Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/720

708 ERGOT The most interesting religious building of Erfurt is the Augustinian convent, in which Luther lived for several years. It is now called the Martinsstift, and is used as an asylum for orphans and for other charitable purposes. The university, opened in 1392, once the fourth Cathedral of Erfurt. in Germany, was suppressed in 1816. The royal academy of popular sciences is remarkable for its extensive library. Erfurt was ceded to Prussia by the peace of LuneVille in 1801 ; was taken by the French in 1806 ; was annexed to Westphalia in 1807; and was transferred by Napoleon to the duke of Saxe-Weimar in 1808. The congress of Erfurt (Sept. 27 to Oct. 14, 1808) was attended by Napoleon, Alexander of Russia, and the kings of Bavaria, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and Westphalia. In 1813 the town was taken by the Prussians, after a de- structive bombardment. From Nov. 24, 1848, to Aug. 4, 1849, it was placed in a state of siege ; and in March and April, 1850, the Unionsparla- ment of North Germany, convened by Frederick William IV., was held there in the church of St. Augustine. ERGOT (Fr. a spur, as of a cock), a protu- berance which grows out in a curved form re- sembling a cock's spur from among the grains of the plants of the graminacew, or grass tribe, as wheat, barley, and especially rye. As it is most commonly met with in the last, the substance has been known by the name of spurred rye (secale cornutum). Some have thought it to be the seed altered by a diseased growth, caused by the attack of an insect, or by unfavorable circumstances of moisture, heat, &c. De Candolle thought it a fungus occupy- ing the place of the seed, and called it sclero- tium clavus. But the evidences are now gen- erally regarded as conclusive of its being the grain itself, diseased and deformed by the in- fluence of a parasitic fungus, attached to it from its earliest development. This fungus, distinguishable by the microscope, has been detected in other parts of the plant ; and the white dust or sporidia on the surface of the ergot will engender the disease in other plants if scattered in the soil at their roots or applied to the grains. Ergot as collected for medicinal purposes is in solid grains from to H in. long, of cellular structure, the cells containing oily particles. Its aqueous infusion is claret-col- ored, has an acid reaction, and possesses the peculiar properties of the substance. Ergot contains a volatile alkaloid, secalia, supposed to be identical with propylamia obtained from herring pickle. The fixed oil, which at one time was supposed to partially represent the active principles of ergot, probably owed its properties to an incomplete separation from the other constituents. The so-called ergotine is not a definite chemical principle, but an ex- tract. Ergot is used in medicine to promote the contractions of the uterus either during and after labor, or when independently of preg- nancy it is desired to expel any morbid con- tents. The frequent or routine use of ergot to hasten labor or to expel the placenta is much to be deprecated as productive of danger, in the latter case to the mother, in the former to 1. Ear of Eye with Ergot (Spurred Rye). 2. The Ergot. 3. Diseased Grains of Eye. both mother and child. Although promoting uterine action, ergot cannot be relied upon for this purpose at all times. Its action has been shown to extend to other organs possessing smooth muscular fibres similar to those of the uterus, and it has accordingly been used to