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 Uppers, Downers,
All Arounders
Physical and Mental Effects
of Psychoactive Drugs

Eighth Edition

Darryl S. Inaba, Pharm.D., CATC-V, CADC III

Director of Clinical and Behavioral Health Services, Addictions Recovery
Center, Medford, Oregon
Director of Research and Education, CNS Productions, Inc., Medford, Oregon
Associate Clinical Professor of Pharmacology, University of California
Medical Center, San Francisco
Consultant/Instructor, University of Utah, School on Alcoholism and
Other Drug Dependencies, Salt Lake City, Utah

William E. Cohen, CGAC I

CNS Productions, Inc.™

Medford, Oregon
 Sean Assariti, an advocate for legalizing marijuana, makes the frst
purchase at a dispensary in Colorado of an eighth of an ounce (about
$60.00). In 2012, the people of Colorado (and Washington State) voted to
allow sales of marijuana for recreational purposes. Another 20 states
allow marijuana for medical purposes with a physician-approved card or
license. The ramifcations of this action on the “War on Drugs” will be far
reaching in terms of less overcrowded jails flled with people arrested for
possession, driving under the influence, drug-free workplaces, tax
revenues, and a more benign attitude toward all drugs.
© 2014 Theo Strogmer/Getty Images

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition

Psychoactive Drugs:
Classifcation and History
In This
Chapter
Disclaimer: Because drug ef-
fects depend on amount, fre-
quency, and duration of use as
well as the makeup of the
user, reactions to psychoac-
tive substances can vary radi-
cally from person to person
and even from dose to dose.
The information presented
herein about the actions of
drugs on the body should be
used only as general guide-
lines and not absolutes, and
in no way should be con-
strued as medical advice.
www.cnsproductions.com/e7vaa
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
1
The frst part of Chapter 1 classifes psychoactive drugs and behavioral addic-
tions by their general physical and mental effects and secondarily by their chemis-
try. The three main divisions are uppers, downers, and all arounders.
The second part of Chapter 1 examines the history of psychoactive drugs and
behavioral addictions, focusing on the impact these drugs and behaviors have had
on the social, economic, and governmental fabric of society.
Classifcation of Psychoactive Drugs
Defnition
“Apsychoactivedrugisanysubstancethatwheninjectedintoarat
givesrisetoascientifcpaper.”
Darryl Inaba, Pharm.D. Addictions Recovery Center, Medford, OR
A psychoactive drug is any substance that directly alters the normal functioning of
the central nervous system (CNS). As the understanding of addictive brain processes
increases, this defnition might be expanded to include compulsive behaviors (e.g.,
gambling or Internet game playing) that also alter the brain.
Drugs can be classifed in many ways, e.g., by their purpose of use, by their various
names, by their effects.
Classifcation by Purpose of Use
 In ancient Egypt the pharaoh Ramses paid his workers with beer to keep them build-
ing the pyramids.
 Spanish conquistadors provided coca leaves to Peruvian natives to keep them slav-
ing in the silver mines.
 Injections of morphine were given to wounded soldiers on both sides of the U.S.
Civil War to relieve pain and coincidentally to cause euphoria.
 Amphetamines were handed out like candy to World War II pilots to enable them to
stay awake on night bombing runs.
 Steroids were supplied to Russian weightlifters at the 1956 Olympics to boost their
confdence and strength.
1.1
1.2 CHAPTER 1 

A B C
Marijuana can be examined (A) as molecule, (B) as an exotic plant, or (C) as a source of fnancing for insurgencies.
Molecular graphic image produced using the MidasPlus® package from the Computer Graphics Laboratory, UCSF. Microphotograph of a marijuana bud courtesy of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration. Insurgent in Uzbekistan guarding marijuana feld © 1990 Alain Labrouse.

