ON THE ANATOMY OF DRUGS. 
457 
occasionally hear of Agaric and the common Puff-ball being used to stop bleed¬ 
ing, but in England they have long since lapsed into mere domestic remedies. 
Possibly their spores may possess some astringent properties, but it is more 
likely that they do but share, in common with a number of other fibrous and 
finely divided bodies, styptic qualities dependent on their mechanical condition. 
The structure of the larger*forms is exceedingly variable, but we may always find 
the characteristic, long, thin-walled cells, either free or united end to end and 
interwoven so as to form a light felted mass, or occasionally combined into a sort 
of coral-like network. The minute spores are generally distributed, either singly 
dr in groups, in the fleshy mass formed of these cells. The mycelium, or “spawn,” 
which appears at a certain stage in the process of reproduction, consists of those 
felted cylindrical cells, and is recognisable by its peculiar cottony appearance. 
Were it not for one other substance. Ergot of Rye, the whole family of the 
Fungi might be expunged from the Materia Medica. Few vegetable productions 
have excited more discussion amongst scientific men than the parasitic growths 
which are the cause of the various diseased conditions of grasses and cereal 
grains, and of these Ergot has certainly received the largest share of attention. 
Its ravages are common to a large number of the Graminacece; and although that 
obtained from Rye only is officinal, we hear a preference expressed from time 
to time, probably without any good reason, for the produce of Wheat, Maize, 
and even of certain grasses. The most reliable of the numerous researches on 
Ergot are those of Tulasne,* which should be consulted by any one anxious 
for detailed information; we can only give here the prominent features of 
its life-history. The germ of the fungus (^Clavicejjs purpurea) attacks the 
plant, whilst it is in flower, at the base of the pistil, and, gradually penetrating 
the outer wall of the ovary, forms a soft, white, fungoid mass, which oblite¬ 
rates the ovary itself, by filling the space it would otherwise occupy. This is 
the first stage. Certain physiological changes follow which we need not enter 
into, and these give rise to the second stage, which is observable in a new and 
independent fungoid growth, dark-coloured externally, white within, rising out 
of the paleae of the flower, and forming the “spur,” or true ergot. It must, 
therefore, be born in mind that Ergot is not an altered or diseased grain, but a 
distinct fungus in a particular (myceloid) condition of growth. Let any one 
who would assure himself of this, and, at the same time, try a pretty experi¬ 
ment, take some clean silver sand, place it in a saucer, moisten it, and lay upon 
it a few well formed ergot grains, covering the whole with a bell-glass. He 
will then be able to watch another stage in its development. After a time, 
beautiful white footstalks grow from the surface of the grains, each of them 
surmounted by a little ball containing spores. 
There is not much to be observed in the structure of Ergot itself as we find 
it in commerce. The peripheral portion appears, from Dr. Berg’s figures, to 
consist of an intricate network of cells ; but it is necessary to treat the specimen 
with ether in order to remove the fixed oil before examination, and a high mag¬ 
nifying power must be employed. The little prominence at the apex of the 
grain shows, in transverse section, minute cylindrical cells arranged in sinuous 
spongy masses, the spores lying between the convolutions. 
A chapter might easily be written on other fungi of interest to the pharma¬ 
ceutist, though not within the limits of our present subject. The mould that 
appears on his extracts when not carefully kept, the ropy deposit in so many of 
his solutions, the vegetation infesting some of his powders, and even at times 
his lozenges, constantly remind him of their strange habits of growth. The 
subject, too, has of recent years been much simplified, and the number of 
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 3 ser, vol. xx. p. 6, et seq. See also Heufrey in 
Micrographic Dictionary, 2nd «d. p. 161. 
VOL. YIII. 3 H 
