A dissertation on the natural history and medicinal effects of the secale cornutum, or ergot / by Oliver Prescott, A.M. ; read at the annual meeting [of the Massachusetts Medical Society] June 2, 1813.

  • Prescott, Oliver, 1762-1827.
Date:
[1813?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dissertation on the natural history and medicinal effects of the secale cornutum, or ergot / by Oliver Prescott, A.M. ; read at the annual meeting [of the Massachusetts Medical Society] June 2, 1813. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    On many ears of rye, there arc to be found grains composed of rye and ergot, the portion ergotted makes sometimes one half, and sometimes only one third of the grain, and is that part within the husk, while that part which is rye is most distant from the ear. These grains, if planted, will not vege- tate, the germ being destroyed. Winter and spring rye are, as far as has been observed, equally liable to this disease. Much time and attention have been devoted by different naturalists, to ascertain the cause of this production in rye. Some, from the circumstance that there is more produced in rainy seasons, and in wet grounds, have attributed its formation to the moisture of the air and the earth; others believe it to proceed from the grains having been pierced by insects; while others have regarded it as a mole, occasioned by a faulty fecundation. This last opin- ion is more probably correct, for nothing has been found to contribute so much to its production, if the soil be moist, as a storm of rain falling upon the grain when in bloom. There will always be more of it found on the borders of fields, than in other parts, where the soil is less beaten and more mellow. The humidity being equal, those fields are most infested with it, which have been newly turned up. The soil and climate of Sologne are so peculiarly adapted to the growth of this substance, that it is said to produce more of it, than all France beside; for,