Note 197 — CHAP. XIII. Of Luserne.
Reading edition
The Swelling of Cattle by eating too much green Luserne, Clover, or Turnep-leaves, happens only to such as chew the Cud, because they swallow more in less Time than other Cattle do; and a large Quantity of such luscious Greens being swallow’d by a Beast, fermenting to a great Degree, heats and rarifies the internal Air, which by its Spring becoming too strong for that Column of the Atmosphere that enters at the Trachea, it presses the Lungs against the Thorax so closely, that the Weight of the external Column is not of Force to open their Vesicles, and then the Circulation of the Blood is stopt, and the Beast is strangled.
Most Farmers know how to prevent the Swelling, so that now-a-days it seldom happens; but when it does, there is an effectual way of curing it, if taken in Time: They cut a Hole into the Maw near the Back in a proper manner, whereat the rarified Air rushes out, and the Lungs again perform their Action of Respiration.