Ergota

Ergot

Ergot. The sclerotium of Claviceps purpurea, replacing the grain of Secale cereale Linné (Nat. Ord. Gramineae). Ergot de seigle, Fr.; Mutterkorn, Ger.

Extractum Ergotae Fluidum

Fluid extract of ergot. Dose, 3 ss

Vinum Ergotae

Wine of ergot. Dose, 3 j—oz ss.

Ergotin

This preparation must not be confounded with a constituent of ergot, supposed to be an active principle. The ergotin of the shops gets its name from "Bonjean's ergotin." It varies very much in strength, owing to faulty modes of preparing it, and is not infrequently inert. As prepared by Squibb it is entirely soluble in water, and represents the powers of the drug. Ergotin (the aqueous extract) is the most eligible preparation for hypodermatic injection. From one to five grains may be injected at one time. In preparing it for this purpose, the quantity to be injected should be rubbed up with fresh distilled or rain water, and then passed through the filter. It is always better to prepare it whenever required. If it is necessary to preserve the solution, the addition of a little carbolic acid—one grain to four ounces—will usually suffice. The addition of glycerin is not necessary, except as a preservative fluid; and is objectionable, because it greatly increases the pain which attends the subcutaneous injection.

Composition

Some confusion yet exists in regard to the constituents of ergot, notwithstanding recent advances in our knowledge. An unfortunate nomenclature is in part responsible for the confusion; but the subject is difficult, and the views of chemists have differed much.

Ergot contains about thirty per cent of a saponifiable, non-drying oil, with which is associated a small quantity of resin and cholesterin. When extract of ergot is treated with an alkali, a peculiar fishy odor is developed, due to methylamine, according to some authorities, and trimethylamine according to others. Ergot also contains lactic and phosphoric acids and phosphates. The two principles, ecbolina and ergotina, separated by Wenzell in 1864, are not true alkaloids of ergot, and are said by Dragendorff to be identical. In 1830 a supposed alkaloid was obtained by Wiggers, which he named ergotin, but this is not the true active principle. Unfortunately, an aqueous extract, prepared by Bonjean, was also named ergotin. Köhler has examined the ergotin of Wiggers and that of Bonjean, and finds that they are mixtures: the former containing the ingredients of ergot not soluble in water; the latter, those that are soluble in water. According to Köhler, neither of these so-called ergotins represents the properties of ergot. More recently Dragendorff and Podwissotzky have gone over the chemistry of ergot anew, with different results. They have introduced new terms also, which add to the complications. The most important principles obtained by them are sclerotic or sclerotinic acid, and scleromucin, the former existing in good ergot in the proportion of about four per cent, and the latter two to three per cent. Another alkaloid has lately been discovered by Tanret, to which he has given the name ergotinine. This substance seems to be a genuine alkaloid; but Kobert has proved that it is inert, or, at least, has no action on the uterus. It is a white, crystallizable solid, insoluble in water, and soluble in ether and chloroform. It is alkaline in reaction and has strong basic properties, and combines with acids to form salts. It is an unstable substance, and in the air soon decomposes. The investigations of Kobert, made in Schmiedeberg's laboratory and published last year, have all the authority which the brilliant talents of the disciple and the immense knowledge of the great master can confer on any production. Kobert's study of the chemistry of ergot resulted in the separation of two acids, ergotinic acid and sphacelinic acid, and an alkaloid, cornutine.

Ergotinic acid is the principal part of the sclerotic acid of Dragendorff and Podwissotzky, mentioned above, and of Bonjean's ergotin. It has no effect on the uterus, but does act on the circulation in a manner unfavorable to the general purposes of the remedy. Sphacelinic acid is the most actively toxic, and is the principle that produces the ergot-gangrene. According to Recklinghausen, who made a careful investigation of the pathological state induced by it, the initial change takes place in the hyaline tissue of the intima of the blood-vessels; the lumen of the vessels is encroached on, thromboses form, and extravasations of blood occur in various places. Hyaline degeneration occurs in the lens, also, and cataract is thus formed. These effects are increased by the stimulation of the muscular fiber of the arterioles lessening their caliber, and thus raising the general blood-pressure. It acts on the uterus powerfully, and is an abortifacient. Cornutine, the alkaloid, is contained in ergot in minute quantity. It causes tonic and clonic convulsions, and death is due to paralysis of respiration. The ecbolin of Wenzell contains more or less cornutine, and owes to it any active property that it may exhibit. Tanret's crystallizable ergotinine is not cornutine; but if any given specimen proves to have active property, Kobert supposes it to contain cornutine.

The most eligible preparation of ergot, Kobert asserts, is an extract so prepared as to contain the sphacelinic acid and cornutine, and for which he proposes the name extractum cornuti secalis comutino-sphacelinicum Koberti. Thus far this preparation, which is to be put forth by Gehe, of Dresden, awaits the new crop of ergot

The composition of ergot has been so nearly arrived at that it will require but little additional investigation to decide finally. Meanwhile, the practitioner can obtain the best results from the fluid extract of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, if honestly prepared from fresh and genuine ergot.

The symptoms by which the physician may recognize the effects of the ergot administered, in any case requiring the exhibition of massive doses, are partly subjective. The patient experiences more or less headache, with a sense of constriction of the forehead, singing in the ears, and a vertigo, which consists in a sensation of floating off. The pupils dilate, and are rather sluggish in their response to stimulation; the eyes appear suffused, and are sensitive to light; the sense of hearing becomes abnormally acute, and loud sounds make a painful impression. The action of the heart is slowed, but the pulse is not tense, and the respirations are slower, with something of a sighing superadded. To this complex of symptoms must be added a feeling of anxiety, and a restlessness which is apparently due to the sensation of "fidgets," as it is commonly known—a feeling of unrest, which impels to constant movement of the limbs. As the effects increase, nausea comes on, and with it vomiting, that takes place suddenly, with little or no warning, the nausea and vomiting almost coincident. This cere-bral vomiting is to be distinguished from that which is attendant on the gastro-enteritis of cases of poisoning.

Antagonists and Incompatibles

The caustic alkalies and the metallic salts are chemically incompatible. Aconite, veratrum viride, tobacco, lobelia, and amyl nitrite (Shafer), antagonize the action of ergot on the circulation.

Synergists

Electricity, cold, digitalis, belladonna, are synergistic as regards the vascular system. Savin, gossypium, rue, borax, increase its parturient action.