I wish to smoke DMT some day. fuck you up.
Printable View
I wish to smoke DMT some day. fuck you up.
Fifty miligrams of 2c-i?
Fifty miligrams of 2c-i?!
*bouncy piano vamp, mayor enters stage left*
Say Mayor, have ya heard the news? There's fifty miligrams of 2c-i headed this way! Should be here before the sabbath!
Oh gee, Curly, where'd ya ever glean such glorious information?
I heard it from Black Tar Bart, Mister Mayor! And everyone knows to trust the word of Black Tar Bart!
Well then, Curly, I suppose you'd best help spread the news while I organize a welcome committee!
Gosh mayor, I'm so dog-gone excited I could just... why, I could just...
Yes, Curly, you could just what?
I could just SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGG, OHHHHHH
*mayor and curly in unison*
Yes we're singing
and dancing
and ginger-fairy-prancing
You love me and 2C-I love youuuuu
But before we can trip balls we've got ever so much to do!
*return to vamp, other townsfolk wander in*
Heya Curly! Howdy Mayor Birchum! What's all the hullabaloo?
Oh, hello Cowboy Neal! Why, th' mayor and I were just celebrating on account of the good news!
Aw yeah? What good news is that?
Well, why don'tcha sing along and find out!
We buy it
Supply it
And then we'll 2C-I it!
You eat some I'll eat some more with youuuuuu!
But before we can lose ego we've got oh so much to do!
*other villagers join in elaborately choreographed dance*
Our parents
They told us
That drugs would just unfold us
But what I see tells me that's just not truuuuuuuue
Oh you know that I
(you know that I)
Could tell no lie
(no fucking lie!)
Oh, twooooooo seeeee
EYYYYYEEEEE LOOOOOVVE
YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
*orchestra flourishes*
*curtain*
Wow, spontaneous song and dance, and I though that only happened in the movies.
clap clap clap and so on.
^ by the way i wasn't tryin to be an ass, that really was good =)
Man what the hell was I DOING??
lol, i dunno but it was pretty fuckin funny.
I'm impressed.
wow dick.....
[CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE u. s DEPART-
MENT O F AGRICULTURE, NO. 21 ]
THE CHEIllSTRY OF THE CACTACEAE.??
BS ERVIN E?? EWELL.
Receibed M q 13 1396
I. AN HISTORICAL R E S ~ M E AND PRELIMINARY NOTE.
HERE is probably no more interesting family of plants than T the Cactaceae. This interest is manifest among civilized
and uncivilized peoples, old and young, scientific and unscien-
tific. If there is one that does not feel this interest ; if there is
one that is not inspired with awe at the mere contemplation of
the weird forms assumed by the numerous species of this great
order, which inciudes giants and the tiniest dwarfs : if there is
one that is not moved by the mysterious beauty of an opening
blossom of the ??night-blooming cereus,? then let that one
swallow one or more of the little buttons that we shall exhibit
to you this evening and note whether or not he is susceptible to
the more subtle and more powerful influence that he mill find
working from within. There is scarcely a housewife in the land
that pretends to maintain a conservatory or a window garden
without numbering one or more cacti in her collection. She
would have no hesitation about pronouncing any member of the
order a cactus, so marked are their characteristics ; yet, when it
comes to a more minute study for purposes of classification,
botanists who have spent years in studying them are still dis-
puting about them and have filled the literature of the subject
with a host of synonymous names.
When we examine the chemical side of the subject, we find
that our knowledge is still more imperfect. The fact that many
of these plants are used for food and that their juices are drunk
in place of water by the travellers in the arid regions where they
grow in abundance, has caused them to be regarded as devoid
of chemical constituents of greater importance than those that
are to be expected in any of the innocent plants of humid
regions. Various species have been used medicinally in the
countries in which they grow. Cerezis grandifiorzcs and a few
allied species have attained a reputatioii in medical practice
1 An abstract of this paper was read before the Washingtou Sectiou of the American
Chemical Society, Apn19 1896
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 625
among peoples more advanced in the scale of civilization, and
have consequently been made the subject of some chemical
investigation. Their fresh juices produce irritation of the skin
when locally applied, and preparations of them are administered
internally as cardiac stimulants and for other purposes. The
first article published in this country on the subject seems to
have been one by A. F. Pattee, which appeared in the Boston
Medical and Surgical journal in 1867. 0. M. Meyers published
an article in the New York Medical journal in 1891, in which he
called attention to the value as a heart tonic of a preparation of
Cereus grandiforris called ?? ?? cactina. ? This was claimed to be
the active principle of the drug, but it was not stated whether it
was alkaloidal, glucosidal, or of some other nature. Numerous
papers quickly followed, containing reports of clinical experi-
ments with this and other preparations of the drug. Some of
these papers included brief reports of chemical investigations.
