20 HAY AND FODDER. 



supposed. The action of the drug in contracting the 

 walls of the uterus is well known to physicians, however, 

 and is made use of in obstetrical work. 



In cases of poisoning, tannic acid should be adminis- 

 tered to neutralize any ergot remaining in the aliment- 

 tary tract. For what has been absorbed 

 chloral hydrate and nitrous ether are the best 

 physiological antidotes. Warm antiseptic dressings 

 should be applied to parts threatened with gangrene. 

 Sometimes amputation of gangrenous ears or tail is neces- 

 sary. 



The plant is a parasitic fungus belonging to the As- 



comycetes or sac-fungi, so-called, because they bear their 



spores in asci or sacs. Its threadlike hypha.3 



rsot feed on and replace the cells in the seed of the 



I' un'us 



affected plant, forming a hard, compact mass 

 known as the sclerotium, black on the surface and white 

 or slightly purplish within. The hardness and light colour 

 of the interior of the ergotized grain render it easily dis- 

 tinguishable from grains infected by smut or bunt, which 

 have a dark granular appearance. The sclerotium is con- 

 siderably longer than the uninfected grain, cylindrical or 

 slightly angular, with pointed ends. The mass of hyphae 

 composing it is concealed by globules of fat which must 

 be dissolved out if the microscopic structure is to become 

 evident. 



This sclerotium is the wintering stage of the Claviceps. 

 In the spring it does not grow into a young plant like 

 the unaffected grain, since the germ has been destroyed 

 by the fungus, but if it secures lodgment in a d?np 

 place, produces here and there small raised spots which 

 develop into minute globular bodies with stacks. The 

 round heads change from white to a pinkish colour as 



