470 Mr. E. J. QuEKETT on the Ergot of Rye, 



the manner in which they have been conducted, it is considered the body 

 known as an ergot may be defined to be a substance composed of the diseased 

 constituents of the grain occupying the position of the healthy ovary. 



Perhaps no vegetable substance has given rise to so many different opi- 

 nions as to its cause as the Ergot. The earlier investigators supposed it to 

 be owing to the puncture of an insect, and also to excessive moisture ; some 

 supposed it a habitation for living creatures ; others followed, who considered 

 it a fungus, which was called Clavaria Clavus by Munchausen, Sclerotium Cla- 

 vus by DeCandoUe, and lastly, Spermoedia Clavus by Fries, the same view 

 being also entertained by Philippar. The " Mdmoire sur VErgot" by Leveill6 

 certainly approaches nearer the truth. He describes the Ergot as a grain 

 diseased by a certain fungus, which he denominates Sphacelia, and assigns to 

 it the characters given below* ; still this intelligent observer is in error when he 

 supposes that the appendage at the apex of the ergot is one of the conditions of 

 the fungus, instead of being composed of the remains of the pericarp and hairs 

 belonging to it, together occasionally with the remains of the styles ; or, to 

 use his own words, " Si ce champignon traverse les glumes sans 6prouver 

 d'accident on le voit a I'extremit^ de I'ergot, ou il forme un tubercule jaune 

 dont la consistance, le volume et la figure sont extrfemement variables." 



Phoebus, the latest authority, considers the ergot to be the albumen altered 

 "wir diirfen sie [Mutterkorn] " also "wohl fiir ein alienertes Eiweiss halten" 

 (p. 104), and consequently to be a morbid grain of rye (p. 105), but denies that 

 the "Blaschen" can be sporidia of a fungus, since they are of variable size 

 and contain other smaller bodies. 



From the foregoing observations it must be evident that the nature of an er- 

 got is becoming better understood, from its origin being relieved of some of the 

 obscurity that has hitherto enveloped it ; therefore the former received opinions 



* " Sphacelia. Fungus parasiticus, mollis, viscosus (forma indeterminata) ffyris exaratus, ex 3 vel 4 

 lobis apice connatis basi divisis et in axim confluentibus, constans. Sporulis globoso-ovatis nidulanti- 



bus." 



" Vere, in germinibus variorum graminearum, crescit, et pracipue secalis cerealis." 



" Sphacelia sejfe^Mm N. An eadem in omnibus graraineis ? " 



" Apicem germinis occupans, sphacelia fecundation! obstat, tamen ovarium crescit, sed gallarum 

 more, et, pro forma elongata et curvata sub nomine ergot vel clavi designatur." 