 Marijuana joints are smoked by AIDS patients to control Classifcation by Effects

nausea.
A more practical way to classify these substances is by their
 Video poker machines have been legalized in most U.S. overall effects: stimulation, depression, and psychedelic
states to supplement state budgets. reactions. There are other drugs that don’t fall neatly into
In recent years the popularity of new psychoactive drugs one of these categories, and those can be defned by their
has exploded due to new technologies, the Internet, and the purpose, such as delirium for inhalants, mental balance for
proliferation of street chemists and their customers. Drugs psychiatric medications, and enhanced performance for
such as bath salts (synthetic methamphetamine-like drugs) sports drugs.
and Spice (synthetic marijuana-like drugs) are continually
reformulated to induce a legal high and to stay one step Major Drugs
ahead of detection by drug tests. The media’s sensational re-
porting of outrageous acts committed by people under the
infuence of one of these “new” drugs creates the perception
that the effects of these drugs are unique and raise the profle
of obscure drugs such as Salvia divinorum and kratom. The
truth is that almost all psychoactive drugs are either an up-
per (stimulant), a downer (depressant), or an all arounder
(psychedelic).
There are also inhalants, sports drugs, and psychiatric med-
ications that have psychoactive effects and do cause depen-
dency but generally not as rapidly or as powerfully as stimu-
lants, depressants, and most psychedelics.

Classifcation by Chemical, Trade (®), Uppers (stimulants)

and Street Names (“ ”)
Psychoactive drugs have chemical names, trade names, and
street names.
 Chemical names are used to describe the molecular
structure of a psychoactive drug, e.g., C2H5OH for ethyl
alcohol; new synthetic substances such as methylene-
dioxypyrovalerone (MDPD), a “bath salt,” and naph-
thoylindoles (synthetic marijuana).
 Trade names are given by the pharmaceutical manufac-
turers, e.g. Xanax® is the trade name for the chemical
alprazolam, and OxyContin® is for oxycodone.
 Street names evolve almost daily among drug users.
Each commonly used and abused substance may have
20 or more informal names. Examples include: “chronic”
and “medibles” for marijuana; “oxidado,” and “crack”
for cocaine; super coke and cloud 9 for bath salts; and
“cheese” and “smack” for heroin.
Uppers (CNS stimulants) include:
 cocaine (hydrochloride, freebase, crack)
 amphetamines (Adderall,® “crystal” meth, speed)
 amphetamine congeners (Ritalin,® diet pills)
 plant stimulants (khat, betel nuts, ephedra, yohimbe),
look-alike stimulants
 caffeine (coffee, tea, colas, energy drinks, chocolate)
 nicotine (cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco) and de-
signer stimulants (bath salts)
 psychostimulants (e.g., ecstasy and other phenylethyl-
amines which can have psychedelic effects in addition to
methamphetamine-like stimulatory ones (see Chapter 6)
Physical Effects
The usual effect of a small-to-moderate dose of uppers is
excess CNS stimulation that results in energized muscles,

