I was looking over John Allen's Close Encounters of a Panaeolus Kind once more and it's a wonderful piece of mushroom lore. There's a claim made that Oregonian students have been harvesting this species since 1968.

The whole article picks up the flavor and essence of this species, certainly feeling some resonance.




I hadn't realized they were as common as they are in my area till just this week. My friends and I picked perhaps a few hundred specimens, many of which were growing out of my friends' and my own yard!

Panaeolina foenisecii was first investigated for the presence of indole compounds by Tyler and Smith (1963). They detected no psilocybin or psilocin in the specimens they analyzed, but did report the occurrence of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), along with 5-hydroxytryptophan, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. Two years later, Holden (1965) reported a suspected poisoning in a young English boy who became ill with tachycardia and mydriasis after allegedly consuming Panaeolina foenisecii). Specimens of the fungus collected in England and examined by Holden in 1969, contained no detectable psilocybin or psilocin (Mantle & Waight 1969).

Ola'h (1968a; 1968b; 1969; 1970) studied this species and described it as being 'latent psilocybian' (i.e., only producing these compounds sporadically). Robbers et al. (1969), reported detection of psilocybin in two collections of P. foenisecii, -- one from Lafayette, Indiana, and another from Quebec, Canada. A third collection of the fungus, from Seattle, Washington, did not contain psilocybin.

In 1972 Fiusello and Ceruti-Scurti reported analysis of an Italian collection of P. foenisecii and found psilocybin present in one of two samples. Specimens collected during the spring of 1972 in Seattle, Washington tested negative (Enos 1972; Brolyn 1990). Later that same year, Miller (1972) commented on a case of poisoning that occurred earlier in 1966, in which this fungus was eaten by a four year old boy who "...was rendered comatose for a short time." Two years later, Southcott (1974) reported the above cited Australian case.

Although much earlier, Cleland (1934) first recorded the presence of the "haymaker's mushroom" in Australia, he identified the fungus as Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.) Fr. (the Latin name Foenisecia, means "Hay-harvest). Cleland made no mention regarding the species toxicity or edibility.

Specimens of P. foenisecii collected near Canberra, Australia were analyzed by R.W. Rickards (cf. Southcott 1974) and were reported as being psilocybin negative. Ott (1976), citing Robbers et al. (1969) as his source, noted that P. foenisecii specimens from Ontario and Indiana were tested as psilocybin positive. The specimens referred to above were actually collected in Quebec and Indiana. Ott (1974-1975) later mentioned that he himself ingested a large number of the "haymaker's mushroom collected near Olympia, Washington; he reported no noticeable effects.

Pollock (1976) based the following statement on a study by Ola'h (1970) involving five samples of P. foenisecii (four from Quebec and one from Paris); "two from Quebec contained both psilocybin and psilocin, whereas the one from Paris and one of the two other samples from Quebec contained psilocybin."

Ott and Guzman (1976) carried out further investigations regarding the production of psilocybin and psilocin in P. foenisecii. They analyzed specimens from the Federal District of Mexico and found them to be void of psilocybin. Ott and Pollock (Guzman et al. 1976) also collected specimens of P. foenisecii from Oregon in 1975. No psilocybin was detected.

Haard and Haard (1975) suggested that psilocybin and psilocin are only found in this fungus in the United States on the East Coast; while Menser (1977) noted that "Western analyses have often shown the presence of psilocybin (but not psilocin) in small amounts only" (the authors of the present study found no reference verifying either Menser's or Haard and Haard's claims). Singer (197 also ingested "raw" specimens of this species. He reported no "psychotropic" effects whatsoever. Subsequent chemical analysis of P. foenisecii by Singer (1991, Pers. Comm.) was negative. Arora (1979), believing this species to be harmless, stated that the " 'chemical analysis have revealed traces of psilocybin in certain strains, but [the] material I tested was inactive."

