58 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



oil the contrary, dry gaugreue wa.s a raitlior rare affection. Tliis pbenomeuon is ap- 

 plicable to animals with which ergotism has been observed during the continuance 

 of an epidemic as well as with those experimented upon. Fowls are the only excep- 

 tion, and with these gangrene of the comb is an almost constant result. Do the prop- 

 erties of ergot of rye differ in the north and in the south? Chemical analyses may, 

 perhaps, inform us; in waiting for these we may admit that the phenomena are not 

 dependent upon the dose. In 1840, after threshing, ergot made up half the harvest 

 of Finland. The epidemic showed itself as acute febrile, convulsive ergotism. Death 

 very often occurred within forty-eight hours (Haartman). 



Datiug from the seventeenth century observers were more attentive to the phenom- 

 ena presented by animals during the epidemics of ergotism, but they notice the fact 

 with a briefness which cannot satisfy the science of pathology, because the proper ele- 

 ments are not furnished for letracing the medical history. Bruuner, the recorder of the 

 epidemic of 1694, in le Harz, limits himself to this phrase : Novi pecorn, armenta, sues, 

 equos, aiinercs qiioque )ion fui-sse a contagione immunia. In spite of the contagion which 

 lie admits, Bruuner leaves nothing eiiuivocal in regard to the cause, for he says : De- 

 generavit quoqiie secaJe et loco (jranonim alimentariorum prolrmit conmtda nigra. The 

 quoqne relates to oats which had equally undergone degeneration, the characters of 

 ■which are not indicated; its meal produced vertigo in the persons who consumed it. 

 It would have been interesting to indicate the effect produced in horses, but the au- 

 thor maintains au absolute silence in regard to this. Though distinguished botanists 

 affirm that the oat is subject to ergot, we must admit that our researches to discover a 

 fact where the injurious properties of ergoted oats have been noticed with auiiaals 

 have remained without success. 



In the description of the epidemic in Silesia in 1722, we read that the King of Prus- 

 sia ordered an exchange for sound rye of that affected with ergot, which, as usual, 

 caused sickness of the horses and hogs (Hecker). Convulsive ergotism reappeared in 

 Silesia and Bohemia in 1736. Antoiue Soring, the historian, makes the remark that 

 it is known and demonstrated by experiment that ergoted rye produces disease with 

 fowls and mammals, and that when animals suffer during the epidemics of ergotism 

 it is conclusive of the quantity and violent action of the ergot in the rye. 



From 176,0 to 1769 ergot was very abundant in Sweden in the rye and barley. The 

 epidemics which followed were attributed by Liunieus to the grain of the Raphanus 

 raphanistrum, from which is derived the name Raphania, which in Scandauavia is still 

 given to convulsive ergotism. Wahlin, after having experimentally demonstrated the 

 ^nocuousness of the seeds of Raphanus, observes that there is no reason for not ac- 

 cusing ergot when, in the course of an epidemic, domestic animals such as fowls and 

 hogs present similar symptoms to what are seen in man. This passage tends to prove 

 not only that the domestic animals contract convulsive ergotism, but also that the 

 ■ergot of barley is as dangerous as that of rye. This is, besides, confirmed by Retzius 

 when ho asserts that beer brewed with ergoted barley becomes a cause of convulsive 

 ergotism for those who consume it. In Hesse, it has been often observed, notably in 

 1770, that the heads of barley contained as many, if not more, long, black grains as 

 the rye. In our times (1856) this same remark has been made by T. O. Heusinger. 



Traube, who left, a much esteemed description of the epidemic of 1770, which was 

 very extensive in Hanover, says that so far as he was able to observe the facts for 

 himself, he saw in the circle which he traversed a single pig attacked with convul- 

 sive ergotism. Horses eating the ergoted bread were not incommoded; boviue ani- 

 mals consumed the Hour with repuguance, but also without inconvenience. Dogs 

 and sheep were not affected, with the exception of the little village of Lohe, where 

 7 sheep succumbed after presenting the phenomena of the convulsive disease. These 

 animals had ])astured on the rye fields after the harvest, which was made in a very 

 dry time, when an abundance was lost by shelling. Traube did not discover a single 

 case of abortion which Soring and others thought they observed with hogs. One 

 fact impressed hi:n: traveling through the villages which still contained the suffer- 



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