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition

increased alertness, insomnia, increased heart rate and blood
pressure, and decreased appetite.
Frequent use of the stronger stimulants (cocaine, metham-
phetamine, and bath salts) over a period of a few days will
deplete the body’s energy chemicals and exhaust the user.
If large amounts are used chronically or if the user is extra-
sensitive, heart, blood vessel, and seizure problems can oc-
cur. Although tobacco is a comparatively weak stimulant,
the long-term health effects of smoking can be perilous
(e.g., cancer, emphysema, and heart disease). The Surgeon
General states that, “tobacco is toxic to each and every organ
of the human body.”
Mental and Emotional Effects
A small-to-moderate dose of one of the stronger stimulants
can make someone feel more confdent, excited, outgoing,
and eager to perform. It can also cause a certain rush or
high, depending on the specifc drug and the physiology of
the user.
Larger doses can cause jitters, anxiety, anger, rapid speech,
and aggressiveness.
Prolonged use of the stronger stimulants can cause extreme
anxiety, paranoia, anhedonia (inability to experience plea-
sure), mental confusion, and an induced psychosis.
Downers (depressants)
There are four categories of downers, or CNS depressants:
 opiates and opioids: opium, heroin, oxycodone
(OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), buprenorphine
(Suboxone®), and methadone
 sedative-hypnotics: benzodiazepines including alpra-
zolam (Xanax®) and clonazepam (Klonopin®); barbitu-
rates such as butalbital; Z-hypnotics such as zolpidem
(Ambien®); and others, such as ramelteon (Rozerem®)
 alcohol: beer, wine, and hard liquors
 others: antihistamines, skeletal muscle relaxants, and
over-the-counter sedatives
Physical Effects
Small doses of downers depress the central nervous system,
which slows heart rate and respiration, relaxes muscles, de-
creases coordination, induces sleep, dulls the senses, and di-
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.3
minishes pain and controls diarrhea. Opiates and opioids can
cause nausea, constrict pupils, and induce constipation.
Excessive drinking and sedative-hypnotic, or opiate/opioid
use can disrupt physical coordination, slur speech, cause di-
gestive problems, induce sexual dysfunction, and create tis-
sue dependence.
Downers in large doses or in combination with other depres-
sants can cause dangerous respiratory depression, over-
dose, and coma.
Mental and Emotional Effects
Initially, small doses (particularly of alcohol) act like stimu-
lants because they lower inhibitions, which can lead to freer
and sometimes irresponsible behavior.
As more of the drug is taken, the overall depressant effects
dominate, relaxing and dulling the mind, diminishing anx-
iety, and controlling some neuroses. Certain downers can
also induce euphoria or a sense of well-being.
Long-term use of any depressant can cause psychological/
physical dependence and addiction.
All Arounders (psychedelics)
All arounders—hallucinogens or psychedelics—are sub-
stances that can distort perceptions and induce illusions, de-
lusions, or hallucinations. There are fve classifcations of
psychedelics:
 indoles: LSD and psilocybin mushrooms
 phenylalkylamines: peyote (mescaline), and psycho-
stimulants (phenethylamines), e.g., MDMA (ecstasy or
“Molly”)
 anticholinergics: belladonna, mandrake, etc.
 cannabinoids: marijuana, hashish, sinsemilla, and syn-
thetic marijuana (e.g., K2 and Silver Spice)
 others: ketamine, PCP, Salvia divinorum, nutmeg,
dextromethorphan, bromo-dragonFLY, lion’s tail, and
Amanita mushrooms.
Physical Effects
The physical effects from this class of substances are not as
dominant as the mental effects with the exception of PCP
1.4 
CHAPTER 1
and ketamine, which act as anesthetics. Most hallucino-
genic plants cause nausea (at higher doses) and dizziness.
Marijuana increases appetite and causes bloodshot eyes. LSD
raises the blood pressure and causes sweating. Ecstasy and
LSD act like stimulants.
Mental and Emotional Effects
Psychedelics distort sensory messages to and from the
brain stem—the mind’s sensory switchboard—so external
stimuli, particularly visual, tactile, and auditory ones, are in-
tensifed or altered (illusions). This process resembles syn-
esthesia, where the brain causes sounds to become visual
and sight to be perceived as sound. The brain can also trigger
imaginary sensory messages (hallucinations) along with dis-
torted thinking (delusions).
Other Drugs and Addictions
There are three other groups of drugs that can stimulate, de-
press, or confuse the user: inhalants, anabolic steroids and
other sports drugs, and psychiatric medications.
Inhalants (deliriants)
Inhalants are gaseous or liquid substances that are inhaled
and absorbed through the lungs. They include organic sol-
vents, such as glue, butane, gasoline, metallic paints, gaso-
line additives (STP®), and household sprays; volatile ni-
trites, such as amyl, butyl, or cyclohexyl nitrite (also called
“poppers”); and anesthetics, especially nitrous oxide
(“laughing gas”).
Physical Effects
Use results in CNS depression, causing dizziness, slurred
speech, unsteady gait, and drowsiness. Some inhalants lower
blood pressure, causing the user to faint or lose balance.
Because they are depressants, they can cause stupor, coma,
and asphyxiation. The organic solvents can be directly toxic
to cells in the lungs, brain, liver, kidney tissues, and blood.
Mental/Emotional Effects
Small amounts can produce impulsive behavior, excite-
ment, mental confusion, and irritability. Some inhalants
cause a rush through a variety of mechanisms. Larger
amounts can cause delirium and hallucinations.
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Steroids and Other Sports Drugs
Anabolic-androgenic steroids are
the most common performance-
enhancing drugs (PEDs). Others
include stimulants (e.g., amphet-
amines, ephedrine, and caf-
feine), human growth hormone
(HGH), human chorionic gona-
dotropin (hCG), herbal and
nutritional supplements (e.g.,
creatine and androstenedione),
and some therapeutic drugs (e.g.,
painkillers, beta blockers, and diuretics).
Physical Effects
Anabolic steroids increase muscle mass and strength. Pro-
longed use can cause acne, high blood pressure, shrunken
testes in men, and masculinization in women.
Mental/Emotional Effects
Use of anabolic steroids often causes a stimulant-like high,
increased confdence, and increased aggression. Prolonged
large-dose use can be accompanied by outbursts of anger
known as “roid rage.”
Psychiatric Medications
Psychiatric medications are used to rebalance irregular brain
chemistry that has caused mental problems, drug addiction,
and other compulsive disorders. These are the most common:
 antidepressants: Celexa,® Prozac,® Luvox,® Zoloft,®
Paxil,® Cymbalta,® and Pristiq®
 antipsychotics: Seroquel,® Risperdal,® Abilify,® Haldol,®
and Zyprexa®
 antianxiety drugs: Xanax,® Buspar,® Lyrica® (off-label)
and panic disorder drugs (e.g., Inderal®)
The number of new drugs developed for the modifcation of
behavior and the alleviation of symptoms is an indication of
how fast the feld of psychopharmacology has grown and il-
lustrates the emphasis on medication as a treatment strat-
egy rather than psychotherapy. These drugs are prescribed
more and more frequently despite the fact that the national
incidence of psychiatric disorders has remained fairly con-
stant over the past 40 years.

