ON ERGOT. 
371 
It likewise causes blindness; hence the proverb, ctf he feeds 
on darnel,” is sometimes applied to an imprudent or short¬ 
sighted person. 
“ By the Chinese laws, for this plant is found both in 
China and Japan, it is forbidden to be used in fermented 
liquors. Some of the intoxicating qualities of factitious beer 
are said to be owing to the admixture of darnel with the 
malted barley. 
•> 
“ A few years ago, two acres of ground in Battersea Fields 
were sown with this grain : to what good purpose it could 
have been applied is unknown, for, although darnel-meal 
was once recommended as a sedative cataplasm, it has long 
been disused; and according to Withering, horses, geese, 
&c., are killed by darnel, and dogs are peculiarly subject to 
its influence: mixed in small quantities with their food, it is, 
however, said to fatten chickens and hogs.” 
The medical journals contain cases of poisoning of the 
human subject by it. The effects produced were, giddiness, 
pain and swelling of the limbs, followed by abscesses and 
gangrene. One of the sufferers lost both his legs. 
We have thought it desirable to notice these effects, since 
it is possible that the grass itself, without being ergotized, 
may become the cause of disease. 
We have now to speak of the ergot. It appears to be 
generally accepted that the ergot is a distinct parasitic plant, 
called Ergotcetia arbortifaciens, which locates itself in the 
ovaries of many of the grasses. Rye seems to be more fre¬ 
quently attacked by this fungus than any of the other cereals, 
hence the ergot of rye, or Secale cornutum , is most commonly 
employed medicinally. At one time this peculiar state of 
the grain was referred to a spontaneous disease, which pro¬ 
duced an alteration in its usual constituents, the fecula 
becoming converted into a kind of mucus—iodine giving no 
indication of the presence of starch—and the gluten into a 
principle ( vegetable osmazome?) very prone to putrefy. At 
another time it was considered to be the result of punctures 
made by insects, both opinions being seemingly supported 
by direct experiments. Again, some writers contend for its 
being produced by heat and moisture operating as morbific 
causes on the seeds of certain grasses during their develop¬ 
ment. Its botanical nature, however, seems to be completely 
established. Professor Queckett placed some grains of rye, 
wheat, and barley in a little water, so as to cause them to 
germinate, and when in this condition he covered them with 
sporules obtained from the ergot. The greater number of 
the grains grew and produced seeds, nearly all of which were 
