--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Another good piece in the LAT (you probably need to register for > free): > > http://tinyurl.com/3tqkld >
Thanks Bob, this article had the bit of the story I love: "But testing in experimental animals showed no significant activity for the drug -- although the animals were observed to become restless after its administration -- and it was abandoned. During this period, Hofmann synthesized at least three amides that became drugs: Methergine, used to halt bleeding after birth; Hydergine, which improves circulation in the limbs and cerebral function in the elderly; and Dihydergot, used to stabilize circulation and blood pressure. Prompted by what Hofmann later described as a "peculiar presentiment" that LSD-25 might have properties other than those established in the first investigations, he decided to look at it again. On Friday afternoon, April 16, 1943, Hofmann had just completed synthesizing a new batch when, he subsequently wrote to his supervisor, "I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with slight dizziness. "At home, I lay down and sank into a not-unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours, this condition faded away." Hofmann suspected that the state had been caused by something in the lab. In an interview on his 100th birthday, he said, "I didn't know what caused it, but I knew that it was important." After breathing the solvents he had used produced no effect, Hofmann suspected that the synthetic drug was the source. "LSD spoke to me," he said. "He came to me and said, 'You must find me.' He told me, 'Don't give me to the pharmacologist, he won't find anything.' " "A peculiar pre-sentiment" - One of those intuitive moments where the unconcious mind seems to know more about what's going on than you do. Like Francis Crick dreaming of spiral staircases when he was stuck on working out how DNA reproduced itself. One of the greatest flashes of inspiration. But rumour has it that when he was on his death-bed he admitted the inspiration came to him during an acid trip.