Physical Effects
Psychiatric medications produce a wide variety of physical
side effects, particularly involving the heart, blood, and
musculoskeletal system. Side effects and other adverse or
toxic reactions from antipsychotic drugs (also called neuro-
leptic drugs) are especially severe.
Mental and Emotional Effects
 Antidepressants counteract depression by manipulating
the brain chemicals (e.g., serotonin) that elevate mood.
 Antipsychotics often manipulate dopamine to control
schizophrenic mood swings and hallucinations.
 Antianxiety drugs also manipulate brain chemicals, such
as GABA, to inhibit anxiety-producing thoughts.
Compulsive Behaviors
Behaviors like eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, and
binge-eating disorder), compulsive gambling, sexual com-
pulsion, Internet addiction, compulsive buying/shopping,
and codependency affect many of the same areas of the brain
that are affected by the compulsive use of psychoactive drugs
(e.g., norepinephrine, dopamine, and epinephrine).
Physical Effects
The major physical effects of compulsive behaviors are
generally confned to neurological and chemical changes in
the brain’s survival pathway, also called the reward/rein-
forcement pathway or the reward control pathway. Eating
disorders are the exception because excessive or very lim-
ited food intake can lead to cardiovascular problems, diabe-
tes, nutritional diseases, and obesity.
Mental and Emotional Effects
The development of tolerance, psychological dependence,
and withdrawal symptoms exists with compulsive behav-
iors. The compulsion to gamble or to overeat is every bit as
strong as drug-seeking behavior.
History of Psychoactive
Drugs
Introduction
“[Prohibitionis]agreatsocialandeconomic
experiment,nobleinmotiveandfar-reaching
inpurpose.”
Herbert C. Hoover in a letter to William E. Borah,
February 28, 1928
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.5
“Ibelievethisisagoodtime
forabeer.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
after the 1932 repeal
of Prohibition
“Onceyoucrossthatlinefromthestraightsociety
tothedrugsociety—marijuana,thenspeed,then
it’sLSD,thenit’sheroin,etcetera—thenyou’re
done.We’vegottotakeastrongstand.”
Richard Nixon meeting with Chicago mayor
Richard J. Daley, May 13, 1971
“Penaltiesagainstpossessionofadrugshould
notbemoredamagingtoanindividualthanthe
useofthedrugitself.Therefore,Isupport
legislationamendingfederallawtoeliminateall
federalcriminalpenaltiesforthepossession
ofuptooneounceofmarihuana.”
Jimmy Carter on U.S. marijuana laws, 1978
“We’vetakendownthesurrenderfagand
runupthebattlefag,andwe’regoingtowin
thewarondrugs.”
Ronald Reagan in a 1982 radio address to the nation
on federal drug policy
“Whenthatfrstcocainewassmuggledin
onaship,itmayaswellhavebeenadeadly
bacterium,somuchhasithurtthebody,
thesoulofourcountry.”
George H. W. Bush, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1989
“WhenIwasinEngland,Iexperimented
withmarijuanaatimeortwo,andIdidn’tlikeit,
andIdidn’tinhale,andInevertrieditagain.”
Bill Clinton in a reply to a question about
his drug use, 1992
“WhenIwasyoungandirresponsible,
Iwasyoungandirresponsible.”
George W. Bush in a reply to reporters
asking about his drug use, 2000
“Muchoftherootcauseforviolencethathasbeen
happeninghereinMexico,forwhichsomany
Mexicanshavesuffered,isthedemandforillegal
drugsintheUnitedStates,”
Barack Obama, during state trip to Mexico, May 3, 2013
Although presidential attitudes toward drugs and alcohol
in the twentieth and twenty-frst centuries vary widely, the
laws and the attitudes regarding substance use have as
much to do with the political climate at the time they were
1.6 CHAPTER 1 
formulated as they do with the actual effects of drugs on the
individual and society. The result: the budget for the U.S.
War on Drugs increased from $3.7 million in 1971 to $25.4
billion in the 2014 budget, with 58% aimed at reducing the
supply of drugs and 42% at reducing the demand through
prevention and treatment.1 This fgure does not include state
and local expenditures.
The rise in the use of psychoactive drugs since President
Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs in 1971 suggests
that attacking the supply side of drugs through law enforce-
ment and interdiction has proven to be an unsuccessful
strategy. Extensive research over the past 20 to 30 years on
how the brain reacts to drugs has resulted in deeper insights
into the roots of addiction as well as recognition that de-
mand reduction (drug-abuse treatment and prevention) as
a strategy is more effective than supply reduction (inter-
diction, laws, and incarceration).
In 2013 Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that
low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs
or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged
with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences
(50% of all those in prison are there for drug offenses; often
the charge involves possession of small amounts of a drug).
“ToomanyAmericansgototoomanyprisonsforfar
toolongandfornotrulygoodlawenforcementreason.
Wecannotsimplyprosecuteorincarcerateourway
tobecomingasafernation.”
Eric Holder, attorney general, August 12, 2013
an increase in the creation and the abuse of psychoactive
drugs (and compulsive behaviors). The frst two themes are
inherent in human beings. The last three are rooted in the
makeup of the culture.

