740 FUNGI. . 



r 



flour used in making the grout or grain soup. Occasionally it is taken 

 boiled in milk. It is not given, as has been asserted, to domestic 

 animals. 



An interesting application of Iceland moss has recently been tried 

 in Sweden. Sten-Stenberg treats it with sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, 

 when 72 per cent, of grape sugar are formed, which may be converted 

 into alcohol.^ 



FUNGI. 



SECALE CORNUTUM. 



Ergota; Ergot of Ryef Simrred Rye; F. 8eigle ergot (^; G. Mutterkorn, 



Botanical Ovigin—Claviceps purpurea Tulasne, a fungus of the 

 order Pyrenomycetes, of which ergot is an immature form, it being the 

 sderotium (termed in the British Pharmacopoeia compact mycelmn 

 or S2xtivn) developed within the pale^ of numerous plants of the order 



Ergot is obtained almost exclusively from rye, BecaU cereaU L. ; 

 but the same fungus is produced on grasses belonging to many other 

 genera, as Agropyrum, Alopecurus, Ammophila, AntJwxanthum, 

 Arrhenathe^^um, Avena, Brachypodium, Calamagrostis, Dactylis, 

 Glycerta, Hordeum, Lolium, Poa, and Triticum. Other organisms of 

 diverse form, but of doubtful specific distinctness, are developed in 

 Mohma, Oryza, Phragmites, and other grasses. In the order CyperacecB 

 (e.g., Scirpus), peculiar ergots are known. 



History— Although it is hardly possible that so singular a produc- 

 tion as ergot should be unnoticed in the writings of the classical authors, 

 we believe no undoubted reference to it has been disco vered.^ The 

 earliest date under which we find ergot mentioned on account of its 

 obstetric virtues is towards the middle of the 16th century, by Adam 

 Lonicer of Frankfort, who describes its appearance in the ears of rye, 

 and adds that it is regarded by women to be of remarkable and certain 

 eftcacy. It is also very clearly described in the writings of Johannes 

 Ihahus, who speaks of it as used " ad ' sistendum sanguinemr' In 

 the next century it was noticed by Caspar Bauhin, who termed it 

 becale luxurians,' and by the English botanist Eay,^ with allusion to 

 its medicinal properties. 



Rathlaw, a Dutch accoucheur, employed ergot in 1747. Thirty 

 years later Desgranges of Lyons prescribed it with success; but its 

 peculiar and important properties were hardly allowed until the com- 

 mencement of the present centiiry, when Dr. Stearns of New York 

 succeeded in gaining for them fuller recognition.' Erc^ot of rye was 

 not, however, admitted into the London Pharmacopoeia until 1836.^ 



(1870^m '" ^^fJ%t''■^'^T '^r^'^^^' 1^7 ^Plnax Theatrl Botanki, Basil. 1623. 23. 



1870 607 ' ^^^'""-^c/^e. Centralblatt, 7 Hist. Plant, n. (1698) 1241. 



^FromVlipPr.^ I, . ■ , ^ Stills, Therapeutics and Mat. Med. n. 



a cockWur '*^''' anciently ar^/o^ (1S08) 609. ^ 



^ Consult pilnTT'o V / rj^- . u 1 " ^^^^ 1825 to 1828 the wholesale price 



*iC^^erbu^^^ «^ ^^^'ofc o^ rye in I^ondon was from 36.. o 



edition of S ^^^ ^''^^ ^^ ^^'^ ^^'- P«^ lb-» tl^^t i« ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^'^''' *' 



' Sylva Ilercynia, Francof. 1588. 47. ^^^^"""^ ^'""^^ '*^ ^'■^'^''* ^'''^''^' 



