48 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



ithout medical i)roi)erties. Two noii-crystallizable alkaloids Lave been 

 described and called, respectively, ecfoo^ivm and erf/otina ; and one crys- 

 tallizable which lias been designated as ergoilnine. 



Sclerotic, ergotic, audfuscosclerotinic acids have been isolated. There 

 is also a qnestion of a peculiar amjnoniacal base variously stated to be 

 methi/Iamine, frhiiethyJamine, and propylamia. A mucilaginous sub- 

 stance called Hcleromucln and several other products of doubtful nature 

 have been recognized. It has not yet been demonstrated which of these 

 bodies constitutes the active principle of the drug, or whether the phj'- 

 siological effect may not be due to a number acting together. 



The one ]ioint on which most of those who have studied ergot have 

 agreed is that water extracts the medical properties, and this seems to 

 be about the extent of our reliable information in regard to this depart- 

 ment of the subject. 



The action of ergot on the animal hody. — The action of this poison in 

 large doses is very clearly given in the following extract from Dr. H. 

 C. Wood's Treatise on Therapeutics, Materia Medica and Toxicology : 



According to Diez [quoted hy Stillc], the principal ett'ects of poisonous doses of ergot 

 are in the lower aniuials profuse salivation, vomiting, dihitatiou of the pupils, hur- 

 ried breutiiing, frequent pulse, cries, trembling, staggering, paraplegia, sometimes 

 diarrhea, sometimes constipation, piostratiou, urgent thirst, convulsions,* and death. 

 Mr. Samuel A. Wright, in a series of experiments {Edinhurijh Med. and Surg. Joiirn., 

 Oct., 1839, vol. lii), noted, when the medicine was given by the mouth, symptoms 

 similar to those just spoken of ; the paralysis was much more marked than the spasms. 

 Late iu the poisoning, the heart's action became irregular and intermittent, and the 

 pulsations, which had been rapid, grew slow and feeble. In some cases the special 

 senses seemed to be destroyed, and coldness of the surface was a very prominent 

 symptom. Mr. Wright also injected a strong infusion of the drug directly into the 

 torrent of the circulation. Death was in some cases produced in nine minutes, the 

 symptoms being immediate dilatation of the pupils, great increase in the rate of the 

 cardiac pulsations, paralysis, and convulsions. AVhen the fatal result was not brought 

 about in so short a space, great anaesthesia of the surface was noted a considerable 

 time before death ; coldness of the surface and paralysis of the special seuses were 

 also present in some cases. In Dr. Kersch's experiments {Betz's Memor., vol. xviii), 

 the concentrated infusion was injected into the jugular veiu ; the coldness of the sur- 

 face was especially noted, and also great muscular rigidity. Upon rabits, according 

 to the researclies of Wright, ergot acts very feebly. In birds, as represented by 

 chickens, turkeys, and ])igeous, it causes symptoms analogous to those produced in 

 mannnals, as is t^stitied l»y Tessier and by Clross, both quoted by Stille, and by Bon- 

 jean {Trail e de VErfiot de Seir/le, Paris, 181.').) 



The above summary of the general symjjtoms caused by poisonous doses of ergot 

 shows that the ])henomena are nuiinly paralytic in their nature; but, although an 

 enormous amount has l)e('n written al)out the drug, -we have very little knowledge as 

 to tbe immediate causes of the i)aralysis. Since both Wright (?oc. ci<., pp. 3'iO, 3'il) 

 and Kohler have found that the voluntary muscles are not atfected by ergot, it w'ould 

 seem that the nervous system must bear the brunt of the poison. Eugene Haudelin is 

 said to have shown that the peripheral nerves are not aft'ected, and the experiments 

 of Kohler have confirmed this so far as concerns the motor nerves and the watery ex- 

 tract of ergot. He found, however, that those portions of the drug not soluble in 



"Pereira states that convulsions were not present in the experiments of Diez. 



