NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 129 



taken, informs me further of this remarkable particular, that a 

 cow with calf received no damage-by eating this grafs, tho' fiich 

 a violent corrofive in the bones of other cows ; but whether, ac- 

 cording to the above-mentioned exprelTion of Mr. Reichwein> 

 they become fo mollified that they might be twined round a 

 ftick, which (upon the death of fuch a beaft would be no difficult 

 matter to try) he could not venture to afiure me. And Dr. John 

 Treubler, formerly city-phyfician, in his letter to Dr. Simon 

 Paulli*, doubts of it; and as this greatly confirms and throws a, 

 light upon this point, I mail not hefitate to tranfcribe his words 

 from the before-mentioned valuable collection : " Mitto una cau- P. 133. ft* 

 lem graminis defiderati in frufta difTedum, ut anguftia epiftofo 

 caperctur, quod ruftici noftri (quorum hac de re non paucos ex- 

 aminavi) Strotegrafs, dicunt, flores flavos jam amifrt, plenos fo- 

 minibus, adhuc tamen immaturis, locis paludofis et humidis ere- ' 

 fcit inter alia dumeta ; prope omnes villas colonorum primum 

 gramen eft, quod vere prodit, unde avida funt pecora ad decer- 

 pendum, quam primum vero alia gramina copiofius prodierint, 

 hoc gramen averfantur, forfan propter caulem duriufculum. Ex 

 efu hujus pecora male habent, made confecla, fpina dorfi extra 

 protuberante (unde ruftici dicunt, quod dorfum fit fra&um) pe- 

 dibus ombufque debilibus, ut asgerrime incedere queant. Quod 

 autem prorfus mollia fiant ofla, vix fieri poteft, alioquin omnia 

 animalia perirent et humi profternerentur : Pro antidoto ruftici 

 femper habent exficcata ofla in promptu, qua? quotannis confer- 

 vant ad hunc ufum, quando carne prius abrafa ufi funt, eadem 

 quoque ofla in plateis et asdibus colligunt, qua? exflccata confrin- 

 gunt, e,t mox ab animalibus magno appetitu, in minima dentibus 

 comminuta devorantur, unde quafi falivatio fubfequitur, multum- 



* However fome naturalifts, on the other hand, make no manner of doubt of the 

 poflibility of an emollefcence of this nature, an inftance of which is the following 

 paffage from Biblioth. Raifonnee de l'An. 1746, Tome xxxvn. p. 262. " M. Petit 

 a eu bien des combats a foutenir au fujet de l'amolliffement des os, que cct habile 

 homme avoit un pe\i trop cru avoir decouvert le premier. Plus de vinot Auteurs 

 avoient decrit avant lui cette cruelle maladie, qui detruit en peu de tempos ce que la 

 nutrition, et 1' acroiffement ont fait en bien des annees, et qui remet les os dans le 

 degre de moleffe qu'ils avoient eu dans le fetus. Monf. Bevan en a donne un nouvel 

 exemple. Une femme fut attaquee d'une diabete, qui apparemment avoit extreme- 

 ment derange les fucs nouriciers i dixhuit mois apres fes os s' amollirent, fe preterent 

 a 1' aftion de mufcles, et fe plierent a tous les mouvemens, que la fuperiorite alter- 

 native des mufcles extenfeurs et flechiifeurs peut produire. 



que 



