PROPERTIES OF CRYPTOGAMIC PLANTS. Ill 



•wliicli it exhibits when taken on tlie sixth day (Pharmacent. 

 Trans., 1842, Jan., from Journ. de Chim. Med.). 



The ergot attacks rye chiefly in damp seasons, and in moist, 

 clay soils. According to the statistical researches of the Ahhe Tes- 

 sie7\ who was deputed by the Med. Society of Paris, to investi- 

 gate the cause of the extraordinary prevalence of the ergot, in 

 1771, in the district of Sologne, in France, he attributes it to 

 dampness (Mem. sur le Mai du Seigle appelle Ergot, Hist, de 

 la Soc. Roy. de Med. i. 427). The same connection between 

 moisture and the develoj)ment of the ergot has been " repeatedly 

 traced " in other parts of France, as well as in Germany (Rob- 

 ert's paper, in Rust's Magazine, 25, 20). According to the ex- 

 periments of Wildenow, it may be brought on at any time by 

 sowing the rye in a rich, damp soil, and watering the plants 

 exuberantly in warm weather. (Hecker, i. 240) ; Christison, 712. 



Bread which contains it is defective in firmness, liable to be- 

 come moist, and cracks and crumbles soon after being taken from 

 the oven (Robert, in Rust's Magazine, 28). 



From the experiments of Drs. Wright, Wiggers, and Taddei, 

 ergot has been found injurious to animals. Its first eflfects in 

 them are giddiness, dilated pupil, and palsy, and subsequently 

 diarrhoea, suppurating tumors, scattered gangrene, and " some- 

 times di'opping off of the toes." Sparrows were killed by six 

 grains in six or seven hours (Taddei, An. Univ. di Med., 1839, iv. 

 12). From Dr. "Wright's experiments, it appeared to have no 

 power in inducing miscarriage in the lower animals (Edinb. Med. 

 and Surg. Journ. liii, 29). Christison, on Poisons. Prof. Fee, 

 as late as 1843 (in the Mem. de la Societe de Mus. d'llist. Kat. 

 de Strasbourg), has thrown much light on the structure and 

 growth of ergot. " Cette production est ^ la fois formee par le 

 grain malade et par un chamj)ignon parasite qui en occupe le 

 sommet." Richard. 



Ergot, analyzed by Yauquelin (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys, 3, 

 337), gave two coloring matters, one of a yellow color, soluble in 

 alcohol, the other a violet, analogous to that of the orseille, but 

 insoluble in alcohol ; 2d. An abundant oily substance ; ' 3d. An 

 undetermined acid, probably phosphoric ; 4th. Free ammonia ; 

 5th. A very abundant vegeto-animal substance, prone to putre- 

 faction ; and therefore neither amadou nor sugar nor mucilage 

 nor gluten. The grains of ergot, by later analysis of Wiggers, 

 furnish a peculiar heavy oil, a peculiar fatty matter, cerine, ergo- 

 tine, osmazome, a jDeculiar sugary substance {mannite, Liebig), a 



