Am.  Jour.  Pharm,, 
Dee.,  1885. 
Pressed  Ergot. 
619 
be  expected,  because  the  existing  formulse  do  not  take  into  account 
the  chemical  properties  of  this  compound.  In  a  future  communica- 
tion, which  will  deal,  among  other  things,  with  the  purgative  prin- 
ciple of  rhubarb,  the  author  proposes  to  submit  some  formulae  for 
such  preparations. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans. ,  Jul}^:18,  1885,  p.  65. 
EEPORT  ON  PRESSED  ERGOT.^ 
By  John  Moss,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S. 
On  Wednesday,  August  14,  1878,  a  Note  on  an  Improved  Prepa- 
ration of  Ergot was  read  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Postans,  F.C.S.,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  held  in  Dublin.  (See 
"  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,'^  1878,  p.  581.)  In  the  discussion  which  fol- 
lowed, Mr.  T.  B.  Groves,  of  Weymouth,  a  pharmacist  of  wide  expe- 
rience and  fertile  in  expedient,  suggested  that  ergot  itself  might  keep 
better  if  it  were  first  ground  and  then  compressed.  The  suggestion 
struck  me  as  being  a  very  valuable  one,  for  strong  hydraulic  pressure 
would  remove  a  considerable  portion  of  the  fixed  oil,  which  I  believe 
has  an  attraction  for  the  insects  which  prey  upon  efgot,  and  the  solid 
compressed  form  would  offer  so  much  less  extent  of  surface  than  the 
ordinary  drug  that  it  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  less  affected 
by  atmospheric  influences.  The  experiment  was  accordingly  tried  in 
February,  1879,  on  7  lbs.  of  ordinary  commercial  ergot,  which  was 
ground  and  then  subjected  in  three  separate  lots  to  a  pressure  of  2J 
tons  to  the  square  inch.  Fourteen  ounces  of  fixed  oil  (12-5  per  cent,) 
were  obtained,  and  three  cakes,  each  about  8  inches  square.  Mr. 
Groves  took  charge  of  half  of  one  of  these  cakes,  and  Mr.  Holmes 
placed  the  other  half  in  the  Museum  at  Bloomsbury  Square.  Mr. 
Groves  placed  his  specimen  in  a  storeroom,  where,  as  he  informs  me 
in  a  letter  dated  July  17,  1885,  it  lay  on  a  shelf  ^'without  any  special 
care  being  given  to  it.  To-day  it  looks  as  good  as  ever;  I  send  you  a 
bit  to  see.  But  the  question  is,  how  about  its  potency  ;  does  it  retain 
its  medicinal  activity?^'  This  was  the  crucial  question,  and  to  decide 
it  I  obtained  from  Mr.  Groves  more  of  the  cake  and  made  a  fluid  ex- 
tract, proceeding  as  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  directs,  except  that  the 
ether  treatment  was  omitted.  There  is  a  specimen  of  the  cake  on  the 
table.    In  color  it  strongly  resembles  linseed  cake,  but  the  grain  is 
^  Head  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