1 Human beings have a basic need to cope with their
environment and enhance their existence.
Early man lived in a dangerous and mysterious environment.
Brutal weather, carnivorous predators, life-threatening phys-
ical diseases, despotic rulers, and aggressive enemies could
wound, maim, or kill. Primitive and eventually civilized
human beings have always searched for ways to control or
tune out these dangers. Ancient peoples built the city of
Jericho 10,000 years ago so they could grow and control
their food supply and protect themselves from their enemies.
They worshipped their gods, praying for divine intervention
that would allow them to survive. They fasted, chanted,
meditated, danced, practiced self-hypnosis, inficted pain
on themselves, went without sleep, and used nondrug
methods to receive revelations from the gods.5,6 By chance
and by experimentation, they found that ingesting certain
plants could ease fear and anxiety, reduce pain, treat some
illnesses, give pleasure, and spiritually connect them to their
gods. Our modern world also creates fears, anxiety, pains,
illnesses, and painful boredom that can compel a person to
use psychoactive drugs to control their environment.

To fully appreciate the scope and the infuence that psycho-

active drugs and compulsive behaviors have had on society,
it is necessary to examine the history of these substances and
behaviors. This is the key to fnding ways to treat addiction
on both personal and societal levels.

Five Historical Themes of Drug Use

“LetusnotthensimplycensurethegiftofDionysus(GreekGod
ofFertilityandWine)asbadandunfttobereceivedintothe
Stateforwinehasmanyexcellences.Shallwebeginbyenacting
thatboysshallnottastewineatalluntiltheyareeighteenyears
ofage;wewilltellthemthatfremustnotbepoureduponfre,
whetherinthebodyorinthesoul.”
Athenian Stranger in The Laws by Plato, 360 B.C.