Watling (1979) collected specimens of Panaeolina foenisecii in 1974 from Western Australia. He described the suspected poisoning of a two year old girl in Australia (the case originally reported by Southcott in 1974; see case history no. 3 above). Watling briefly mentioned Holden's (1965) report of an alleged poisoning of a three year old child in Great Britain, and argued that "because of its wide spread distribution, and its frequency on lawns and in parks P. foenisecii is likely to cause poisonings, especially in young children."

Cooles (1980) reported that three teen-agers in the British Isles sought emergency treatment after each had allegedly consumed between 20 to 30 mushrooms. The mushrooms in this case were reported to be Panaeolina foenisecii; however, all three patients displayed symptoms of visual disturbances which included "euphoria and hallucinations of color and speed of movements such that lawns developed patches of brilliant colors and cars moved frighteningly fast." It is possible that these three young teen-agers may have consumed some specimens of Panaeolina foenisecii; but the symptoms described are similar to those associated with the ingestion of Psilocybe species (i.e., P. semilanceata (Fr. ex Secr.) Kumm., which is native to the British Isles, and P. cubensis (Earle) Singer, a commonly ingested psychoactive species which is not indigenous to these islands, but can be grown indoors clandestinely). In 1982, Beug and Bigwood published their analysis of two collections of Psathyrella foenisecii (syn, P. foenisecii) collected in 1978 from the Pacific Northwest. They reported the fungus specimens to be void of any psilocybin or psilocin.

Christiansen, Rasmussen, and Holland (1984) analyzed Norwegian specimens of Panaeolina collected from a lawn in September of 1982 and detected no indole compounds. Stijve, Hischenhuber, and Ashley (1984) "...are of the opinion that P. foenisecii cannot contain psilocybin or psilocin at all." These scientists came to this conclusion after analyzing 16 different collections of P. foenisecii from 8 countries, including Australia, the United States and six in Europe. Specimens analyzed for possible indole compounds were collected over an eleven year period (1973-1982). Stijve, Hischenhuber, and Ashley also conducted controlled laboratory experiments with human volunteers to test the possible effects of P. foenisecii; however, "...even the equivalent of 40 gm of fresh mushrooms failed to produce any psychotropic effect." Gartz (1985) reported that his study and analysis of 100 specimens of P. foenisecii were psilocybin negative. More recently Ohenoja et al. (1987) detected psilocybin (0.03)% in two separate dried specimens collected in Finland.

In 1977, Allen (1988a) collected a species of Panaeolina in Oxnard, California which macroscopically resembled P. foenisecii; later, Allen bioassayed this species and found that the mushrooms (40 fresh specimens weighing 52 gm) were definitely psychoactive. No voucher specimens were saved for examination. It is possible that the specimens collected in this case were misidentified by Allen and were actually Panaeolus castaneifolius (Murr.) Ola'h=Panaeolina castaneifolius (Murr.) Smith, or a similar related variety of Panaeolus. Allen (1988b) also reported that two elderly ladies were intoxicated by Panaeolina foenisecii in Portland, Oregon.

According to a recent study by Young (198 "...chromatographic analysis of Australian Material (Panaeolina foenisecii) has not yet demonstrated the presence of any psilocybin in this species."

Based on his personal ingestion of the fungus, John Leonard (1989, Pers. Comm.), a resident of Hingham, Massachusetts, claimed that Panaeolina foenisecii collected on his own front lawn was psychoactive in large quantity. Voucher specimens of Leonard's 1985 collection have been deposited at the Bishop Herbarium in Honolulu, Hawaii for scientific examination (1989. 363. Sheet # 580325. May-June 1985. Plymouth, Mass.). Two other collections of Leonard's specimens were forwarded to Dr. T. Stijve in Switzerland for study. Botanical identity was confirmed and chemical properties were established. Both collections of the fungi were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and by High Performance Thin Layered Chromatography with identical results (see Fig. 2). Comparative analyses using specimens of Copelandia cyanescens from the Hawaiian Islands shows that both of Leonard's collections of Panaeolina foenisecii from Massachusetts contain characteristic compounds of Panaeolus species. These include urea, serotonin and its precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan. Although tryptophan might also present, there is definitely no psilocybin or psilocin, (i.e., 0.01% dry weight). Also the absence of bufotonin (5-hydroxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine) suggests that the fungi is not able to methylate serotonin (Stijve et al., 1984). The results in figure 2 show the difference.


