482 
DISEASES OF SHEEP. 
At the end of August one or two of the ergots that had 
fallen with the stems on the grass on the damp ground I 
placed, for more convenient observation, on the moist soil of 
a flower pot. In a few days I noticed on the dark cuticle 
of the sclerotium several minute excrescences, from which 
gradually emanated some stalks about 11 to 18 millimetres 
in length, each supporting a minute round head about four 
millimetres in diameter, in fact, furnishing good character* 
istic specimens of Claviceps purpurea . 
It is not to be wondered at that these fungi should have 
received the names of sphaeria or torrubia, because they so 
much resemble the growth so often described as being found 
on the heads of caterpillars or larvae, and used as a medicine 
in China and Japan. 
A very remarkable change now took place in the oil that 
was so noticeable so long as the condition of sclerotium con¬ 
tinued, but directly the mature Claviceps appeared the oil 
oxidised, dried up, and was found no longer. The round 
heads of the fungus now become covered with a large 
number of brown dots, which eventually became the open¬ 
ings of pear-shaped sacs or asci of the perithecium. If a 
section was made with a sharp scalpel each ascus was seen to 
be filled with a glutinous substance containing seven or 
eight spores. These last adhered to the ergot, looked like a 
powdery coating, and causing the production of many 
thousands of conidia on each ergot and ready for the evolu¬ 
tion of fresh mycelium. 
This seems to me the true mode of development of Cla¬ 
viceps, It commences and proceeds with the vegetative 
growth till it reaches the sclerotium stage, and at that period 
possesses in the greatest vigour the medicinal characteristic 
of ergot. 
I have, I think, conclusively found that ergot has the 
greatest medicinal power in the month of August, and that 
the experience of six or seven years shows that the same 
changes take place in the plant at the same period of every 
year. 
It has been known to medical men that the so-called 
essence of ergot is so uncertain in its efficacy that many, 
in order to ensure success, have determined to use the 
powder itself. Dr. Kluge, of Berlin, observed some years 
since that, for some reason or other, the properties of ergot 
varied according to whether it was gathered before or after 
the harvest. In the former case it had energetic action, while 
in the latter it was frequently powerless. 
The sheep were distinctly seen to choose the young green 
