362 On the Origin of Ergot, 



many grains of rye are punctured, which are not materially' 

 injured thereby. The orifice closes before a sufficient quan- 

 tity of juice has escaped to produce fermentation and decay. 

 This may, therefore, be assigned as one reason why cloudy 

 and wet seasons, are so much more productive of ergot, than 

 those which are fair and dry. 



Under a good microscope, I occasionally examined the 

 ergot, and also the grains of rye, in every stage of decay, 

 but was never able to discover in either the eggs or larvcB 

 of any insect. I therefore conclude that the puncture of the 

 fly is for the purpose of extracting its food from the rye, and 

 not for the deposition of its eggs. 



The fly is of the hairy or bristly species of Musca, and 

 also a species of the '" blow fly." It deposits its eggs upon 

 animal flesh, either fresh or putrid. Its wings are transpar- 

 ent, abdomen dark green, larger than the common house fly; 

 in this climate, in the months of July, August, and Septem- 

 ber, the most numerous species of the fly, and very annoy- 

 ing to horses, oxen, and some other animals. 



The above statement, contains all the material facts, which 

 have fallen under my view, in relation to the cause of ergot; 

 and how far they go to support or oppose either of the theo- 

 ries heretofore adopted upon the subject, I submit to the 

 decision of others. 



In the conclusion of this article, perhaps it may not be 

 improper to state some facts in relation to the effect which 

 the ergot produces upon the health of the plant, on which it 

 grows. 1 was never able to discover that the culm of rye 

 was in the least affected by the ergot ; but I have observed 

 that invariably, where there were to the number of eight or 

 ten grains of ergot, no healthy or sound rye could be found 

 in the same head. In such cases it appears that all the 

 nourishment which the culm affords, is exhausted by the 

 ergot, and the rye suffers a severe blight. 



The size of the ergot is usually in proportion, to the num- 

 ber of grains in the same head. For when we find but one 

 grain in a rye-head, it is generally from ten to fourteen lines 

 in length, and two or three in diameter ;' but where there are 

 from twenty-five to thirty grains, which is not unfrequent, 

 their dimensions are proportionably less, being often not 

 greater than sound rye. 



