Bloat in cattle

Abstract

MUCH experimental work has been done on the causes of legume bloat in cattle and the prevention of its occurrence in the field (for reviews see Johns1). Several substances have been isolated from the feed or the animals' saliva, and have been reported to be responsible for the foam in the rumen of a bloated cow; but it has not been shown that any of these substances occur in the foam found in the rumen, and no attempt has been made to isolate the surface-active compound responsible for the foam directly from the rumen contents of a cow grazing clover or lucerne. © 1959 Nature Publishing Group.