Figure 9: Ergot (labeled A) is a fungus that can afflict rye and other grains in unusually wet growing seasons. Concerned farmers reported that mares lost their pregnancies from ingesting infected grain. Medical doctors quickly recognized a medicinal value for pregnant women, in treating life-threatening uterine hemorrhages or in strengthening contractions for an over-long or weak labor. By the 1830s, some doctors used ergot to induce abortions. As was often the case with nineteenth-century medicines, getting the dosage right was hard. Too little proved ineffective, while too much could be fatal. Rye ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea), 1897. Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Welcome to Commonplace, a destination for exploring and exchanging ideas about early American history and culture. A bit less formal than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine, Commonplace speaks—and listens—to scholars, museum curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about anyone interested in American history before 1900. It is for all sorts of people to read about all sorts of things relating to early American life—from architecture to literature, from politics to parlor manners. It’s a place to find insightful analysis of early American history as it is discussed in scholarly literature, as it manifests on the evening news, as it is curated in museums, big and small; as it is performed in documentary and dramatic films and as it shows up in everyday life.
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How to cite Commonplace articles:
Author, “Title of Article,” Commonplace: the journal of early American life, date accessed, URL.
Sophie White, “Trading Looks Race, Religion and Dress in French America,” Commonplace: the journal of early American life, accessed September 30, 2019, https://commonplace.online/article/trading-looks-race-religion-dress-french-america/
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