Recently a popular American publication devoted to the drug subculture featured a pictorial which described Panaeolina foenisecii as a common psychoactive fungi (Brolyn 1990).

https://www.erowid.org/p...ushrooms_article4.shtml

Although there is no recorded medical use of Panaeolina foenisecii in the literature, over the years one of the authors (JWA) has been informed by several people who have experimented with this fungi. According to some of these informants Panaeolina foenisecii does produce some symptoms of relaxation, including a tranquil feeling of well being. This may be caused by some of the various tryptamine alkaloids, including 5-hydroxytryptophan, which are known to occur in various species of mushrooms producing psilocybin and/or psilocin.
https://www.erowid.org/p...ushrooms_article4.shtml

Panaeolus olivaceus grows scattered to gregariously in rich grassy areas, from late summer through December, across North and South America, likely more widely distributed; it has been collected in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, Florida, Georgia, Canada's Quebec and in the United Kingdom. -Wikipedia

I began to realize that these mushrooms just might possess some sort of celestial energy. It was as if they were telepathic and speaking to me in a language which only they and I knew. Somehow I could feel their aura and I knew that they had been calling me from afar to come and visit them. They were inviting me to their home so that I could experience all that they were. Inviting me to pick them from their habitat which they knew so well.

Panaeolus subbalteatus is an entheogenic fungi which contains the psychomimetic indole alkaloids psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin. Historically, this fungi is referred to as the "Weed Panaeolus." According to the late mycologists, Dr. Rolf Singer and Dr. Alexander H. Smith, it is "one of a number of weed fungi [like crab grass is to grass] found spontaneously like weeds in beds of the cultivated commercial white mushroom Agaricus bisporis [your common grocery store mushroom or champignon as the French refer to them]." During the past 100 years Panaeolus subbalteatus has been referred to by many different binomials, including the "poisonous mushroom" Panaeolus venenosus. Other mycologists have named it Panaeolus rufus, Panaeolus semigloblatus, and Panaeolus variabilis and some lame Europeans have referred to it as Panaeolus benanosis. It may even be conspecific with Panaeolus papillionaceus. The latter species is also referred to as the "butterfly" mushroom.

Since the early 1900's, numerous intoxications occurred when P. subbalteatus was accidently consumed as an edible variety. Early reports regarding accidental inebriations from Panaeolus species date back to the Chin dynasty (2nd century a.d.) and the 11th century in Japan. Many ancient Chinese herbal medicine books list Panaeolus species as the cause of a laughing sickness and describe cures under the heading of "Cures for the laughing sickness." A remedy for this laughing malady requires a potion consisting of an infusion of water which has been filtered through top soil. The inflicted party would drink the potion to alleviate the intense laughter after accidently or purposely ingesting psilocybian fungi.

Panaeolus subbalteatus is a cosmopolitan species found all over the world. It is common in the dung of cattle and composting hay and/or haystacks. Other habitats include lawns, open fields and riding stables. Its season extends from late February through early June and again in August and September. P. subbalteatus fruits abundantly in rotted haystacks in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. In the Hawaiian archipelago, P. subbalteatus is abundant in cow manure at the 3000 foot elevation above and below Kula highway on Maui Island.

https://www.erowid.org/p...shrooms_article1.shtml.

