Does rapidly growing young grass contain a particular factor that will promote the occurrence of tetany?
Many investigators have wondered whether young grass in rapid growth might not contain a particular factor favouring hypomagnesaemia and tetany. It has likewise been thought possible that a graminaceous species, when it first grows after sowing, may contain this factor, since, as will be seen below, green corn seems often to have marked tetanigenic characteristics. It might even be wondered if this particular tetanigenic factor does not persist throughout the first years of the life of the Gramineae following sowing, tetany appearing to be more frequent on temporary than on permanent pastures. BARTLETT is of the opinion that very young grass contains a tetany producing factor and that the application of magnesium fertilizer to the soil reduced the herbage’s content of this factor. WALSHE, for his part, has advanced the hypothesis that the simultaneous application of nitrogenous and potassium fertilizers leads to the development in grass of a factor of this nature that conditions the ap
