Ergot Of Rye Research Paper

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Ergot of Rye, or scientifically known as Claviceps purpurea, is a fungus that causes debilitating side effects. This disease, known as ergotism, grows on rye, wheat, and other cereal grasses. When the plant is first infected with this fungus, the head of the grain will begin to spurt out a yellow mucus which contains the spores that carry the fungus and spread the disease. The fungus infects the kernels of grain and turns the grains into dark purple sclerotia. These sclerotia are oftentimes mistaken for large discolored grains of wheat or rye, and were therefore eaten by the unsuspecting farmers. The ergot alkaloids affect the central nervous system by causing severe contractions of the smooth muscles as well as internal organs. It also …show more content…
To the unlearned people of Massachusetts in the 17th century, when they saw and heard of people being “talked” to by the devil and seeing hallucinations of devils and other supernatural things, a witchcraft hysteria broke out. In 1691, there was a major rise in the count of supposed “witches” in the state, but it has been found that it was merely the amount of infected rye in that area that diseased the people. Ergot thrives in damp, hot, rainy weather and it has been found that these exact weather conditions were present in Salem during the summer of 1691. Those accused of being witches were the ones who have been found to live in areas that were most swampy and therefore were the best breeding areas for Ergot of Rye. By 1692, the amounts of supposed bewitched people had gone down because of the dry season of that summer. Sadly, the healers of the ergotism, were oftentimes accused of being witches themselves because they were curing many of the people. The witch hunters assumed that because these people could heal those affected, they must have had “magical powers” and were bewitched also. These healers could aid in lessening some of the symptoms such as muscular spasms with mistletoe.
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