Boinet and Boy-Tessier reported the finding of an alkaloid in
this species.?? G. Sharp?? stated that he was unable to find
either alkaloid or glucoside in the drug, and ascribed any active
properties that it may have to the resin that it contains. He
failed to obtain any marked effect from the drug itself, and
took doses of forty and one hundred of the cactus pills, pre-
pared from CactusMexicana, without result. Thisis practically all
that has been done in the way of chemical investigation of this
class of plants in recent years, excepting the species that we are
to consider and a few species closely related thereto.
As far as I have been able to learn, three groups of persons
have been especially active in the scientific study of the Cac-
taceae during the last decade : First, a group of persons at Ber-
lin, the center of which is Dr. L. Lewin, whose earlier work has
been reported in this country in a pamphlet published by Parke,
Davis & Co., of Detroit, and in the Therapeutic Gazette for 1888 ;
second, a group of persons at the Pharmacological Institute of
the University of Leipsic, where the work has been conducted
by Dr. Arthur Heffter ; third, a group of persons in this city,
centering in the Bureau of American Ethnology, and including
1 Bulletin &&a1 de Thevupeutique, 1891, 121, 343-349.
2 London Praclifionw, 1894.
626 ERVIN E. EWELI,.
as associates the Division of Chemistry of the Department of
Agriculture for chemical studies, Drs. Prentiss and Morgan for
the study of physiological properties, and the Botanical Division
of the Department of Agriculture for the settlement of botanical
questions. These more recent investigations have been directed
toward one or more species of cacti that are used by the hmeri-
can Indians for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. This sub-
stance, known as ??mescal buttons ? in the commerce of our
southwestern border and in Mexico as peyote or pelZoole, has been
of commercial and medicinal importance in Mexico for many
years, being mentioned by Spanish writers as early as 1790. It
was included in the Mexican Pharmacopoeia of 1842, but has
been omitted from the later editions. The species furnishing
the ?? ( mescal buttons ? is Anhalonium Lez~hii (Hennings) , for
which the synonymous names are .4nhaloniicm Williamsii, var. ,
Lewiniiand Lophophora WiZliamsii, var., Leadnii. There seems to
be evidence that Anhalonium Williamsii also contributes to the
supply of This latter species is
likewise burdened with an abundance of names, being known
among botanists by the names of Echizocactus Willianzsii and
Lopho@hora WilZiamsii, in addition to the one just used to des-
ignate it.
buttons ? by
the Indians, I quote, by permission, from a recent article on the
subject by hIr. James Mooney of the Bureau of American
Ethnology :
??About five years ago, while making investigations among
the Kiowa Indians on behalf of the Bureau of Ethnology, the
attention of the writer was directed to the ceremonial use of a
plant for which were claimed wonderful medical and psychologic
properties. So numerous and important are its medical applica-
tions, and so exhilarating and glorious its effect, according to
the statements of the natives, that it is regarded as the vegetable
incarnation of a deity, and the ceremonial eating of the plant
has become the great religious rite of all the tribes of the south-
ern plains. +
mescal buttons ? and pellote.
For a detailed account of the use of the dried
# # # # + + * +
Thevapeutrc Gazefte, Jauii. 1 The Mescal Plant and Ceremony. by James Mooney.
ary, 1896
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 627
??As a matter of fact, there are several varieties, probably all
of the same genus, used by the Indians in a ceremonial way.
The explorer Lumholtz mentions three varieties among the
Tarahumari of northern Mexico, (see his article in Scm??bner??s
Magazine for October, 1894). A different sort, from the lower
Rio Grande, is used by the Kiowas and associated tribes, and
a smaller variety is found among the Mescalero Apaches of
eastern New Mexico. In each language it has a different name,
usually referring to the prickles. Among the Kiowas it was
se6i; among the Comanches, wokowi ; with the Mescaleros, ho ;
and with the Tarahumaris, hikori. The traders of the Indian
Territory commonly call it mescal, although it must not be con-
founded with another mescal in Arizona, the Agave, from
which the Apaches prepare an intoxicating drink. The local
Mexican name upon the Rio Grande is peyote or peZlote, from
the old Aztec name peyotl.
