1887
Peyote Effect September 4, 2018 DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520285422.003.0002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that early European and American scientists, particularly German chemists and English intellectuals, were pioneers in exploring peyote and mescaline for mental health use, though their work did not yield widely accepted breakthroughs. |
Abstract
In this chapter, we consider the moment when European and American scientists “discovered” peyote. John Briggs was one of the first Americans to write about peyote (in 1887), followed shortly by James Mooney, who recounted his experiences among the Kiowa of Oklahoma at the Anthropological Association in Washington DC in 1891. Around this time, the German scientist Louis Lewin encountered peyote while on a trip to the United States. Americans proved less adept at unlocking the chemistry of the cactus than their German counterparts, who identified four different alkaloids in the cactus by the mid-1890s. This period also saw notable studies of peyote by investigators in the United Kingdom, including some fairly dramatic self-experimentation among English intellectuals overseen by Havelock Ellis. Though their work did not yield widely accepted breakthroughs, these researchers were early pioneers in the exploration of the use of peyote and then mescaline as a tool for mental health professionals.