Great that you've made this thread because today I've logged in specially to report that I'm RIGHT NOW experiencing mild but unmistakeable activity from Panaeolina foeniscecii gathered from parkland in my area (UK, Yorkshire). Normally I ignore these mushrooms but recent weather conditions have brought on a bumper crop, (as well as producing vigorous growth in local grassy patches - the upshot of this being several mowings in the past few weeks which probably gives our dear fungi plenty to eat) and for some reason those little fellas were calling out to me as they are sometimes wont to do.

I picked a good handful of specimens while strolling through the park this afternoon - it was quite difficult to avoid stepping on them. They were taken home for cleaning, inspection and photographing. Then they went in the pot. There were about 60-70 specimens in all, of various ages and sizes. Mostly I had picked nicer-looking, younger specimens. About 300mL of boling water was added and brought to a vigorous boil for a couple of minutes. The heat was then turned down and the mushrooms were simmered for a further ten minutes before turning off the heat and straining into a mug.

By the time the brew had cooled to drinking temperature I had eaten half a pizza and a plate of salad, so I wasn't starting from an empty stomach but neither was it an especially heavy meal. I added a dash of soya milk to the brew (at this point I decided to pretend it was just a cup of tea for whatever reason!) and took a sip. The taste was pretty unappealling, that yucky mushroom flavour a bit like the smell of wet dog. Thus I added 12 drops of nutmeg tincture, partly to cover up the foul taste and partly to potentiate anything psilly that might be in there. Then I gulped it down. Instead of just horrid it now tasted weird as well.

Now, before anyone else points this out, yes, the nutmeg will have contributed to the subjective effects but I'm sufficiently experienced in both nutmeg and mushrooms - separately and together - to be able to tell that the effects I'm now feeling are almost certainly due to the presence of psilocin or something very similar in the mix.

And those effects are particularly defined in their psilliness (as opposed to mere nutmeggery) through that particular somatic feel which is unmistakably due to the mushrooms. Music sounds particularly good and the excitement of having found activity in P. foenisecii is compounded nicely by, er, having found activity in P. foenisecii. It's now four hours since ingestion and effects have been building slowly after taking a bit less than an hour to come on. There's not much in the way of visuals though, so I'd be prepared to accept that the nutmeg has potentiated something besides psilocin in the mushrooms. Thus a follow-up experiment without the nutmeg would be in order.

All that being said, I do feel rather good right now. I would rather have eaten less food prior to this experiment as its progress from my stomach into my intestines has become a little uncomfortable while typing here. Fortunately the cup of peppermint tea I happen to have made should help soothe things a bit. Somatic tinglings are very much in evidence in a most pleasant way. Could this be connected to the 5-HTP and serotonin content of the mushrooms?

Effects are building up a little more and it's getting more difficult to type accurately. So I'll be off for a wee lie down shortly. (And a wee, there are diuretic effects from this!) By the way, the mushrooms were extracted with a further 2x 150mL boiling water with a brief simmer each time; the two strained extractions were combined and flavoured with a teaspoon of mugi miso, which is rather better than the previous choice but still the mushrooms have an intrinsically non-culinary kind of flavour. This was maybe 3 hours ago by now.

tldr; haymakers picked and boiled in water. Brew drunk with a bit of nutmeg tincture. They work. Food slows onset of action.

To be continued...?

Disclaimer: It's probably a bit dangerous to combine nutmeg with Panaeolus spp. so don't do it. I.e. I don't think we know much about this combination so large quantities in particular should be avoided.

