ASCOMYCETES—EUASCI— ERGOT 277 



and barley. Linnaeus attributed it to the grain of Raphanus raphanistmni, 

 which occurred in France in 1816, in Lorraine and Burgundy; it was especially 

 fatal to the poorer inhabitants. 



It has been observed that these epidemics follow a rainy season. Fleming 

 states that in 1041, when the weather was so unpropitious, tempests, rains, and 

 inundations occurring, many cattle perished from the disease. "In 1098, after 

 inundations and heavy fogs, there was a general epizootic among cattle in 

 Germany. In the same year ergotism appeared in the human species." 



Dr. Randall, in 1849, called attention to a disease in New York, in which 

 the involved parts were finally invariably affected with dry gangrene. He states 

 that in the severe climate of New York farmers allow their cattle to winter in 

 fields on blue grass (Poa pratensis) which is rich in ergot. A disease known as 

 "hoof-ail" was correctly ascribed to ergot by James Mease, of Philadelphia, prior 

 to 1838. The disease was quite severe in Orange county, New York, in 1820. It 

 was minutely described by Arnell. In 1857, the disease was quite severe in 

 Portage county, Ohio. A committee appointed by the Farmers' Association of 

 Edinburg reported that the disease was due to ergot contained in the hay 

 eaten by cattle. In recent years, epizootics of ergotism have been reported 

 by Law in New York, Stalker in Iowa, and Faville in Colorado. In 1884, a 

 very serious outbreak occurred in Kansas which was at first diagnosed as 

 "foot-and-mouth disease." Dr. Salmon found, upon examining samples of 

 hay from various localities in the state, that these contained considerable quan- 

 tities of wild rye (Blymus virginicus, var. submuticus) which in turn contained 

 a large amount of ergot, in one case, 12 per cent and in another 10 per cent 

 being found. From this he estimated that 5-6 per cent of the entire weight 

 of the plant must have been ergot and that a twenty-pound ration of hay 

 would contain four ounces of ergot. 



Dr. Harshberger has called attention to an outbreak of ergotism from the 

 use of ergotized red top, the fungus being common on red top throughout the 

 United States and being one of the most common impurities in red top seed. 



The ergot contains the substance leucin and the non-nitrogenous substance 

 ergotine, which according to the earlier investigations was regarded as the 

 active principle and as an alkaloid. According to Wenzell ergot contains the 

 two alkaloids, ecbolin and ergo tin C^gHg^N^O, an amorphous, alkaline, feebly 

 bitter substance. But according to the later investigations these substances are 

 identical. Tanret isolated the crystallizable alkaloid ergotinin C^.Ii^^^ J^^; 

 this is a crystalline, slightly bitter substance, subsequently Kobert found that 

 this substance would not produce the action accredited to it and attributed its 

 action to ergotinic acid and the alkaloid cornutin. The more recent investiga- 

 tion of Jacobi attributes the poisonous action to chrysoioxin, an amorphous 

 glucosidal acid. Secalinotoxin is a compound of sphacelotoxin, and secalin 

 C^^Hg^NgO^; accompanied by the harmless substance, ergochrysin. According 

 to Kobert cornutin is an alkaloid having a specific action on the uterus, 

 causing it to contract ; sphacelic acid, a non-crystallizable and non-nitrogenous 

 substance which causes the poisoning and gangrene ; ergotinic acid, a nitrogenous 

 glucoside without action on the uterus and narcotic in its effects. Besides 

 these substances it contains others, prominent among them being a sugar called 

 mycose, which is also present in other fungi. Ergot stimulates the involuntary 

 muscles of the stomach and the intestines, it causes a constriction of the arter- 



