1^03. On the Smut in TFheat, .^5- 



Work, which I rcnlly am not. I never fliall communicate with 

 any periodical work, yours excepted, and perhaps with the An- 

 nals. Let me hear from you foon. Have you feen Dr Harri- 

 fon's theory of the rot, in Mr Young's lafl number ? I by no 

 means coincide with him in opinion. The difeafe moll certain- 

 ly proceeds from an organized animal bied in mnrfhcs. It is 

 commonly called 2ijluk€y from its refemblance in flii^oe to a floun- 

 der, or rather a fole. It is found in all the biliary ducl:s, and 

 nowhere elfe. I have a paper on the fubjcft. Som:: circumftan- 

 ces regarding the rot are curious. I fee no way how to make a 

 medicine to operate upon thofe flukes, in confequence of their 

 having taken lb fingular a fituation. The foot rot is alfo an ob- 

 fcure difeafe j when inveterate, it eats away the very hoof. 



I am, yours, &c. A. Hunter. 



On the Smut in Wheat. 



Of the fmut there feems to be two kinds ; the one comes 

 out a little earlier than the other, but both fpring from the fame 

 root, and have the fmut fonned in what I call the uterus^ or 

 folium vaginans^ fome time before the ear makes its appearance. 

 The one that is the mofl early, comes out naked, the whole of 

 its chaff being quite deflroyed; fo that the dull: is moftly carried 

 off by the wind before the crop is harvefted. This kind is 

 confidered as the leaft deftru£live of the two, as what of ths 

 dull remains, may be removed when fpread upon the thrafliing 

 floor. But I am not quite certain, whether the wind may not b*^ 

 the means of conveying it to found ears, at that time haftening 

 to maturity in the fame field. The other kind of fmut does not 

 deCtroy the chaff; fo that the ear puts on a healthy appearance. 

 The fmut is contained in round bags compofed of a dark green 

 cuticle, which, when broken, difcharge the black powder. This 

 is more dangerous than the other, as the fmutty ears cannot be 

 diflinguifhed from fuch as are found, even when placed upon 

 the thrafhing floor. The fmut is evidently a minute vegetable 

 body, of the order q{ fungi^ and may frequently be confidered as 

 a parafitical plant-, but how it comes, at fo early a period, to take 

 pofTellion of the infant germ, is a matter hitherto unknown. It 

 is moll certain, that when this black powder is rubbed upon 

 found grain, that the produce will be in general fmutty. I have 

 fometimes found found ears to arife from an infected root ; and 

 I have feen, though but feldom, found and fmutty grains in the 

 fame ear. The whole of this part of natural hiltory, is wrapt 

 up in obfcurity \ but it is a fingular happinefs, that the negative 

 principle of fmut may be deftroycd by ceitain fteeps, well-known 



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