Abstract
Ergot, the black mass of a particular fungus on cereal grains, especially rye, was the cause of frightful epidemics in Europe more than a thousand years ago, and the ingested contaminated grain has occasioned disease in Russia as late as 1927 and in the United States a generation earlier. Medicinally administered, however, it provides a very important drug in the science of obstetrics.
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Youngken, H.W. Ergot—a blessing and a scourge . Econ Bot 1, 372–380 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858897
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858897