348 
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
[Vol. 9, 
work has therefore centered in the physiologically active constituents of 
the organism in culture, compared with those in the sclerotium of natural 
development. 
The Chemistry and Toxicology of Ergot 
The chemistry and toxicology of ergot were studied as early as the 
eighteenth century, but it is only within recent times that the work of 
Barger (2, 3, 4, 5), Dale, Ewins (10), and others has resulted in accurate 
knowledge.^ 
The chief active principles so far isolated from ergot are, according 
to Barger: 
(1) Ergotoxine (C35H41O6N5), an amorphous alkaloid yielding crystal- 
line salts, which in very small doses produces ataxia, dyspnoea, salivation, 
gastro-intestinal irritation, and gangrene. The latter is caused by con- 
striction of the arterial circulation which this alkaloid effects. 
(2) Histamine (ergamine, /5-iminazolyl-ethylamine, C5H9N3), a powerful 
uterine stimulant and blood-pressure depressor. 
(3) Tyramine (parahydroxyphenylethylamine, CgHuON), functioning 
as the powerful blood-pressure-raising principle in ergot extracts. 
(4) Acetylcholine (C7H17O3N), a depressor of blood pressure. 
The standard physiological tests of ergot extract for pharmaceutical 
use are made for the first three of the above named constituents. Detailed 
methods are described by Pittenger (13). Histamine action is determined 
by subjecting freshly excised guinea pig's uterus, suspended in Ringer's 
solution, to the standard ergot dose, which is added to the solution, the 
resulting muscular contraction being recorded on a kymogram apparatus. 
For the tyramine test, cats, dogs, or rabbits are used, the drug being injected 
intravenously and the rise in blood pressure being recorded. Tests for 
ergotoxine are most generally made upon the comb of the domestic fowl. 
Injection is intramuscular. The action generally occurs within an hour, 
evidenced by a very distinct bluing of the comb and sometimes of the 
wattles. Attendant symptoms are restlessness, drooping of the head and 
tail, diarrhoea, and inability to stand normally erect. 
Since the greatest development, and apparently the most advanced 
stages of growth, appeared in the cultures on corn meal, they were the 
ones selected for tests of physiological activity. For the first of these 
the growth on corn meal in loo-cc. flasks was used. In this instance 
growth did not permit a ready separation of the fungus from the substrate, 
and the entire mass was air-dried to constant weight, and then ground 
and percolated for the fluid extract. Forty-two grams of substrate yielded 
10.86 grams dry weight of material for percolation. On the basis of dry 
weight the total fungus was estimated as not to exceed 2 percent of the 
2 An excellent summary, with bibliography, of the entire subject of ergot, embracing 
its history, botany, medicinal properties, aetiology, chemistry, etc., has been made by 
Barger (6). 
