The word "ergot" entered English in 1683 from French ergot, meaning a cock's spur — the sharp, pointed growth on a rooster's leg. The French word derived from Old French argot (a spur, a pointed projection), of uncertain ultimate origin, possibly from a Germanic source. The fungal disease was named for the appearance of its fruiting bodies: dark, elongated, slightly curved structures that replace individual grains of rye or other cereals, resembling miniature rooster spurs protruding from the seed head.
The fungus responsible for ergot — Claviceps purpurea — is one of the most consequential organisms in human history. When infected grain is consumed, the alkaloids it contains cause a condition known as ergotism, which manifests in two terrifying forms. Convulsive ergotism produces seizures, hallucinations, and psychosis. Gangrenous ergotism restricts blood flow to the extremities, causing
The hypothesis that ergot poisoning contributed to the Salem witch trials of 1692 was proposed by historian Linnda Caporael in 1976. The symptoms described in Salem — convulsions, hallucinations, sensations of being pricked or bitten, and altered mental states — are consistent with convulsive ergotism. The accused witches' community had recently harvested rye, and the wet growing conditions that year were ideal for Claviceps infection. While the theory remains debated, it offers
The most remarkable chapter in ergot's story is its role in the discovery of LSD. In 1938, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, working at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) from ergot alkaloids as part of a pharmaceutical research programme. Five years later, in 1943, he accidentally absorbed a small quantity through his skin and experienced the first LSD trip in history. His subsequent deliberate self-experiment — the famous
German Mutterkorn (mother grain) and Spanish cornezuelo (little horn) name the same fungus from different descriptive angles, while only French ergot preserves the rooster's-spur metaphor that gave the disease its English name.