678 



EDICAL BOTANY. 



smell is peculiar, nauseous. The taste, at 

 Fig- 330. fi rs t } is very faint, but becomes bitterish, 



acrid, and disagreeable. When perfectly 

 dry it is brittle and readily pulverised. It 

 deteriorates much by keeping, and more es- 

 pecially when exposed to the action of the 

 air; and is also destroyed by the attacks of 

 a small insect which feeds upon it. 



It has often been analyzed since its first 

 examination by Vauquelin in 1816 ; the best 

 account of its constituents is by Wiggers ; 

 he found it composed of: Ergotin, a pecu- 

 liar Fixed oil, Fatty matter, Cerin, Fungin, 

 &c. Ergotin has a heavy odour and disa- 

 greeable, acrid taste, and was supposed to 

 be the active principle; but this is shown 

 to reside in the fixed oil, which is of a yel- 

 low colour, acrid, and poisonous ; M. Bon- 

 jean, however, states that there are two 

 active principles ; one, the oil ; the other, 

 contained in the watery extract : this is 

 brown, of a thick consistence and musty 

 smell, and has very decided anti-hemor- 

 rhagic properties. 



The medical powers of Ergot are various : 

 given in small doses, it causes little effect 

 upon the male, whilst in the female, it pro- 

 duces powerful contraction of the uterus. In 

 large quantities, many observers state, that 

 it acts like an acro-narcotic on both sexes. 

 Where its use is long continued, in small 

 quantities, as when ergotised grain is eaten, 

 it is capable of inducing the most dangerous 

 and fatal consequences. Several devastating 

 epidemics which have occurred in Europe, 

 have been ascribed to the use of bread made 

 from grain infected with Ergot. This Ergo- 

 tism, as it has been called, assumes two 

 forms : one attended with convulsions, and 

 the other with a dry gangrene of the limbs. . 

 The principal employment of Ergot as a medicine is to promote the action 

 of the uterus, where its natural powers are inefficient in parturition. Its effi- 

 ciency in such cases was long known to mid wives in various parts of Europe, 

 but it was first introduced into regular practice by Dr. Stearns, in 1807 

 (New York Med. Rep. xi.), since which it has been very generally used both 

 in this country and Europe. Although it fails in some cases to excite any 

 action in the uterus, in the larger proportion of cases it operates powerfully, 

 and hence should always be employed with caution, and a due regard to the 

 condition of the parts, or serious consequences might ensue. The cases to 

 which it is applicable are those of lingering labour, where the soft parts are 

 dilatable, the os uteri sufficiently open, but the powers of the uterus are not 

 sufficient to expel the foetus. It has also proved useful, when, from some 

 cause, it is of importance to hasten delivery ; also, to provoke the expulsion 

 of the placenta, where this is retained from inertia of the uterus ; it has like- 