People throughout history have chosen to alter their per-

ception of reality with psychoactive substances whether
used to alter states of consciousness, reduce pain, forget
harsh surroundings, alter a mood, medicate a mental illness,
or enhance the senses. The kind of drug, method of use, con-
sequences, treatment, and efforts at prevention have varied
from culture to culture and from century to century.
Regardless of the ways the drugs were used or abused—be it A bushman in the Kalahari in South Africa smokes marijuana with a
6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (beer) or yesterday in New bone pipe.
York City (Lite® beer)—the authors have noticed certain © 2012 Universal Images Group. Permission by Getty Images
patterns that have transcended time and culture and led to

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
 Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.7


2 Human brain chemistry can be affected by psychoac-
tive drugs, behavioral addictions, and mental illness in
ways that will induce an altered state of consciousness.
In fact, if psychoactive drugs and behavioral addictions did
not affect human brain chemistry in a desirable manner (at
least initially), they would not be used. The chemistry of
individual psychoactive drugs has counterparts within the
central nervous system.
Drugs affect the primitive, or “old,” part of the brain that
controls emotions, instincts, natural physiological functions
(e.g., breathing and heart rate), emotional memories,
sensory perception, and physical or emotional pain. They
also affect the reasoning and decision-making centers of
the “new” brain, called the neocortex. Because mental
illnesses are caused by unbalanced brain chemistry, psycho-
active drugs have been used to try to control illnesses such as
depression and schizophrenia. The brain’s neurochemicals,
neurons, and structures evolved over hundreds of millions of The New York City deputy police commissioner watches agents pour
years, starting in invertebrate creatures such as insects and liquor into a sewer following a raid during the height of Prohibition.
snails and growing in complexity in vertebrate creatures, Courtesy of the Library of Congress
especially Homo sapiens.

 taxing of medical marijuana enterprises to offset

governmental budget defcits
 prohibition or restriction of alcohol, tobacco, opium,
and every other psychoactive drug by every country at
one time or another
 legalization of gambling in most states to control the
activity and raise revenues

Discovery of the survival circuit (reward/reinforcement circuit), which
includes the VTA, lateral hypothalamus, amygdala, and especially the
nucleus accumbens, has helped researchers understand the roots of
addiction.
© 2012 CNS Productions, Inc.
3 Historically the ruling classes, governments, and in-
dustry, along with criminal organizations, have been
involved in growing, manufacturing, distributing, tax-
ing, and prohibiting drugs.
The intensity of the demand for substances that relieve pain
and induce pleasure is matched by the struggle to control the
supply:
 monopolization of coca leaf growing by the Spanish
conquistadors in Peru to increase tax revenues
 excise taxes levied on whiskey, hemp, and tobacco to
fnance the American Revolution
 sale of opium to China by Britain, France, Japan, and
other imperial powers to support their colonies
 drug trade by al Qaeda to fnance terrorist activities

4 Technological advances in refning, synthesizing, and
manufacturing drugs have increased the potency of
these substances.
Over the centuries cultures have learned how to:
 distill alcoholic beverages to higher potency (Arabia,
tenth century)
 refne morphine from opium (Germany, 1804)
 refne cocaine from coca leaves (Germany, 1859)
 use manufacturing innovations to increase production
(automatic cigarette rolling machine, United States,
1881)
 synthesize the stimulant amphetamine to create a re-
placement for ephedra (Germany, 1887)
 synthesize LSD (Switzerland, 1938)
 use the sinsemilla growing technique to increase delta-
9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredi-
ent content of marijuana (United States, 1960–1980)
 create cocaine/methamphetamine-like substances that
avoid detection (United States, 2009)
These and other techniques enabled drug users to deliver
more of an active psychoactive ingredient into the body at
one time. For example, the percentage of cocaine found in
coca leaves is 0.5% to 2.0%; in street cocaine it is often 60%
to 70%. Today marijuana contains up to 14 times more THC

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
1.8 CHAPTER 1
Hey, what’s in this brew? It makes everything I draw a masterpiece!
© 2011 Dave Granlund
than did the street marijuana of the 1970s.2 Research shows
that the more potent the psychoactive drug, the more rapid
the development of addiction.