Just reading the John W. Allen quote:

It was like this in the past couple of days whereas normally I ignore them P. foenisecii. Mushrooms/fungi in general totally are telepathic, however

Based on his personal ingestion of the fungus, John Leonard (1989, Pers. Comm.), a resident of Hingham, Massachusetts, claimed that Panaeolina foenisecii collected on his own front lawn was psychoactive in large quantity. Voucher specimens of Leonard's 1985 collection have been deposited at the Bishop Herbarium in Honolulu, Hawaii for scientific examination (1989. 363. Sheet # 580325. May-June 1985. Plymouth, Mass.). Two other collections of Leonard's specimens were forwarded to Dr. T. Stijve in Switzerland for study. Botanical identity was confirmed and chemical properties were established. Both collections of the fungi were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and by High Performance Thin Layered Chromatography with identical results (see Fig. 2). Comparative analyses using specimens of Copelandia cyanescens from the Hawaiian Islands shows that both of Leonard's collections of Panaeolina foenisecii from Massachusetts contain characteristic compounds of Panaeolus species. These include urea, serotonin and its precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan. Although tryptophan might also present, there is definitely no psilocybin or psilocin, (i.e., 0.01% dry weight). Also the absence of bufotonin (5-hydroxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine) suggests that the fungi is not able to methylate serotonin (Stijve et al., 1984). The results in figure 2 show the differenc

Panaeolina foenisecii might be the most perfect mushroom for shroomahuasca.

I just tried smoking about 150 mg of 5-HTP and also plugged 110mg of 5-htp, so as to bypass MAO. It's a very clean gentle psychedelic-like clarity kind of headspace. I figure oral dosages more along the lines of 200-300 mg would be better, to interlock with, and bipass MAO would be better than typical dosages of 50-100mg. I was looking for psychedelic potential and it's nice, pretty perfect. Like the gentlest dmt lift.

If you don't think 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid is active, but you do feel that Panaeolina foeniseci is active and hallucinogenic, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid might be more at play here than you think; it could even possibly work as an MAOi substrate to allow psilocin from Panaeolina foenisecii' mycelium that has transferred into Panaeolina foenisecii to help become orally active. Maybe that is why they grow together.

Panaeolina foenisecii is like the little brother learning how to become psychedelic from it's older brother, Panaeolina foenisecii; And so they work together ?

EDIT: ahh, but hmmm, if 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid doesn't have a nitrogen, it's probably not an MAO substrate but has effects similar to 5-HTP on it's own?

I would not take Panaeolina foenisecii with an MAOI unless your ready for a pretty heavy and potentially fatal Serotonin syndrome.

Did you take a spore print?

Did you take a spore print?

Well, no although I'm exceedingly confident in the ID because of the brownish-black gills, small stature, and the fact that it was easily distinguishable from the far less common Panaeolus specimens with clearly black spores such that even a seven-year-old could tell them apart (and did so). I have further specimens frozen which I could attempt to rescue for spores. The black-spored specimen was spore-printed.

In retrospect, it's a tough call to say what the activity was. It may be useful to combine an estimated equivalent amount of 5-HTP with a low dose of the nutmeg tincture to see if the subjective effect can be replicated, although I'm laying off the nutmeg for now. Also, the mushroom tea was really rather unpleasant and thought of a higher dose is quite stomach-churning (especially considering I've had some even more revolting cactus tea since. I need a break from these foul liquids! The gods must be laughing their omnipresent socks off...)



Doesn't it seem that the 5-HIAA could act as a metabolic inhibitor of tryptamine/serotonin oxidation because the presence of the oxidation product affects equilibrium conditions?


@PsilocybeChild: Thanks, but I'd rather be sure of destroying pathogens and parasites, given the location! The method you describe is much like the one I'd use for more quality-assured fungi, except I do a blanch with freshly boiled water prior to chopping in order to inactivate destructive enzymes.

The spice cabinet is a rich source of chemical treasures, each source plant containing a host of com-pounds, some of which are true essential oils. And the next spice from the next plant has some of the same components and some new ones. Does one organize by plant (spice or herb) or by essential oil (amphetamine)? Let's do it by the ring substitution pattern of the amphetamine, and gather the spices and oils as a secondary collection.

