274 
H. A. SPENCER. 
History tells us that this affection made its appearance at 
a very early date, and from time to time it has manifested 
itself in epidemics since the days of Claudius Galinus, com¬ 
monly called Galen, and who was celebrated as a physician in 
Rome about A. D. 160. 
In A. D. 992 there was a widespread and deadly epidemic 
in France. Two years later it again appeared in the same 
territory, and in 1041 it was prevalent in England, France 
and Germany. Then forty-eight years later, in 1089, it was 
rife throughout the Continent, and especially was it prevalent 
in the western parts of Lorraine, where many persons (so 
says an old author), became putrid in consequence of their 
inward parts being consumed by St. Anthony’s fire. Their 
limbs were rotten and became black, like coal. They either 
perished miserably, or, deprived of their putrid hands and 
feet, were reserved for a miserable life. Moreover, many 
cripples were afflicted with contraction of the sinews (nervorum 
contractio.) After an absence of ten years, and covering a 
period of more than a century, it was more or less prevalent 
in France and Spain. In 1598, in Germany, and at numerous 
dates from 1694 till 1754 it appeared in various countries in 
Europe. 
In America reference is made to it about 1820; and in 
March, 1884, you may remember there was an outbreak of it, 
among cattle, near Neosho Falls, Kansas, which created not 
a little excitement, in its having been at first pronounced foot 
and mouth disease, by a number of veterinarians, and con¬ 
fidence was not re-established until extended investigations 
were made by the Bureau of Animal Industry, through Dr. 
Salmon, its Veterinarian-in-Chief. 
NATURE AND ACTION OF ERGOT. 
The substance known as ergot is one of the stages in the 
growth and maturity of a fungus, which has been named 
Claviceps purpurea , and the term ergot was applied to it by 
the French from its fancied resemblance to the spur of a cock. 
The first botanical writer who notices ergot is Lonicerus. 
Chambers says it begins to show itself on the germen of 
