I50  Active  Principle  of  Ergot.  {^'^\iZ':mi.'''^' 
heart  by  ergot  and  its  preparations  was  also  called  attention  to 
by  a  number  of  workers.  Hooker  inferred  that  the  capillary  circu- 
lation was  disturbed,  because  "  a  portion  of  the  skin  deprived  of  its 
blood,  by  pressure  with  the  finger,  being  a  long  time  in  recovering 
its  color  "  and  noted  that  there  was  also  an  increased  secretion  of 
urine.  According  to  him,  the  ethereal  extract  possessed  no  ecbolic 
action,  but  the  residue  after  the  extraction  still  exerted  this  action. 
Parola  claimed  that  the  oil  obtained  from  ergot  was  inactive 
and  that  the  activity  of  ergot  was  to  be  traced  to  a  resin  extracted 
with  the  oil.  However,  the  term  resin  is  apt  to  be  a  vague  one. 
Betrand,^*  by  experiments  on  himself  and  on  animals,  corroborated 
Parola's  statements  as  to  the  inactivity  of  the  oil.  ArnaP^  (1848) 
claimed  that  neither  the  ethereal  nor  the  aqueous  extract  contained 
the  real  toxic  principle,  but  that  it  resided  in  the  residue  after  such 
extractions.  He  believed  the  hemostatic  action  of  ergot  to  reside 
in  the  aqueous  extract  and  to  be  associated  with  the  depressant 
action  on  the  heart,  and  claimed  that  the  irritation  of  the  in- 
testines was  an  important  feature  of  the  action  of  ergot.  He  also 
noted  that  the  aqueous  extract  acted  as  a  diuretic.  During  one 
day  eight  grams  of  ergot  were  given  tO'  a  cock;  and  on  about  the 
seventh  day,  the  bird  became  dull.  In  some  cocks  similarly  fed, 
the  comb  turned  blue ;  in  others,  there  were  ulcerations  of  the  comb 
with  emaciation  and  death. 
Herrmann  made  the  interesting  observation  that  the  evaporated 
ether — extract  of  ergot,  on  treatment  with  alkalies,  developed  the 
odor  of  ammonia  and  of  trimethylamin. 
Winckler  in  1827  recognized  a  volatile  base  which  he  called 
secalin  (propylamin) ,  and  believed  that  the  ergotin  of  Wiggers 
was  a  combination  of  resin  with  propylamin.  This  propylamin 
was  later  found  to  be  trimethylamin,  although  at  one  time  it 
was  believed  to  be  methylamin.^^  Gerres,^^  in  1862,  unfamiliar 
with  Winckler's  work,  also  reported  the  presence  of  a  volatile  base 
which  he  named  secalin  and  noted  that  an  aqueous  extract  when 
shaken  with  sodium  bicarbonate  and  ether  imparted  the  odor  of 
ergot  to  the  ether.  He  also  observed  that  on  evaporating  a  tartaric- 
acid-alcohol  extract  of  ergot  and  shaking  the  evaporated  mass  with 
sodium  bicarbonate  and  ether  it  yielded  a  residue  which  produced  in 
a  rabbit  acceleration  in  the  pulse-rate  and  trembling. 
In  1864  Wenzell  described  a  volatile  acid,  which  he  named 
ergotic  acid,  and  also  two  amorphous  bases  which  he  described  as 
