ERGOT, a diseased condition of the germen of grasses, sometimes also observed in some of the cyperacem It begins to show itself when the germen is young; different parts of the flower assume a mildewed appearance, and become covered with a white coating composed of a multitude of minute spore-like bodies mixed with delicate cob web•like filaments; a sweet fluid, at first limpid, afterwards viscid and yellowish, is exuded; the anthers and stigmas become cemented together; the ovule swells till it greatly exceeds the size of the proper seed, bursts its integuments, and becomes elon gated and frequently curved, often carries on its apex a cap formed of the agglutinated anthers an,d stigmas, and assumes a gray, brown, purple, violet, and at length a black color, as the viscid exudation dries and hardens. The structure differs very much from that of the properly developed seed; the qualities are not less different, almost one half of the whole substance consists of fungin; and the cells contain, instead of starch, globules of a peculiar fixed oil—OIL OF ERGOT, to which the remarkable qualities of E. are supposed to be chiefly or entirely due. Oil of E. forms about 35 per cent of the E. of rye. E. appears to have been first observed in rye. in which it becomes very con spicuous from the large size it attains, sometimes an inch or even an inch and a half in length. It is. however, not uncommon in wheat and barley, although in them it is not so conspicuous, from its general resemblance to the ordinary ripened grain. Rye-grass is often affected with E., as are many other grasses; and it is of frequent occurrence in maize, in which also it attains its greatest size. E. lihs been supposed to be merely a disease occasioned by wet seasons or other climatic causes. But it appears now to be fully ascertained that it is a disease occasioned by the presence of the mycelium of a fungus; the spores of which may perhaps be carried to the flower through the juices of the plant, for there is reason to think that E. in a field of grain may be produced by infected seed. Mr. Quekett, in 1838, described a fungus, a kind of mold (q.v.), which lie found in E., and to which he gave the name of ergotcetia,abortifaciens. Link and Berkeley afterwards
referred it to the genus odium; and they, as well as others, believed it to be the true E. fungus. The spores of this E. mold, however, vegetate readily, under proper conditions of warmth and moisture, in situations very different from that in which E. is produced; and its presence is perhaps a consequence rather than the cause of ergot. The true E. fungus seems to have been discovered by Tulasue, who published a description of it in 1853. That of the E. of rye is called cordiceps (or clariceps) purpurea; its mycelium alone exists in E., but if the ergoted grains are sown, the fungus develops itself in its perfect form, growing in little tufts from the surface of the E., with stem about half an inch long, and subglobular head. Allied species appear to produce the E. of other grasses.
E. is inflammable; the fixed oil which it contains, indeed, makes it burn readily if brought into contact with the flame of a candle. It is a valuable medicine, exercising a specific action on the womb, particularly during labor, and by the greater frequency and force of the contractions which it causes when cautiously administered, often most beneficially hastening delivery. Its employment for this purpose is said to have originated—in consequence, probably, of an accidental discovery—with a provincial female practitioner in France. Its introduction into British practice dates only from 1824. It is the E. of rye which is always employed; also called SPURRED RYE, or secale cornutum. It has been employed also as a sedative of the circulation, to check various kinds of hemorrhage. E. is administered in various forms—powder, decoction, extract, tincture, oil of E., etc.—In large or frequent doses, E. is a poison, sometimes pro ducing convulsions, followed by death; sometimes gangrene of the extremities, result ing in mutilation or in death.
E. of rye consists of 35 per cent of a peculiar fixed oil, 11. of ergotin, 46 of fungin, the remainder being gum, fat, albumen, salts, etc. E. burns with a yellow-white flame, and treated with water, yields a reddish colored liquid with acid properties. In con siderable quantities, it is a poison to the lower animals as well as to man.