316 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1945 



The remaining species which are in any way dangerous, raw or 

 cooked, are Lepiota helveola, Entoloma lividum, Inocyhe patouillardi, 

 Boletus satanas and Gyromitra esculenta, though some other species 

 are very indigestible and consequently may cause disturbance. 



Claviceps purpurea (ergot) is a poisonous fungus of another group. 

 The two different types of ergotism, the convulsive and the gangrenous, 

 are now well known. Five alkaloids have been isolated from ergot: 

 ergotinine, ergotoxine, ergotamine, ergotaminine, and ergometrine. 

 As its name suggests, ergotosterol was first extracted from ergot ; 2 

 histamine also. The use of ergot in childbith is mentioned by Lonicer 

 in 1582 in the first record of the fungus. At present ergot is the only 

 fungus which figures in the British Pharmacopoeia. 



Fungi, being without chlorophyll, have a physiology which in many 

 ways is more animal-like than plant-like. Obviously there are two 

 main sources of food, living organisms and dead organic material. 

 Fungi make use of both — they parasitize all kinds of living organisms, 

 and there is no sort of organic matter not liable to attack. But though 

 they are responsible for the greater part of plant diseases and they 

 cause destruction to stored products of every kind, the changes they 

 bring about are not all to our detriment as living organisms. They act 

 as scavengers reducing dead material into substances available for 

 plant life, and moreover prevent the cluttering up of the earth's sur- 

 face. The action of soil fungi on plant material was overlooked when 

 untreated jute sandbags were filled with sand and even ordinary earth 

 at the outbreak of the present War. The modern compost heap is a 

 contrivance to bring about the breaking down of similar cellulose sub- 

 stances. 



Forest trees are subject to attack by larger fungi as well as by micro- 

 scopic forms. Timber from such trees is unsuitable for most purposes 

 and, moreover, if not properly seasoned, may continue to rot. Fallen 

 logs and stumps have a characteristic flora, and several of the species 

 occur on wooden fences, gateposts and similar structures; Lentinus 

 iepideus, for example, attacks wood pavement blocks, telegraph poles, 

 and railway sleepers. 



If wood is to be preserved, it must be kept dry or treated with some 

 fungicide. The chief agent of destruction of structural timber is 

 Merulius lacrymans, the dry-rot fungus : there are other fungi causing 

 dry rot, but the damage they produce is trivial. If timber is properly 

 seasoned and then kept dry by ventilation so that it never contains as 

 much as 20 percent moisture, the fungus will not attack it; otherwise 

 damage is almost certain. At the present time, the amount of dry rot 

 in London calls for serious attention. It is easy to understand how 



1 Ergotoxine has been shown to contain three different alkaloids with their isomers. 

 In addition, ergobasine and its isomer ergobasinine have been isolated, together with an 

 isomer of ergometrine. 