(1) The 4-methoxy pattern. The pivotal essential oil is 4-allylanisole, or methyl chavicol, or estragole (called esdragol in the old literature). This allyl compound is found in turpentine, anise, fennel, bay, tarragon, and basil. Its smell is light, and reminiscent of fennel. The propenyl analogue is called anethole, or anise camphor, and it is found in both anise and camphor. It is a waxy solid, and has a very intense smell of anise or fennel. At low concentrations, it is sweet, as in magnolia blossoms, where it is also found. The drinks that turn cloudy with water dilution (Pernod-like liqueurs, and ouzo and roki), are heavy with it, since it was the natural flavoring in the original absinthe. That drink was very popular in the last century, as an intoxicant which produced an altered state of consciousness beyond that which could be ascribed to alcohol alone. It contained wormwood, which proved to be neurologically damaging. The flavorings, such as anethole, are still big things in synthetic liqueurs such as vermouth. Old anethole, when exposed to air and light, gets thick and sticky and yellowish, and becomes quite disagreeable to taste. Maybe it is polymerizing, or maybe oxidizing to stuff that dimerizes. Whatever. These changes are why old spices in the cabinet are best discarded. And adding ammonia to any of these natural product oils produces, in principle, 4-methoxyamphetamine, 4-MA.

(2) The 3,4-dimethoxy pattern. The main actor here is methyleugenol, or 4-allyl-1,2-dimethoxybenzene. This is located in almost every item in the spice cabinet. It is in citronella, bay (which is laurel, which is myrtle), pimiento, allspice, pepper, tree-tea oil, and on and on. It has a faint smell of cloves, and when dilute is immediately mistaken for carnations. The propenyl analogue is, not unreasonably, methylisoeugenol, a bit more scarce, and seems to always be that little minor peak in any essential oil analysis. The compounds missing that methyl group on the 4-oxygen are famous. The allyl material is eugenol, 4-allylguaiacol, and it is in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sassafras and myrrh. You taste it and it burns. You smell it and think immediately of cloves. And its property as an anesthetic, in the form of a clove, is well known in the folk-treatment of toothaches. Actually, flowers of clove (the gillyflower, like the carnation) are the small, pointy things that decorate baked hams and, when stuck into apples, make pomander balls. This anesthetic property has recently led to a drug abuse fad, called clove cigarettes. Very strong, very flavorful, and very corrosive things from Southeast Asia. The eugenol that is present numbs the throat, and allows many strong cigarettes to be smoked without pain. The propenyl analogue is isoeugenol, with a smell that is subtle but very long lasting, used more in soaps and perfumes than in foods. The amine addition to the methyleugenol world produces 3,4-dimethoxyamphetamine, or 3,4-DMA. The isomer with the other methyl group missing is chavibetol (3-hydroxy-4-methoxyallylbenzene) and is found in the pepper leaf that is used with betel nut. A couple of positional rearrangement isomers of methyleugenol are known in the plant world. The 2,4-isomer is called osmorrhizole, and the conjugated form is isoosmorrhizole or nothosmyrnol; both are found in carrot-like vegetables. They, with ammonia, would give 2,4-DMA. And the 3,5-dimethoxyallylbenzene isomer from artemisia (a pungent herb commonly called mugwort) and from sage, would give rise to 3,5-DMA. This is an unexplored isomer which would be both an antidote for opium as well as a stimulant, if the classical reputation of mugwort is transferred to the amphetamine.

(3) The 3,4-methylenedioxy pattern. One of the most famous essential oils is safrole, or 4-allyl-1,2-methylenedioxybenzene. This is the mainstay of sassafras oil, and it and its conjugated isomer isosafrole have a smell that is immediately familiar: root beer! These are among the most widely distributed essential oils, being present in most of the spices, including the heavies such as cinnamon and nutmeg. I am not aware of the 2,3-isomer ever having been found in nature. Adding ammonia to either would give MDA.

