Cbe 



Journal of Pharmacology, 



Devoted to the Advances Made in Materia Medica in its Branches. 



Pharmacy, Pharmacognosy, Chemistry, Botany, Pharmaco- 



Dynamics, Therapeutics and Toxicology. 



Published by the Alumni Association of the Collepe of Pharmacy of the City of New York. 



Vol. V. 



NEW YORK, APRIL, li 



No. 4. 



SOME NOTES ON THE PHARMACOGNOSY OF ERGOT. 



By Smith Ely Jelliffe, M. D., New York. 



Much has been written about ergot, and yet it is safe to assume that 

 much of its pharmacognosy is still little understood, and as for its phar- 

 maeo-dynamics, we are still in the dark. That this should be so is not sur- 

 prising^ when one recalls what the drug is, and hears in mind the complex 

 problems of plant chemistry m a group of plants which have a very simple 

 morphology, and yet are the exponents of a very subtle series of chemical 

 interchanges. Representing as it docs one of the few really potent drugs 

 of the lower plants, its study has always hi en alluring as well as suggestive. 



The following sketch aims to give a resume of what is known of the 

 pharmacognosy of this drug, including the deductions of the more recent 

 studies: 



As defined in the Pharmacopoeia, Ergot is tin sclerotium of Claviceps 

 purpurea (Fries). Tulasne (class Fungi), replacing the grain of rye, Secah 

 cereale Linne. (Nat order Gramineai ). The Pharmacopoeia further directs 

 that it should be but moderately dried, and should he preserved in a closed 

 vessel, and a few drops of chloroform added from time to time to prevent 

 the development of insects. When more than one year old it is unlit for 

 use. 



At the present, two forms are commonly sold in our markets: the Ger- 

 man and the Spanish. Within recent years a very fine variety from the 

 'Canary Islands has been described by C. I mney. 1 



DEVELOPMENT. 



This fungus grows upon the rye, although it may grow upon other 



U?rom Merck's Report, March 15, 1898. 

 -'Pharmaceutical Journal, 1805, p. 546. 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YCRK 



botanic a), 

 garden. 