?? The use of the plant for medical and religious purposes is
probably as ancient as the Indian occupancy of the region over
which it grows. There is evidence that the ceremonial rite was
known to all the tribes from the Arkansas to the valley of
Mexico, and from the Sierra Madre to the coast. The Mesca-
lero Apaches take their name from it. Personal inquiry among
the Navajos and Mokis proved that they had no knowledge
of it.
I ?? In proportion as the plant was held sacred by the Indians,
so it was regarded by the early missionaries as the direct inven-
tion of the devil, and the eating of the peyote was made a crime
equal in enormity to the eating of human flesh. From the
beginning it has been condemned without investigation, and
even under the present system severe penalties have been
threatened and inflicted against Indians using it or having it
in their possession. Notwithstanding this, practically all the
men of the Southern Plains tribes eat it habitually in the cere-
mony, and find no difficulty in procuring all they can pay for.
In spite of its universal use and the constant assertion of the
Indians that the plant is a valuable medicine and the ceremony
a beautiful religious rite, no agency physician, post surgeon,
628 ERVIN E. EWELL.
missionary, or teacher-with a single exception-has ever tested
the plant or witnessed the ceremony.
??A detailed account of mythology, history and sacred ritual
in connection with the mescal would fill a volume. Such an
account, to be published eventually by the Bureau of Ethnology,
the writer is now preparing, as the result of several years of
field study among the Southern Plains tribes.
???? The ceremony occupies from twelve to fourteen hours,
beginning about nine or ten o??clock and lasting sometimes until
nearly noon the next day. Saturday night is now the time
usually selected, in deference to the white man??s idea of Sunday
as a sacred day and a day of rest. The worshippers sit in a
circle around the inside of the sacred tipi, with a fire blazing in
the center. The exercises open with a prayer by the leader,
who then hands each man four mescals, which he takes and eats
in quick succession, first plucking out the small tufts of down
from the center. In eating, the dry mescal is first chewed in
the mouth, then rolled into a large pellet between the hands,
and swallowed, the man rubbing his breast and the back of his
neck at the same time to aid the descent. After the first round
the leader takes the rattle, while his assistants take the drum,
and together they sing the first song four times, with full voices,
at the same time beating the drum and shaking the rattle with
all the strength of their arms. The drum and rattle are then
handed to the next couple, and so the song goes on rouud and
round the circle-with only a break for the baptismal ceremony
at midnight, and another for the daylight ceremony-until per-
haps nine o??clock the next morning. Then the instruments are
passed out of the tipi, the sacred foods are eaten, and the cere-
mony is at an end. At midnight a vessel of water is passed
around, and each takes a drink and sprinkles a few drops upon
his head. Up to this hour no one has moved from his position,
sitting cross-legged upon the ground and with no support for
his back, but now any one is at liberty to go out and walk about
for a while and return again. Few, howover, do this, as it is
considered a sign of weakness. The sacred food at the close
of the ceremony consists of parched corn in sweetened water ;
rice or other boiled grain ; boiled fruit, usually now prunes or
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 629
dried apples ; and dried meat pounded up with sugar. Every
person takes a little of each, first taking a drink of water toclear
his mouth.
??After midnight the leader passes the mescal around again,
giving to each man as many as he may call for. On this second
round I have frequently seen a man call for ten and eat them one
after the other as rapidly as he could chew. They continue to
eat at intervals until the close. There is much spitting, and
probably but little of the juice is swallowed. Every one smokes
hand-made cigarettes, the smoke being regarded as a sacred
incense. At intervals some fervent devotee will break out into
an earnest prayer, stretching his hands out toward the fire and
the sacred mescal the while. For the rest of the time, when not
singing the song and handling the drum or rattle with all his
strength, he sits quietly with his blanket drawn about him and
his eyes fixed upon the sacred mescal in the center, or perhaps
with his eyes shut and apparently dozing. Hemust be instantly
ready, however, when his turn comes at the song, or to make a
prayer at the request of some one present, so that it is apparent
that the senses are always on the alert and under control of the
will.
?? There is no preliminary preparation, such as by fasting or
the sweat-bath, and supper is eaten as usual before going in.
The dinner, which is given an hour or tw*o after the ceremony,
is always as elaborate a feast as the host can provide. Therest
of the day is spent in gossiping, smoking, and singing the new
songs, until it is time to return home. They go to bed at the
usual time, and are generally up at the usual time the next
morning. No salt is used in the food until the day after the
ceremony.
