Ergot Alkaloids and Related Compounds

Traditionally every volume of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology is expected to give a comprehensive account of the topic it is devoted to. This is a relatively easy task if the subject has a short history, but if the problems in question have been worked on for half a century or longer the feasibility of integral coverage becomes questionable. In such cases more attention is usually given to the literature of the last decades, whereas older findings are dealt with in a summary fashion - with due exception to findings which can be considered classic. The situation is particularly complex if the origin of the subject is a natural drug whose actions - proven or alleged - were first recorded several centuries ago and where medical use can be traced back at least one and a half centuries (STEARNS, 1808) - as is the case of ergot of rye.