234 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Chemical composition. — Ergot is a very complex material when eon* 

 sidered chemically, and although it has been studied by many compe- 

 tent chemists, there is yet much doubt as to the nature of a number of 

 the substances whirfh have been found in it. About 35 per cent, of its 

 weight consists of a thick, fluid, fixed oil, which is now believed to be 

 without medical properties. Two non-crystallizable alkaloids have been 

 deseribed and called, respectively, ecbolina and ergotina ; and one crys- 

 tallizable which has been designated as crgotinine. 



Sclerotic, ergotie, and fuscmclerotinic acids have been isolated. There 

 is also a question of a peculiar ammoniacal base variously stated to be 

 meihylamine, trimcthylamine, and propylamia. A mucilaginous sub- 

 stance called scleromncin and several other products of doubtful nature 

 have been recognized. It has not yet been demonstrated which of these 

 bodies constitutes the active principle of the drug, or whether the phys- 

 iological effect may not be due to a number acting together. 



The one point on which most of those who have studied ergot have 

 agreed is that water extracts the medical properties, and this seems to 

 be about the extent of our reliable information in regard to this depart- 

 ment of the subject. 



The action of ergot on the animal body. — The action of this poison in 

 large doses is very clearly given in the following extract from Dr. H. 

 0. Wood's Treatise on Therapeutics, Materia Medica and Toxicology : 



According to Diez [quoted by Stillo], the principal effects of poisonous doses of ergot 

 are in the lower animals profuse salivation, vomiting, dilatation of the pupils, hur- 

 ried breathing, frequent pulse, cries, trembling, staggering, paraplegia, sometimes 

 diarrhea, sometimes constipation, prostration, urgent thirst, convulsions,* and death. 

 Mr. Samuel A. Wright, in a series of experiments (Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journ., 

 Oct., 1839, vol. lii), noted, when the medicine was given by the mouth, symptoms 

 similar to those just spoken of; the paralysis was much more marked than the spasms. 

 Late in the poisoning, the heart's action became irregular and intermittent, and the 

 pulsations, which had been rapid, grew slow and feeble. In some cases the special 

 senses seemed to be destroyed, and coldness of the surface was a very prominent 

 symptom. Mr. Wright also injected a strong infusion of the drug directly into the 

 torrent of the circulation. Death was in some cases produced in nine minutes, the 

 symptoms being immediate dilatation of the pupils, great increase in the rate of the 

 cardiac pulsation?, paralysis, and convulsions. When the fatal result was not brought, 

 about in so short a space, great anaisthesia of the surface was noted a considerable 

 time before death ; coldness of the surface and paralysis of the special senses were 

 also present in some cases. In Dr. Kcrsch's experiments (Betz's Memor., vol. xviii), 

 the concentrated infusion was injected into the jugular vein ; the coldness of the sur- 

 face was especially noted, and also great muscular rigidity. Upon rabits, according 

 to the researches of Wright, ergot acts very feebly. In birds, as represented by 

 chickens, turkeys, and pigeons, it causes symptoms analogous to those produced in 

 mammals, as is testified by Tessier and by Gross, both quoted by Stille, and by Bon- 

 jean (Traite de V Ergot de Seigle, Paris, 1815.) 



The above summary of the general symptoms caused by poisonous doses of ergot 

 shows that the phenomena are mainly paralytic in their nature ; but, although an 

 enormous amount has been written about the drug, we have very little knowledge as 

 to the immediate causes of the paralysis. Since both. Wright (toe. c{t n pp. 3*20,321) 

 and Kohler have found that the voluntary muscles are not affected by ergot, it would 

 seem that the nervous system must bear the brunt of the poison. Eugene Haudelin is 

 said to have shown that the peripheral nerves are not affected, and the experiments 

 of Kohler have confirmed this so far as concerns the motor nerves and the watery ex - 

 tract of ergot, lie found, however, that those portions of the drug not soluble in 

 water appeared to increase the excitability of the peripheral efferent nerves, and 

 that upon the peripheral sensory nerves both portions of the ergot acted as a feeble 

 depressant. On the whole, it is probable that the chief action of the drug is upon 

 the nerve centers. 



The following experiments of Tessier also indicate the active nature 

 of the ergot poison (Memoire sur les effets du seigle erqote. Hist. Soc. 

 Roy. de Med., 1777, 1778, Paris 1780, vol. ii, pp. 587-615): 



These experiments were instituted with hygienic precautions upon a 



* Pereira states that convulsions were not present in the experiments of Diea. 



