, and prepare to boggle).

| This veterinarian is quoted on the internet quite a lot, because he
| stated, during a debate in the House of Commons, that the toxic
| substance in ragwort can almost certainly be absorbed through the
| skin(6). ...

He is almost certainly correct, but the fact is almost irrelevant.
The figures in the papers quoted by http://www.ragwortfacts.com/
indicate that it is not a real issue, even to complete loons.

| I am puzzlred by the reports on that website that he has deliberately
| poisoned himself with Ragwort. . "I have tested it on myself," he
| said. "My liver is in a bad state."

I have tested putting the juice of many plants on my skin. My liver
is in a bad state. These facts are not related. The normal cause of
both talking complete nonsense and of having a liver in a bad state
in the UK is the same. That fact is also probably not not related :-)

| You cannot do proper proven scientific work on a single individual.

Yes, you can. And I speak as a statistician. But you have to be VERY
careful about what conclusions you draw, and the quotes imply he has
not been.

We all know the plant is poisonous. It is just not dangerous.

That is what all the evidence shows, I agree. The same is true of
hundreds of other wild and garden plants.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.