Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/541

Rh E R G E R G merits, a gymnasium, a normal seminary, a military school, a school of art and architecture, a midwifery school, and a commercial school It also possesses, besides the Martins- stiff, two orphanages, a hospital, two infirmaries, and an eye hospital. The most notable industry of Erfurt is the culture of flowers and of vegetables, which is very extensively carried on. This industry had its origin in the large gardens attached to the monasteries. It has also woollen, cotton, linen, and thread mills ; stocking, lace, tobacco, leather, and chemical manufactories ; breweries and distilleries. Erfurt was formerly the capital of Thuringia, and until 1873 was a fortified town. It is said to have been founded about the 5th century. It was made the seat of a bishop in 740, but soon afterwards lost the dignity. In 805 Charles the Great created it a market town, after which it rose rapidly in importance. Although never strictly a free town, it for a long time retained almost complete political independence. In 1483 it renewed a protection league with Saxony, pledg ing itself at the same time to a yearly contribution of 1500 guilders. It attained the height of its prosperity about the end of the 15th century, and is said to have then numbered about 60,000 inhabitants. About the middle of the 17th century it was annexed by force to the electorate of Mayence, under which government it remained till 1802, when it came into the possession of Prussia. In 1808 it was the scene of the memorable interview between Napoleon and the emperor Alexander of Russia. Here also in the spring of 1850 the Diet known as the Union s Parliament held its sittings. The population of Erfurt in 1875 was 48,0-25. See Humbert, L -.s rillcs dc Thuriiige, 1870, and A. W. Fils, Hohenmcssungoi von dcm Kreise Erfurt, &amp;lt;&amp;lt;:. (Ilmeuau, 1805), an extract from which is given in Petermann s Mittheilungen, 1865. ERGOT, or SPURRED RYE, the drug ergota or Secale cornutum (Germ. Muiterkorn ; Fr. Seigle ergote), consists of the sclerotium of a fungus, Claviceps purpurea, Tulasne, ot the order Fyrenomycetes, parasitic on the pistils of many species of the Graminacece, but obtained almost exclusively from rye, Secale cereale, L. In the ear of rye that is in fected with ergot a species of fermentation takes place, and there exudes from it a sweet yellowish mucus, which after a time disappears. The ear loses its starch, and ceases to grow, and its ovaries become penetrated with the white spongy tissue of the mycelium of the fungus, termed originally by LeveiHe&quot; Spfiacelia, segetum. From the my celium, at the expense of the substance of the ear, is de veloped the sclerotium or ergot, the Sclerotium clavus of De Candolle, and Spermcedia davus of Fries. This, when placed on damp earth, produces the third form of the fungus, its outer cell layers becoming soft, and filiform spore-bearing stalks about an inch in length being thrown out. From the spores, as also from the conidia of the mycelium stage, the mycelium may be again produced. The drug consists of grains, usually curved (hence the name, from the Old French argot, a cock s spur), which are violet-black or dark purple externally, and whitish with a tinge of pink within, are between J and 1 i in. long, and from 1 to 4 lines broad, and have two lateral furrows, a close fracture, a disagreeable rancid taste, and a faint, fishy odour, which last becomes more perceptible when the powder of the drug is mixed with potash solution. Ergot should be kept in stoppered bottles in order to preserve it irorn the attacks of a species of mite, and to prevent the oxidation of its fatty oil. The oil of ergot, which constitutes 30 per cent, of its weight, appears to consist mainly of palmitic acid, with some oleic acid. Among other constituents the drug, according to Wenzell, con tains two bitter alkaloids, ergotin and ecbolin, and to the latter the special medicinal virtues of the drug are due. From the investiga tions, however, of Prof. Dragendorffand llerr Padwissotzky, it appears that Wenzell s ergotin and ecbolin are not improbably identical with each other. By those chemists the presence in ergot of the following compounds has been determined : scleromiitin, a slimy, colloidal body, soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol ; 2 to 3 per cent, of a tasteless and indorous principle, sclerotic acid, also colloidal, soluble in water and in 45 per cent, alcohol, and having, exclusive of a small quantity of ash, the percentage com position carbon 40, hydrogen, 5 2, nitrogen 4 2, oxygen 50 6 ; minute quantities of slightly active colouring matters, sclercrythrin and scleroiodin, with sclcroknjstalli.f, sclcroxanthin, and other sub stances. The subcutaneous injection of from 02 to 04 gram, of sclerotic acid causes in the frog a state of palsy, accompanied by a peculiar swelling, which lasts six or seven days. (See Pluirm. Journ. and Trans., June 17, 1S76, p. 1001.) Trimethylamine, C 3 H 9 N, is said to be obtained from ergot by distillation with potash, but neither that body nor ammonia pre-exists as such in the drug. The extract, tincture, infusion, and powder of ergot are all employed in medicine. What is commonly termed &quot;ergotin&quot; is an extract first prepared by Bonjean, of Cham- bery, whose name it often bears. By age the active medicinal properties of ergot are gradually impaired, and lost. The addition of 1 per cent, of acetic acid is said to render the liquid preparations permanent. The poisonous action of ergot on various animals has been shown by Bonjean, Diez, Gross, Parola, Wright, and others. Thus Tessier found that in pigs it caused first redness of the eyes and ears, then coldness of the limbs and swelling of the joints, and finally gangrene of the extremities and intestines, and death during convulsions. Among the symptoms of poisoning by ergot in man are nausea, salivation, dilatation of the pupils, and subsequent injection of the conjunctiva, some colic, occasionally diarrhoea, coldness of the skin, vertigo, and convulsions. The name ergotism has been ap plied to the disease produced by the eating of food prepared from ergotized rye. It appears to have been the cause of many of the epidemics which in former times occurred in Europe, the last of these being thought to have been that which, at the close of the rainy season of 1816, visited Lorraine and Burgundy. The disease is usually fatal, and manifests itself in two phases, the spasmodic or convulsive and the gangrenous. In the former the first experiences are irritation of the skin, coldness of the body, cramps and numbness of the limbs, and pains in the head and back, followed in from one to three weeks by gastralgia, giddi ness, fainting, convulsive movements of the muscles, and other symptoms ; frequently the skin becomes spotted with a vesicular eruption. Great exhaustion and craving for food ensue. Examination of the body after death reveals considerable inflammation of the abdominal viscera. Gan grenous ergotism begins with weariness and pain of the limbs ; the skin grows dull in hue, and at length dry gangrene attacks the extremities, and when death does not supervene the parts affected are generally lost. Dr E. R. Squibb (Year Book of Pharmacy, 1874, p. 43) considers it probable that the poisoning described as the result of eating ergotized food could occur only among underfed semi-scorbutic people, or under conditions not present in cases ordinarily requiring treatment with ergot. For the detection of the presence of ergot in rye flour a small quantity of the sample is mixed with ether, and a few crystals of oxalic acid are added ; if the liquid after being boiled and allowed to grow clear exhibits a red tinge, ergot is present in the sample (Bottger, C/iem. Centralblatt, 3d ser., ii. 624). Arnal, Beatty, Gibbon, and other experi menters have demonstrated that ergot diminishes the frequency of the pulse. Its power of causing the contrac tion of the unstriped muscular tissue, of the body appears to be due principally to its action on the sympathetic system of nerves. It has been maintained by Brown Sequard that it occasions first vaso-motor spasm, and secondly vaso-motor paralysis. The powerful and persistent contraction of the uterus to which it gives rise renders it valuable as a prophylactic against haemorrhage, and also, according to some authorities, as a means of lessening the after-pains. Before the completion of labour its use VIII. 66