William Burroughs: Sailor of the Soul
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs August 10, 2017 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2017.1357862 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Ethnobotany Soul Art history |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that William S. Burroughs made important and largely unrecognized discoveries about ayahuasca's composition and clinical pharmacological effects in 1953. |
Abstract
In 1953, William Seward Burroughs made several important and largely unrecognized discoveries relating to the composition and clinical pharmacological effects of the hallucinogenic plant potion known as yagé or ayahuasca. Illustrations of Burroughs' voucher sample of Psychotria viridis and his letter to the father of modern ethnobotany, Richard Evans Schultes, are published here for the very first time.