American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy

muscular fibers.
Mammary tumors, from uterine irritation, are slowly reduced by the
action of ergot.
The hemorrhage and excessive discharges, purulent or otherwise,
occasioned by the growth of foreign bodies about the womb, will be
beneficially influenced by this agent. The growth of a uterine cancer is
sometimes retarded a little, and the hemorrhage from the cancer is more
or less controlled by ergot.
Dr. Standlee said that ergot would support the patient's heart exceedingly
well when the remedy was indicated, especially when there was
muscular fatigue from overwork or from dyscrasia, as in the malarial
infections as found in the south, or in malignant malarial hematuria,
especially if used hypodermically.
Ergotin so used will control hemorrhage from the lungs. It was
administered for this purpose to a drunkard suffering from delirium
tremens where it controlled both conditions satisfactorily.
As stated in its physiological action, ergot is a most useful remedy where
there is a constant tendency to fullness of the circulation of the
brain—hyperemia with flushed condition of the face, with vertigo,
nausea, and violent headache. In threatened apoplexy in young, fullblooded,
active men; with full cerebral circulation, it overcomes the
immediate symptoms of an attack, and if properly administered will cure
the tendency.
Where apoplexy from acute cerebral hemorrhage has occurred it is a very
useful agent in unloading the distention of the capillaries and assisting
in the contraction and removal of the clot.
In children, where there has been a fall upon the head, or a violent blow,
with symptoms of concussion of the brain, ergot is the most prompt remedy
known. It should be given in from five to ten drop doses, and repeated in
half an hour if necessary. Spasm should be averted by passiflora, chloral,
the bromides, or, a full dose of gelsemium may be given. But the
circulation of the brain must be controlled at once by ergot and its
influence sustained by smaller doses until inflammation is no longer
pending.
Ellingwood’s American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy - Page 200