CHAPTER VI. 



Ergot— Reason of the term— Ergot of Rye and Wheat— Charac- 

 ter and appearance— Speculations concerning ergot — Mis- 

 taken for a fungus— Thought by some to be caused by the 

 puncture of an insect — By others attributed to the action of a 

 fungus- Remarks of professor Henslow— Sugar derived from 

 ergot— Ergotine— Medicinal value of ergot— Effects of a high 

 temperature, and consequent difficulty of analysing ergot- 

 Ergot in grasses — More common i^j wheat than has been sup- 

 posed—Instances in proof of this — Awful effects of ergot taken 

 by animals as part of their food— Experiments, and their 

 object— Ought not to be repeated— Ergot the probable source 

 of many gangrenous diseases- Remarkable cases — Ergot 

 should be picked out of wheat— Search should be made for it 

 in localities where certain inexplicable diseases prevail— 

 Probable effect on cattle and pigs— Drainage, and results —Dis- 

 eases disappearing in France under precautions against ergot 

 —Want of observation— Preventives— Striking analogy. 



Before any description is given of wheat 

 blights due to the agency of more perfect 

 parasitic insects than the infusorial one last 

 noticed, it will be expedient to point out the 

 peculiarities of a most extraordinary abortion 

 of the grain, which has been attributed to 

 various causes. The diagrams will convey a 

 correct idea of its appearance in rye and wheat. 

 It is called ergot, which is French for cock-spur^ 

 from its resemblance to the spur of the male 



