676 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



to tender parts liable to excoriation, as it always retains its elasticity ; when 

 soaked in a solution of nitre, it forms the Spunk or tinder so much used. 



P. laricis was at one time frequently prescribed as a drastic purgative, 

 and was highly spoken of by many writers, but at present is seldom used. 

 De Haen considered it to be a specific in phthisis, and Galen asserted that it 

 would check haemoptysis. The Boletus suaveolens, which has an odour of 

 vanilla, was also much celebrated as a remedy in phthisis, and numerous 

 cases are recorded in which it was thought to have effected a cure. De 

 Candolle states that its powder was mixed with honey into an electuary, of 

 which from a scruple to a drachm a day were administered. Linnceus says 

 that this species is thought by the Laplanders to be aphrodisiac. 



The only really important medicinal article of this class, is the Secale cor- 

 nutum, or Ergot, or Spurred Rye. Much difference of opinion has existed as 

 to the real nature of this substance ; some considered it the result of an in- 

 jury to the seed of the Rye, from the puncture of an insect, and a subsequent 

 morbid change and growth, thus resembling the galls produced on the oak ; 

 others thought it was a true fungus arising between the glumes of graminaceous 

 plants, and it was variously named and classed by different writers, as : 

 Spermcedia clavus, Fries ; Clavaria elavus, Manch ; Sclerotium clavus, De 

 Candolle ; but, in opposition to this, it has been shown that in some cases a 

 part only of the grain is ergotised, and that the remains of a stigma are often 

 observable at its apex ; others again supposed it to be a disease of the grain 

 arising from moisture, &c. ; and, lastly, it has been referred to the attacks 

 of a parasitic fungus, which causes such an alteration in the grain as to 

 change its whole character. This opinion, which is supported by the strongest 

 evidence, was first promulgated by Leveillee, in 1826, and has been subse- 

 quently confirmed by the observations of several naturalists, and, more espe- 

 cially by Mr. Quekett ( Trans. Linn. Soc. xviii.), who, from an examination 

 of the diseased grain, in its earliest stages, observed that the germ and its 

 appendages, became covered with a white coating, composed of multitudes of 

 sporidia, mixed with cobweb-like filaments. This fungus he has named 

 Ergotcetia abortifaciens, and describes it as follows : " Sporidia elliptical, 

 moniliform, finally separating, transparent, and seldom containing more than 

 one, two, or three well-defined granules." 



Fig. 328. 



© .§ 8 



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E. abortifaciens. 

 A. Sporidia. B, C, E, F, G, H. Different modes of reproduction in water. D. Membrane of sporidium 

 laid open. 1. Fungus assuming a radiated form, and developing sporidia a. 



