Russian Ergot No. 4
notes: label: Description
content: One of ten specimens of Russian Ergot (dried sclerotium of Claviceps purpurea) donated to the museum in 1935 by Dr. Henry H. Rusby, Dean, College of Pharmacy, Columbia University. The specimens were received in paper packaging and were placed in museum display bottles for exhibition in the section of "Materia Medica." Ergot extract was an important obstetrical drug used to control bleeding after childbirth (postpartum hemorrhage). Pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States imported crude ergot from Spain and Russia.
label: Description
content: Dr. Rusby, a leading American expert in botany and botanical drugs, had been involved in the examination of commercial drugs for purity and quality. in the late 1920s, he became embroiled in a controversary over the quality of imported ergot which led to Congressional hearings in 1930. Rusby obtained these specimens of ergot from the Russian Bureau of Plant Industry to serve as examples of high quality ergot from various regions within the Soviet Union. Rusby wrote, " [These specimens] are the conclusive evidence of the true character and appearance of sound Russian ergot, proving the putridity of the Russian ergot that has been admitted into and used in this country for some years past." The ergot episode revealed weaknesses in federal drug regulation and the (newly renamed) Food and Drug Administration. Further calls for reform would lead to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1938.
label: Description
content: JACKSON, CHARLES O. “The Ergot Controversy: Prologue to the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol. 23, no. 3, Oxford University Press, 1968, pp. 248–57.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: Russia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. H. H. Rusby
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.M-04085
label: accession number
content: 135169
label: catalog number
content: M-04085
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Crude Drug
label: Other Terms
content: Crude Drug; Materia Medica; Drugs; Vegetable; Mold
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: Claviceps purpurea sclerotia (crude drug material)