It is generally said that in 1630, Thuillier, in describing an ergot epidemic which broke out in Cologne, first referred the cause of the disease to spurred rye.
It is interesting to inquire into the mortality from this disease. In 1770, in an epidemic described by Taube, in which 600 were affected, 16 per cent. died. In a nineteenth-century epidemic (1855), in which, according to Husemann, 30 were ill, 23·3 per cent. died. In other epidemics, according to Heusinger, out of 102, 12 per cent. died; according to Griepenkerl, out of 155, 25 or 16 per cent. died; and, according to Meyer, of 283 cases, 6 per cent. died.
There are two forms of chronic poisoning by ergot—one a spasmodic form, the other the gangrenous form.
§ 583. The convulsive form of ergotism mostly begins with some cerebral disturbance. There are sparks before the eyes, giddiness, noises in the ears, and a creeping feeling about the body. There is also very commonly anæsthesia of the fingers and toes, and later of the extremities, of the back, and even of the tongue. Diarrhœa, vomiting, colic, and other signs of intestinal irritation seldom fail to be present; there are also tetanic spasms of the muscles, rising in some cases to well-marked tetanus; epilepsy, faintings, aberrations of vision, amaurosis, and amblyopia are frequent; the skin becomes of a yellow or earthy colour, and is covered with a cold sweat; boils and other eruptions may break out; blebs, like those caused by burns or scalds, have in a few cases been noticed. Death may occur in from four to twelve weeks after the eating of the spurred grain from exhaustion. In those individuals who recover, there remain for some time weakness, contractions of groups of muscles, anæmia, or affections of vision.
§ 584. The Gangrenous Form of Ergotism.—In this form there is generally acute pain in the limb or limbs which are to mortify; and there may be prodromata, similar to those already described. The limb swells, is covered with an erysipelatous blush, but at the same time feels icy cold; the gangrene is generally dry, occasionally moist; the mummified parts separate from the healthy by a moist, ulcerative process; and in this way the toes, fingers, legs, and even the nose, may be lost. During the process of separation there is some fever, and pyæmia may occur with a fatal result.
Fontenelle described a case in which a rustic lost all the toes of one foot, then those of the other; after that, the remnant of the first foot, and lastly the leg. But probably the most extraordinary case of gangrene caused by the use of ergot is that which occurred at Wattisham, Suffolk, in the family of a labouring man named John Downing. He had a wife and six children of various ages, from fifteen years to four months. On Monday, January 10, 1762, the eldest girl complained of a pain in the calf of her left leg; in the evening, her sister, aged 10, also experienced the same symptoms. On the following Monday, the mother and another child, and on Tuesday, all the rest of the family except the father became affected. The pain was very violent. The baby at the breast lived a few weeks, and died of mortification of the extremities. The limbs of the family now began to slough off, and the following are the notes on their condition made by an observer, Dr. C. Wollaston, F.R.S., on April 13:—
“The mother, aged 40. Right foot off at the ankle, the left leg mortified; a mere bone left, but not off.
“Elizabeth, aged 13. Both legs off below the knees.