306 
ON  THE  ERGOT   OF  INDIAN  CORN. 
ON  THE  ERGOT  OF  INDIAN  CORN  (ZEA  MAYS.) 
By  Charles  H.  Cressler. 
(An  Inaugural  Essay.) 
The  diseased  grain,  or  as  it  is  technically  called,  the  smut  of 
our  common  Indian  corn,  has  been  so  universally  considered, 
as  its  unsightly  appearance  would  seem  to  indicate,  a  worthless 
if  not  a  poisonous  excrescence  in  the  place  of  the  golden  grain, 
that  an  examination  of  its  chemical  and  physiological  properties 
might  well  be  considered  by  those  unacquainted  with  pharma- 
ceutical research,  a  useless  task;  although  to  one  whose  studies 
have  included  the  natural  history  of  the  ergot  and  galLnut,  and 
Avho  judges  of  medicine,  not  by  its  origin,  but  solely  by  its 
therapeutical  virtue,  the  analysis  of  no  untried  substance  would 
appear  valueless. 
It  was  my  intention  to  have  included  in  this  paper  the  results 
of  a  few  trials  with  this  substance  in  its  medical  relations,  but 
being  unfortunately  disappointed  in  this,  I  was  compelled  to 
confine  myself  solely  to  a  proximate  analysis. 
In  view  of  the  recent  introduction  of  chloride  of  propylamin 
as  a  remedy  for  rheumatism,  this  subject  may  prove  worthy 
of  investigation  as  a  source  of  that  valuable  salt,  my  experiments 
proving,  I  think,  only  less  conclusively  than  an  ultimate  analysis, 
the  existence  of  that  alkaloid  in  the  fungus  of  Zea  mays.  And 
judging  from  the  exact  similarity,  in  sensible  properties,  of  its 
preparations  to  those  of  the  ergot  of  rye,  I  think  it  might,  at 
least,  be  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  similar  therapeutical  virtues. 
A  quantity  of  the  carefully  selected  grains  were  rubbed  be- 
tween the  hands  until  the  fine  fangous  matter  was  broken  loose 
from  the  husk  or  envelope,  and  then  sifted  to  separate  the  fine 
powder. 
Eight  ounces  (troy)  of  this  powder  was  moistened  with  a 
mixture  of  six  parts  by  measure  of  95  per  cent,  alcohol,  and 
one  part  of  washed  ether,  and  allowed  to  stand  for  12  hours; 
then  transferred  to  a  percolator  and  displaced  with  the  same 
menstruum  until  the  liquor  came  through  nearly  colorless ;  the 
mass  was  then  expressed,  moistened  with  pure  ether  and  again 
expressed.  The  ethereal  solution  filtered  and  evaporated  yielded 
but  a  faint  trace  of  a  light  yellow  colored  resinous  body  in  the  form 