??As a rule, only men take part in the regular ceremony, but
sick women and children are brought in, and, after prayers for
their recovery, are allowed to eat one or more mescals prepared
for them by the priest.?
I t is to Mr. Mooney that we are indebted for the commence-
ment of the scientific study of the drug in this country. On his
return in the summer of 1894, from a prolonged residence among
the tribes that use the drug, he brought with him a considerable
630 ERVIN E. EWELL.
quantity of the dried buttons? for use in scientific investiga-
tions. A portion of this material was turned over to Dr. H . U??.
Wiley, Chief of the Division of Chemistry of the Department of
Agriculture, for a study of its chemical constituents. This task
was assigned to the author by Dr. Wiley in September, 1894.
The only literature of the subject at hand at that time was the
article published by Dr. Lewin in 1888,?? in which he announced
the discovery and name, anhalonin, of an alkaloid in Ax-
haZonium Lewinii, a name that had been given to the plant
furnishing ??mescal buttons I ?? by Hennings, the botanist to
whom Lewin intrusted the botanical identification of the crude
material in which the alkaloid was found. Work had hardly
been begun in the laboratory of the Department of Agriculture
with the result of the separation of a considerable portion of
Lewin??s anhalonin, when Dr. Heffter2 published an article in
which he reported the results of a chemical study of four species
of the genus Anhalonium : A. fissurafuiii, A. jrismaticum, A.
WiZZiamsii, A . Lewinii. This was quickly followed by a report
by Lewin of the continuation of his experiments mentioned
above. a
For the aid of the American readers who may feel an interest
in this subject, the writer has prepared the following table, in
which the results of the investigations, hitherto reported, of the
three more thoroughly studied species of anhalonium, are pre-
sented in a convenient form for reference and coniparison :
1 Archiv fiir ex&&menielle Pathologie utid Pharmakoiogie, 1888, 14, 401 ; Thwapeutrc
Gazette. 1888, p. 232, and in a pamphlet issued by Parke, Davis 8; Co.. of Detroit. the
same being a reprint from ?? The Pharmacology of the Newer Materia Medica.?
2 .4rchiv fi2v expperimentelle Pathologie tend Pharmakologre. 1894, 34, 65-56.
8 Avchivfiir experimentelle Pathologif aird Phavmakologie. 1894. 34, 374-391
ERVIS E. EWELL.
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 633
d w Y
1 c) .I .I .* .-
a
a
v
a
u
6 t!
k
634 ERVIX E. EWELL.
CHEMISTRY OF T H E CACTACEAE. 635
V
636 ERVIN E. EWELL.
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 637
63 8 ERVIN E. EWELL.
All of the bases mentioned in the above table are possessed of
marked physiological properties, and produce death when
administered to the lower animals in sufficient doses. The
nature and extent of the physiological activity of these alkaloids
as determined by the experiments of Lewin and Heffter, are
shown in the following table :
640 ERVIN E . EWELL.
L
CHEMISTRY OF THE CACTACEAE. 64 1
The materials used by Lewin in his experiments reported in
1894 were prepared in the laboratory of E. Merck & Co., of
Darmstadt. I n their report to Lewin, mention was made of the
presence of still a third base in the drug, which forms a crystal-
lizable hydrochlorate that is easily soluble in cold water. It
seems quite possible that the substance described under the
name of amorphous anhalonin hydrochlorate? was a mixture
of alkaloidal hydrochlorates.
Heffter also made a cursory examination of a small sample of
A~~~aZoniumprismaticum and found it to contain a sniall per-
centage of alkaloidal constituents possessing high physiological
activity.
In the article published by Lewin, in 1894, and cited above,
mention is made of a partial analysis of a sample of Anhalonium
Jourdanianum made in 1889 with the result of the separation of
an alkaloid that formed a crystalline hydrochlorate and resem-
bled anhalonin in its characteristic color-reaction as well as the
nature of its physiological action upon frogs. In the same ar-
ticle report is also made of an examination of Anhalonium
WiZZiamsii, several species of Mammillaria, and one species of
Opuntia. The study of A . WiZZiamsii, which was made in 1891,
resulted in the separation of an alkaloid that caused an increase
of reflex excitability, and marked tetanus when administered to
frogs. The tendency of the tetanic condition to continue for
several days was very pronounced. The milky juices yielded
by MamijZaria polythele, M. centn??nrrha var. PachytheZe, M. juZ-
chra, Haw. rcnd M. arietina, were found to possess no poisonous
properties. Mammillaria uberiformis was found to be poison-
ous. RhipsaZis conferta, a member of the Opuntia group, yielded
a slimy juice that was difficultly soluble in water. When this
was administered to frogs by hypodermic injection a paralysis
of the voluntary muscles was produced, which was followed by
heart failure.