5 The development of faster and more-effcient methods
of delivering drugs into the body has intensifed the
effects.
Technological and pragmatic discoveries have taught users to:
 mix alcohol and opium for stronger effects
(Sumer, 4000 B.C.)
 absorb more juice while chewing a coca leaf by mixing
it with charred oyster shell (Peru, 1450)
 inhale nitrous oxide to become giddy and high
(England, 1800)
 inject morphine directly into the bloodstream (England,
1855)
 snort cocaine to absorb the drug more quickly
(Europe, 1900)
 smoke crack cocaine to intensify the high
(United States, 1975–1985)
 crush and inject time-release medications, such as
the opiate pain reliever OxyContin® for a bigger rush
(United States, 2003)
 vaporize nicotine in electronic cigarettes
 vaporize alcohol and inhale the fumes
(worldwide, 2000s)
Societal and cultural changes play a role in new behavioral
addictions. Rapid-play poker machines, slot machines, and
online gambling have resulted in an increase in the number
of problem and pathological gamblers. Online games such as
Farmville,® World of Warcraft,® and a thousand other digital
activities have captured the imagination of the Internet gen-
eration and created yet another behavioral addiction.
A close examination of the evolution of substance use fnds
these fve themes appearing time and time again. By studying
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Electronic cigarettes deliver vaporized nicotine without unwanted tars
and smoke particles. Some smokers are using them to help them quit.
© 2014 CNS Productions, Inc.
the recurrent yet progressive nature of drug use and abuse, it
is evident that solutions must change and adapt as society
changes and as science presents us with a clearer picture of
the reasons for craving and addiction.
Prehistory and the Neolithic Period
(8500–4000 B.C.)
Many of the drugs available today have antecedents in psy-
choactive plants that have been around for millions of years.
It is estimated that 4,000 plants yield psychoactive sub-
stances, although only about 60 are commonly used.
Opium poppies, marijuana tops, coca leaves, tea leaves, betel
nuts, khat leaves, coffee beans, tobacco leaves, and fruits or
other plants that ferment into alcohol have been the most
popular over the millennia.3
While there is some evidence that Neanderthals and early
man used plants such as ephedra (a stimulant) and alcohol
from naturally fermented fruits at least 50,000 years ago,
most of the evidence places serious use of psychoactive
drugs about 12,000 years ago at the start of the Neolithic
period.4 This era, considered the last part of the Stone Age,
was marked by settlement into permanent villages, the use of
agriculture to grow crops, the raising of domesticated ani-
mals, and the transition from stone to metal tools.
The need for substances to subdue pain, heal illness, and
deal with fears of real and imagined dangers in the environ-
ment also spurred the development of spirituality and ulti-
mately civilization. This need to deal with the physical world
led to the development of Shamanism, which holds beliefs in
an unseen world of external and internal demons, gods, and
ancestral spirits who listen only to the shaman. The shaman,
a combination priest–medicine man, was the key fgure in
these religions and functioned as a conduit to the super-
natural, using both naturally induced (e.g., fasting and
dancing) and drug-induced altered states of consciousness.
 Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.9

In his role as a healer, the shaman could perform the equiva-

lent of an exorcism or use some natural plant preparation to
expel what he perceived to be his patient’s inner demons. In
those days the “demon” might have been a mental illness
such as schizophrenia.
The use of psychoactive substances spread through tribal
migration. One assumption is that the earliest Native
Americans were Eurasians who migrated to the Americas
10,000 to 15,000 years ago over the frozen Aleutian Islands
chain, bringing with them their customs, religions, and psy-
choactive substances, like the hallucinogenic mescal bean
and sophora seed.5,6

Ancient Civilizations
(4000 B.C.–A.D. 400)

