CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 49 



water appeared to increase the excitability of the peripheral efferent nerves, and 

 that upon the peripheral sensory nerves both portions of the ergot acted as a feeble 

 depressant. On the whole, it is probable that the chief action of the drug is upon 

 the nerve centers. 



The following- experiments of Tessier also iadicate the active nature 

 of the ergot poison {Memoire sur les effets du seigle ergote. Hist. Soc. 

 Roy. lie Med., 1777, 1778, Paris 1780, vol. il, pp. 587-615): 



These experiments were instituted with hygienic precautions upon a 

 number of animals. Of two ducks fed upon ergot, one, the female, died 

 in nine or ten days. It had consumed one ounce and three drachms of 

 €rgot. There was a large violet spot on the beak, the covering epider- 

 mis was raised up by a collection of dark, fetid blood. The male died 

 in fourteen days with the beak similarly affected ; there was also 

 drooping of one wing which showed two regions of inflammation, one 

 in the fold and the other on the tirst phalanx. It had consumed 2 

 ounces and 6 drachms of ergot. A turkey was fed 8 ounces 4i 

 drachms of ergot within twenty-two days. The autopsy revealed 

 inflammation about the beak, but none of the feet and wings. A pig 

 six weeks old died at the end of twenty-three days after receiving 1 

 pound and 12 ounces of ergot. The autopsy revealed swelling of the 

 four feet especially at articulations, which were a reddish violet color. 

 The ears were livid, there was gangrene of one side of the head and 

 various internal inflammatory lesions. The articulations of the feet 

 with the legs being uncovered there was seen, particularly with the pos- 

 terior limbs, a thick, black, and fetid li<piid. The animal previous to 

 death had been able to support itself better on its fore than on its hind 

 limbs. A six-months' old pig died after being fed during sixty-nine 

 days upon a total of 22 pounds and G ounces of ergot. The autopsy re- 

 vealed various internal inflammatory lesions, several violet spots on 

 front and hind legs, the end of the tail dark violet, and ears livid. The 

 two first phalanges of the right anterior foot were gangrenous and dry, 

 especially near the articulations. The bones themselves were tinted 

 brown. The same parts of the left foot were gangrenous but not so far 

 advanced, as the bones were not altered. Upon each calcaneum there 

 was a livid spot, larger on one than on the other. During life there 

 was on the twentieth day a purulent discharge from two cavities in the 

 articulation of the right foot ; these were soon covered with a crust. 

 The limb remained cold. On the forty second day the corrcsjxjiiding 

 joint of the left anterior leg developed a tumor which by the fifty-eighth 

 day became an open sore. Both legs were cold and swollen, dry, in- 

 sensible, and jtortions of the muscles became detached. The animal 

 was no longer able to walk. 



Salerue, cited by Read, gave to a small male pig barley mixed witli 



half its weight of ergot. At the end of fifteen days the legs became re 1, 



secreted a yellowish and fetid liuinor, tiie skin of the back and beneath 



the abdomen became black in color. This food was continued for fifteen 



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