The Chemistry and Psychopharma- cology of Nutmeg and of SeveralRelated Phenylisopropylamines

Our report today has been divided into two separate portions. The discus sion of nutmeg and its composition, and of the possible involvement of its chemical components. The psychotropic intoxication has a natural division into two areas of presentation. The first is a brief description of the plant; a presentation of the methods and procedures for the isolation and the identifi cation of the many components in the oil from the plant, and a careful defini tion of those components that are most probably involved in the intoxicative syndrome. The extension of these components in to the corresponding amphetamines, their effectiveness in humans, and the likelihood of their being an acceptable explanation of the effects of the total nutmeg, will constitute the latter part of this report. In the previous paper there was presented some of the history of nutmeg, and a description of the style and extent of its usage in various cul tures. In the reports that will follow, specific descriptions of the human syn drome of intoxication, and some of the pharmacological ramifications of it