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The gentlemen of the academy were of opinion, 
that the°difeafe (of which M. Noel had lent an ac- 
count) was produced hy bad nounihment, particu- 
larly by bread, in which there was a great quantity 
of ergot *. ' This fubftance is defcribed by M. Fagon, 
firft phyfician to the King, and is faid by him to be 
a kind of monfter in vegetation, which a particulai 
fort of rye, fown in March, is more apt to produce, 
than what is fown in the autumn, and which often 
abounds in moift cold countries, and in wet lealcns. 
How far it is true, that this fubftance was really the 
caufe of the French epidemical gangrene delcnbed, 
I cannot determine. On companion, we fin, , tat 
the prefent difeafe at Wattilham, and that recorded 
by the French academy, do agree extremely in their 
effefls. However, it is now certain, that rye made 
no part of the nourifliment of the poor family at 
Wattiftiam. . . , ^ 
Although we undoubtedly excel the antients m the 
knowledge of poifons, yet a great deal of that lubject 
ftill remains unknown to us. It will, therefore, e 
very difficult for us to difcover, to what caufe, or to 
what combination of caufes, fo uncommon a malady 
is to be attributed. 
* This degenerated rye is called ergot, from its refemblance 
t© a cock’s fpur. 
tXXXVI. Ob- 