It is very apparent from the results of the investigations
which I have thus briefly summarized, that the Cactaceae is a
group of plants worthy the attention of the botanist, the chem-
ist, the pharmacologist, the physician, and the toxicologist, as
well as the attention of the entire mass of nature-loving human-
642 CHEMISTRT O F THE C.\C??l??XCEAE.
ity. It is to be hoped that American scientistswill not leave the
task of exploring this promising field entirely to workers beyond
the sea, considering our proximity to much of the necessary
material.
I t is the purpose of the present article to bring the subject to
the attention of American investigators and to briefly outline
the work that has been done in :he laboratory of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture. Mescal buttons,? thedried, com-
mercial form of Anhaloizium Lewinii, have served as the start-
ing point for all our investigations. Fig. I shows the appear-
ance of the ?? ?? buttons? when viewed upon the top, upon the
edge, and upon the under side.
Figs. 2 , 3, 4, and 5, show the appearance of living specimens
of Ayzhalonium Lewizii, A. Williamsii, A. &miraturn, and A .
prismaticurn, respectively, the illustrations being prepared from
photographs made by the author from plants growing in the
National Botanical Gardens.
An alkaloid corresponding in its properties to Lewin??s anha-
lonin has been prepared in a considerable amount and in a high
state of purity. Fig. 6 shows the appearance of the bottom of a
crystallizing dish in which the hydrochlorate was crystallized
from alcohol by spontaneous evaporation over sulphuric acid in
a vacuum.
A second and, very recently, a third alkaloid have been sepa-
rated from the drug. All three of these alkaloidal preparations
have been subjected to physiological tests by Drs. Prentiss and
Morgan, and the results of their investigations will soon be pub-
lished in the Medical Record. They have recently published
two articles upon the physiological action and therapeutic value
of the crude drug in the Therapeutic Gazette.?? As for the third
alkaloid separated, let it suffice to say for the present that it has
been found to be much stronger than any alkaloid hitherto sepa-
rated froni any member of the genus Anhalonium, as 0.02-0.025
gram of its hydrochlorate per kilo or body weight is fatal to rab-
bits, and 0.03 gram per kilo of body weight suffices to kill a full
grown guinea-pig. The hydrochlorate of this alkaloid crystal-
lizes in nodular groups of radiating needles. Fig. 7 was made
1 Sept.. 789j, and Jan , r896.
REFINING LIXIVIATION SULPHIDES. 643
from a photograph of crystals obtained by the spontaneous
evaporation of a solution of the alkaloidal salt in ninety per cent.
alcohol.
An examination of the resinous constituents of the plant is in
progress, as well as a study of those of its constituents that are
of interest to the vegetable physiologist rather than to the
therapeutist.
A more extended report 6f this work is reserved for a future
paper. Before closing this preliminary announcement, how-
ever, I wish to express my indebtedness to Dr. Wiley for much
greatly appreciated assistance in the work, and to Dr. Brown for
the aid that he very kindly rendered me in the preparation of
the photographs used for the illustration of the article. I also
desire to express my appreciation of the patience with which
both Dr. Wiley and the gentlemen of the Bureau of Ethnology
have awaited the progress of this work, which has been
largely limited to spare moments not required by other duties.
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 11, 1896.
THE SULPHURIC ACID PROCESS OF REFINING LIXIVI-
ATION SULPHIDES.'
BY FREDERIC P. DEWEY,
Received May 91, 1896.
HE time is fast approaching when more chemistry must be T used in the extraction of the preciousmetalsin the United
States. The chief objections to chemical methods are the tech-
nical skill required in the management, the higher grade of labor
necessary and the time required to turn out product, thus lock-
ing up large amounts of capital ; but these difficulties are becom-
ing less applicable all the time. Then too, the wonderful suc-
cess attained in this country in extracting the precious metals
by smelting with lead has retarded the application of chemical
met hods.
The chemical process of extracting silver by lixiviating, or
leaching its ores with solution of hyposulphite of sodium, was
introduced by von Patera in 1858, and has been variously
improved, notably by the substitution of the calcium salt for
Read before the Washington Section of the American Chemical Society, March xz,
1896.