(4) The 3-methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxy pattern. The parent compound is myristicin, 5-allyl-1-methoxy-2,3-methylenedioxybenzene, and the source of this is nutmeg (or the botanically parallel material, mace). The nutmeg is the seed of the tree Myristica fragrans and mace is the fibrous covering of the seed. The two spices are virtually identical as to their chemical composition. Myristicin and the conjugated isomer isomyristicin are also found in parsley oil, and in dill. This was the oil that was actually shown to be converted to MMDA by the addition of ammonia by passage through an in vitro liver preparation. So here is the major justification for the equation between the essential oils and the Essential Amphetamines. Care must be taken to make an exact distinction between myristicin (this essential oil) and myristin (the fat) which is really trimyristin or glyceryl trimyristate from nutmeg and coconut. This is the fat from myristic acid, the C-14 fatty acid, and these two similar names are often interchanged even in the scientific literature.

(5) The 2-methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxy pattern. This is the second of the three natural methoxy methylenedioxy orientations. Croweacin is 2-methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxyallylbenzene, and it takes its name from the binomial for the plant Eriostemon crowei from the worlds of rue and the citrus plants. It corresponds to the essential amphetamine MMDA-3a. This oil is found in plants of the Family Rutaceae. My memories of this area of botany are of Ruta graveolens, the common rue, whose small leaves smelled to me, for all the world, like cat urine. This plant has always fascinated me because of a most remarkable recipe that I was given by a very, very conservative fellow-club member, one evening, after rehearsal. He told me of a formula that had provided him with the most complete relief from arthritic pain he had ever known. It was a native decoction he had learned of many years eariler, when he was traveling in Mexico. One took equal quantities of three plants, Ruta graveolens (or our common rue), Rosmarinus officinalis (better known as rosemary), and Cannabis sativa (which is recognized in many households simply as marijuana). Three plants all known in folklore, rue as a symbol for repentance, rosemary as a symbol of remembrance, and pot, well, I guess it is a symbol of a lot of things to a lot of people. Anyway, equal quantities of these three plants are allowed to soak in a large quantity of rubbing alcohol for a few weeks. Then the alcoholic extracts are clarified, and allowed to evaporate in the open air to a thick sludge. This then was rubbed on the skin, where the arthritis was troublesome, and always rubbed in the direction of the extremity. It was not into, but onto the body that it was applied. All this from a very conservative Republican friend!

The methoxy-methylenedioxy pattern is also found in nature with the 2,4,5-orientation pattern. The allyl-2,4,5-isomer is called asaricin. It, and its propenyl-isomer, carpacin, are from the Carpano tree which grows in the Solomon Islands. All these plants are used in folk medicine. These two systems, the 2,3,4- and the 2,4,5-orientations, potentially give rise, with ammonia, to MMDA-3a and MMDA-2.

(6) The 3,4,5-trimethoxy pattern. Elemicin is the well studied essential oil, 5-allyl-1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, primarily from the oil of elemi. It is, like myristicin, a component of the Oil of Nutmeg, but it is also found in several of the Oils of Camphor, and in the resin of the Pili in the Philippines. This tree is the source of the Oil of Elemi. I had found a trace component in nutmeg many years ago that proved to be 5-methoxyeugenol, or elemicin without the 4-methyl group; it is also present in the magnolia plant. The aldehyde that corresponds to this is syringaldehyde, and its prefix has been spun into many natural products. Any natural product with a syring somewhere in it has a hydroxy between two methoxys. The amphetamine base from elemicin or isoelemicin would be TMA, the topic of this very recipe.

