466 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§§ 592-594. 
The very general use of the drug by accoucheurs has, so to speak, 
popularised a knowledge of its action among all classes of society, and 
its criminal employment as an abortive is not infrequent. 1 
The healthy grain of rye, if examined microscopically in thin sections, 
is seen to be composed of the seed-coating, made up of two layers, 
beneath which are the gluten-cells, whilst the great bulk of the seed 
is composed of cells containing starch. In the ergotised grain, dark 
(almost black) cells replace the seed-coat and the gluten-cells, whilst 
the large starch-containing cells are filled with the small cells of the 
fungus and numerous drops of oil. 
§ 592. The chemical constituents of ergot are numerous. It is only 
within recent years that most of the active principles have been isolated 
in anything like a state of purity. A number of substances that formerly 
were considered to be individual substances have now been proved to be 
mixtures. The following is a list of the principles which are at present 
known :— 
A fixed oil. 
T rime thy la mine. 
Colouring-matter. 
Ergotinine. 
Ergotoxine. 
Tyramine (hydroxy-phenyl-ethyl-amine). 
Er gamine. 
Agmatine. 
Acetylcholine. 
Ergothionine. 
§ 593. Ergotinine, Extraction of: —Ergot is directly treated with ether. 
The oil, after evaporating the ether, is mixed with light petroleum ; most 
of the alkaloid is precipitated in this way in an impure condition ; part 
of the alkaloid remains in the oil, and can be extracted therefrom by dilute 
acids. On a large scale, Barger and Carr suggest ( J.G.S. , T., 1907) 
treatment of an alcoholic extract of the drug, first with petroleum ether to 
remove fat and oily matter, then ethyl acetate ; the ethyl acetate solution 
is shaken with a solution of citric acid, NaBr or HBr is added, and the 
hydrobromides of the alkaloids, which are precipitated, are collected. 
A rough separation of ergotinine from ergotoxine can be effected by 
shaking a solution of the hydrobromides in dilute caustic soda and 
extracting with ether ; the ergotinine is removed first, leaving ergotoxine 
in the mother-liquor. The ergotinine may be crystallised from alcohol. 
§ 594. Ergotinine, C 35 H 39 0 5 N 5 .—Long needles, the sides of which 
are not quite parallel ; straight extinction ; the ends are symmetrically 
replaced by a pair of faces. 
1 The Russian peasantry use the drug for the same purpose. Vide Mackenzie 
Wallace’s Russia, i. 117 . 
