338 
JAMES LAW. 
although ergot is common in much of the hay in the west of 
England, yet with the abundance of turnips fed in winter dry 
gangrene is unknown. The same is true of Belgium and other 
parts of the European continent where agriculture is advanced, 
and ergotism, which was formerly widely spread, is now confined 
to such backward districts as Sologne, where the marshy, unim¬ 
proved soil maintains also the sister scourge of anthrax. In 
Lower Canada, too, where roots are largely grown, dry gangrene 
is much less common than in Ontario and our Northern States. 
In man, it is testified by Eckmann and Hojer, of Stockholm, that 
the addition of potatoes to a diet into which ergoted flour largely 
entered at once abated the evil effects of the latter. In the Alps 
of Bellona, too, ergotism (pellagra) disappeared as a disease of 
man on the introduction of potatoes as a staple article of diet. 
^Yallenzosea della Fallcadina. Balardini.) 
, The value of an abundant ingestion of water as a palliative or 
preventive cannot well be overestimated. Much of the good 
effects of the succulent vegetables is due to their aqueous con¬ 
stituents, and ergotism rarely attains to a serious prevalence until 
the water supply is restricted by freezing, or the consumption of 
water by cold weather. Hence the preparation of the ergoted 
hay in a wet condition (steamed, scalded, boiled, fermented) is to 
a certain extent palliative of its evil effects. For the same reason 
an abundant daily supply of salt, which will tempt the animal to 
drank freely, will prove in some measure protective. 
Making ensilage of the grass in place of curing it dry has the 
double advantage of securing the product before it has run to 
seed, or ergot, and of feeding it in a moist condition, counter¬ 
acting the effect of any ergot that may be present. 
In the case of well-ripened hay the danger may be largely got 
rid of by passing it through a threshing machine. The seed and 
ergot having been both removed, the hay may be safely fed to 
stock. Such seed is unfit to sow, but may be fed in small 
quantity if boiled, or after boiling will make good manure. 
To avoid the production of smut from spores sown with grain 
it is customary in Scotland to “ pickle ” the seed before putting 
it in the ground. This is done by sprinkling it freely with a 
