xxvii.] ERGOT. 229 



chimney ; after which, being taken in the same manner 

 in the other foot, she was obliged to lie down. One foot 

 mortified and came off at the ankle, and the other leg near 

 the knee. 



Sarah was taken in one foot, which mortified and came 

 off at the ankle. The other leg suffered in the same 

 manner, and also separated at the knee. 



Robert was taken in both feet. His legs separated at 

 the knees. . . . Edward was taken in both feet, which 

 separated at the ankle . . . etc. 



The report then describes the death of an infant, whose 

 hands and feet turned black after death, and the illness 

 of the father, whose fingers were benumbed, contracted, 

 and black, the nails coming off, and two of the fingers becom- 

 ing ulcerated. Then follows a description of the persons 

 afflicted and their food, but no hint is given as to the 

 presence of ergot. 



In the subsequent letter, before referred to, it states at 

 page 530 that the family had no rye, but had been " used 

 to buy two bushels of clog-wheat, or revets, or bearded wheat 

 . . . every fortnight. Of this they made their household 

 bread." The wheat, it appears, had been laid, and was 

 thrashed separately lest it should spoil the samples. It 

 was not mildewed or grown, but discoloured and smaller 

 than the other. It made bad bread and worse puddings. 

 A labouring man who used the bread was affected with a 

 numbness of both his hands for about four weeks. His 

 hands were continually cold, and his finger ends peeled. 

 One thumb was at the time of the report still without any 

 sensation. 



A note at the end of the second letter says "there 

 is, in L'Histoire de VAcademie Royale des Sciences, for the 

 year 1710, a paper, the title of which is Sur le bled cornu 

 appelU Ergot (Secale corniculatum nigrum, mentioned as 

 a poison by Hoffmann)." Here it is said that M. Noel, 

 surgeon of the Hotel-Dieu at Orleans, within about a 

 year's time had received into the hospital more than fifty 



