ERGOT
Like savin, ergot is more frequently used to procure abortion than as a poison. When taken in a large dose it causes vomiting, purging, intense thirst, hurried breathing, and irregularity of the heart‘s action. Ergot appears to act powerfully on non-striated muscular fibre wherever it exists in the body; hence the vessels contract powerfully, and the peristaltic action of the intestinal canal is greatly increased. On the pregnant uterus its action is uncertain, as it does not appear to have any marked power in inducing labour, but on the parturient uterus its effects are most marked. A case is recorded in the Lancet (vol. ii. 1882) in which ergot had been taken for some time to procure abortion, but this end not being accomplished, the patient took “two hands full” of the powdered ergot to expedite matters, which caused the following fatal symptoms: There was some amount of jaundice, and the expression of the face was anxious. Occasionally fits of stupor occurred, and the general condition of the patient was maudlin, but there was no smell of alcohol in the breath; but during the course of the case, which ended fatally, a distinct etherish smell could be perceived. The pulse was so quick that it could not be counted, and it had also a peculiar jerky feeling under the finger. Attempts were made to induce labour by passing a bougie-a-boule, but the patient died collapsed before delivery could be effected.
Where the drug has been taken for some time in the form of rye-bread made from the diseased grain, the symptoms in some cases are referable to the nervous system; in others, the blood appears to undergo certain changes; and hæmorrhages into the internal organs, as in the case just mentioned, have been frequently noticed. Gangrene of one or more of the extremities has also been known to occur. To chronic poisoning by this drug the term Ergotism has been applied, and may occur under two forms—the spasmodic and the gangrenous; the former marked by convulsions, giddiness, delirium, dimness of vision, and tetanic spasms; the latter, as a rule, by dry gangrene of the nose or extremities.
Chemical Analysis.—Ergot has a peculiar, slightly fishy odour, which is increased by rubbing up the powder with liquor potassæ and heating the mixture. At the same time it turns a reddish colour. The production of this odour, and the appearance under the microscope, are the only tests yet known for this substance in powder. From organic mixture it may be extracted with hot alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid. The solution is red in colour, and shows two bands in the spectrum, one in the green, and a second, broader and more marked, in the blue.
Treatment.—Wash out the stomach, and give inhalations of amyl nitrite.