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What (who) is ergotism - definition
EFFECT OF LONG-TERM ERGOT POISONING
St Anthonys Fire; Ergotoxicosis; Ergot poisoning; Ergotics
![''[[Claviceps purpurea]]'' fungal [[sclerotia]] growing on barley](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Claviceps purpurea.JPG?width=200 "''[[Claviceps purpurea]]'' fungal [[sclerotia]] growing on barley")
![Ergot in [[barley]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Hordeum vulgare Claviceps purpurea 23-7-2009.JPG?width=200 "Ergot in [[barley]]")
![Detail from the painting ''Temptation of St Anthony'' by [[Matthias Grünewald]], showing a patient with advanced ergotism](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Mathis Gothart Grünewald 018.jpg?width=200 "Detail from the painting ''Temptation of St Anthony'' by [[Matthias Grünewald]], showing a patient with advanced ergotism")
Ergotism
·noun A logical deduction.
II. Ergotism ·noun A diseased condition produced by eating rye affected with the ergot fungus.
ergotism
['?:g?t?z(?)m]
¦ noun poisoning produced by eating food affected by ergot, typically resulting in headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, and gangrene of the fingers and toes.
ergot
A GROUP OF FUNGI OF THE GENUS CLAVICEPS
Ergot and ergotism; Ergot alkaloids; Claviceps; Claviceps africana; Ergot fungus; Claviceps gigantea
['?:g?t]
¦ noun
1. a fungal disease of rye and other cereals, forming black elongated fruiting bodies which are a source of various medicinal alkaloids.
2. a small horny protuberance on the back of a horse's fetlock.
Origin
C17: from Fr., from OFr. argot 'cock's spur' (because of the appearance produced by the disease).
Wikipedia
Ergotism
Ergotism (pron. UR-gət-iz-əm) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the Claviceps purpurea fungus—from the Latin clava "club" or clavus "nail" and -ceps for "head", i.e. the purple club-headed fungus—that infects rye and other cereals, and more recently by the action of a number of ergoline-based drugs. It is also known as ergotoxicosis, ergot poisoning, and Saint Anthony's fire.