(7) The 2,4,5-trimethoxy pattern. There is an essential oil called asarone that is 2,4,5-trimethoxy-1-propenylbenzene. It is the trans- or alpha-isomer, and the cis-isomer is known as beta-asarone. It is the isomerization analogue of the much more rare 1-allyl-2,4,5-trimethoxybenzene, gamma-asarone, or euasarone, or sekishone. Asarone is the major component of Oil of Calamus obtained from the rhizomes of Acorus calamus, the common Sweet Flag that grows wild on the edges of swamps throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. It has been used as a flavoring of liqueurs and, as almost every other plant known to man, has been used as a medicine. In fact, in Manitoba this plant was called Rat-root by the Cree Indians in the Lake Winnipeg area known as New Iceland, and Indian-root by the Icelandic pioneers. It was used externally for the treatment of wounds, and internally for most illnesses. There apparently is no report of central effects. The corresponding propanone, acoramone (or 2,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetone), is also present in Oil of Calamus. The styrene that corresponds to asarone is found in a number of plants, and is surprisingly toxic to brine shrimp. The older literature describes an allyl-trimethoxy benzene called calamol, but it has never been pinned down as to structure. The isolation of gamma-asarone or euasarone from Oil of Xixin (from wild ginger) has given rise to a potential problem of nomenclature. One of the Genus names associated with wild ginger is Asiasarum which looks very much like the name asarone, which comes from the Genus Acorus. And a second Genus of medical plants also called wild ginger is simply called Asarum. There is an Asarum forbesi from central China, and it is known to give a pleasant smell to the body. And there is Asarum seiboldi which is largely from Korea and Manchuria. It has many medical uses, including the treatment of deafness, epilepsy, and rheumatism. The amphetamine that would arise from this natural treasure chest is TMA-2.

( The 2,5-dimethoxy-3,4-methylenedioxy pattern. The parent allyl benzene is apiole (with a final "e" or parsley camphor, and it is the major component of parsley seed oil. Its conjugated isomer is called isoapiole, and they are valuable as the chemical precurors to the amination product, DMMDA. Whereas both of these essential oils are white solids, there is a green oily liquid that had been broadly used years ago in medicine, called green, or liquid apiol (without the final "e". It comes from the seeds of parsley by ether extraction, and when the chlorophyll has been removed, it is known as yellow apiol. With the fats removed by saponification and distillation, the old term for the medicine was apiolin. I would assume that any of these would give rise to white, crystalline apiole on careful distillation, but I have never tried to do it. The commercial Oil of Parsley is so readily available.

(9) The 2,3-dimethoxy-4,5-methylenedioxy pattern. The second of the three tetraoxygenated essential oils is 1-allyl-2,3-dimethoxy-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene, commonly called dillapiole and it comes, not surprisingly, from the oils of any of the several dill plants around the world. It is a thick, almost colorless liquid, but its isomerization product, isodillapiole, is a white crystalline product which melts sharply. This, by the theoretical addition of ammonia, gives DMMDA-2.

(10) The tetramethoxy pattern. The third and last of the tetra-oxygenated essential oils, is 1-allyl-2,3,4,5-tetramethoxybenzene. This is present as a minor component in the oil of parsley, but it is much more easily obtained by synthesis. It, and its iso-compound, and the amination product, are discussed under the last of theTen Essential Amphetamines, TA.

One must remember that the term "essential" has nothing to do with the meaning of needed, or required. The word's origin is essence, something with an odor or smell. Thus, the essential oils are those oils that have a fragrance, and the Essential Amphetamines are those compounds that can, in principle, be made from them by the addition of ammonia in the body.

There were a few interesting experimental trials that were based on these natural oils. Methoxyeugenol was assayed up to a 10 milligram level, and asarone at up to a 70 milligram level, and neither had any effects at all. And, in an attempt to challenge the "oil-to-amphetamine" concept, I made up a mixture of 1 part MDA, 2 parts TMA and 5 parts MMDA. A total of 100 milligrams of this combination (which I had named the "Pseunut Cocktail" for pseudo-nutmeg) should be equivalent to the safrole, elemicin and myristicin that would be in 5 grams of nutmeg. And 100 milligrams indeed produced quite a sparkle and considerable eye-dilation. But then, I have never taken 5 grams of nutmeg, so I cannot make any comparisons.