Great civilizations grew and thrived where the land was fer-
tile, usually next to rivers such as the Tigris and the Euphrates
in the Middle East (modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey) and
the Nile in Egypt. The earliest crops were wheat and barley,
used to make bread and beer (beer was far more nutritious
in ancient times than it is today).8 Asian civilizations used
rice as a staple food and to make wine (sake). Some ancient
cultures cultivated the opium poppy and the hemp plant
(Cannabis) for medicinal purposes.
Alcohol
Throughout history alcohol has been the most popular
psychoactive substance. This food/medicine/drug has been
with us since prehistoric times. Perhaps hunger, thirst, or
curiosity made early humans eat or drink fermented fruits,
or perhaps they noticed the odd behavior of animals that ate
the spoiled fruit of the marula tree.9
The taste, the nutrition, and the psychoactive effects, par-
ticularly the drunken states that made them feel closer to
their gods, motivated humans to learn how to produce fer-
mented beverages themselves.10 They collected honey to fer-
ment into mead, an alcoholic beverage; they cultivated grains
to ferment starchy foods into beer; and they cultivated grapes
and other fruits to make wine. These agricultural experi-
ments are the earliest signs of organized efforts to guaran-
tee a steady supply of a desirable psychoactive substance.
In 2004 and 2005, in Jiahu, China, archaeologists uncovered
evidence of the use of alcoholic drinks 9,000 years ago.
Residue in ancient pottery vessels from this Stone Age village
in China’s Henan province indicated that a fermented bever-
age of rice, honey, and fruit was being made at approxi-
mately the same time that barley beer and grape wine were
being made in the Middle East.11
The frst written references to alcohol were found on
Sumerian clay tablets from 6,000 years ago (4000 B.C.)
that were discovered in ancient Mesopotamia (now Iraq and
Iran). They contained recipes for using wine as a solvent for
medications such as opium.
Many ancient cultures considered alcohol, particularly
wine, a gift from the gods. According to ancient mythology,
The Egyptian hieroglyphic from 1500 B.C. advised moderation in
barley beer drinking as well as avoidance of other compulsive
behaviors. Written Egyptian references to alcohol that date back to
3500 B.C. have been unearthed.
Translation from Precepts of Ani, World Health Organization.
Osiris gave alcohol to the Egyptians, as did Dionysus to the
Greeks and Bacchus to the Romans.12 In ancient Egypt a bar-
ley beer called hek was a valued commodity and was given as
a reward to laborers building the great pyramids. Beer was
the drink of the workers, and wine was the privilege of the
pharaohs as evidenced by earthen jars in King Tut’s tomb,
which noted the vintage (year) of the wine and the location
of the vineyard.
Rice wine was the drink of the masses in ancient China and
later Japan, but grape wine was more highly prized. In about
180 B.C., a gift of grape wine served as a bribe to get a civil
service job.13 For centuries Judaism has used wine in reli-
gious and secular celebrations, including circumcisions,
weddings, and the Sabbath.
Because alcohol caused not only the desired effects but also
side effects capable of creating social and health problems,
most civilizations throughout history placed religious, so-
cial, and legal controls on the use of alcohol and other
drugs. Many of the 150 biblical references to alcohol include
a warning.
“Givestrongdrinktohimwhoisperishing,andwinetothose
inbitterdistress;letthemdrinkandforgettheirpoverty,and
remembertheirmiserynomore.”
Proverbs, 31:6–7

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
1.10 
CHAPTER 1

One of the earliest attempts at temperance (limited drink-

ing) occurred in China around 2200 B.C., when the legend-
ary Emperor Yu levied a tax on wine to curtail consumption.
Centuries later, during the Chu Dynasty (1122–249 B.C.),
the penalties for drunkenness were severe for the lower
classes, while the upper classes were given a chance at recov-
ery, not unlike current realities.14
In ancient India religious hymns (Vedas) cited alcohol as the
cause of falsity, misery, and darkness while its favorable as-
pects were dismissed. And though many ancient Greek po-
ets, philosophers, and writers, including Plato, Homer, and
Aeschylus, drank wine all day, every day, warnings about ex-
cess use can be found throughout Greek literature. These
were reinforced with cautionary tales of battles lost due to
drunkenness.15 The temperance of later Greek society em-
bodied in Dionysus (god of wine and fertility) gave way to This statue of the Minoan Goddess of Opium was dated back to
orgiastic drinking in Roman society, encouraged by Bacchus, 1400-1100 B.C. when discovered on the island of Crete south of Italy
a more liberal incarnation of Dionysus. in the Mediterranean. Note the three opium poppies sculpted into her
crown, which are thought to mean she affects sleep or death.
By the fourth century A.D., heavy drinkers in Rome were led Irakliou Archeological Museum (Heraklion)
through town by a cord strung through their noses. Habitual
offenders were tied with the nose cord and left for ridicule in
the public square. The political and moral swings from heavy
consumption to temperance, to abstinence, and back con-
“[Helen]druggedthewinewithanherbthatbanishesallcare,
tinue to this day.
sorrow,andillhumour.Whoeverdrinkswinethusdruggedcan-
Opium notshedasingletearalltherestoftheday,noteventhough
hisfatherandmotherbothofthemdropdowndead,orhesees
The other psychoactive drug that appears early in history
abrotherorasonhewninpiecesbeforehisveryeyes.”
(10,000 to 12,000 B.C.) is opium. Ruins of ancient poppy
Homer, The Odyssey, IV, 221–226, 700 B.C.
plantations in what is now Spain, Greece, northeast Africa,
Egypt, and Iran (Mesopotamia) are evidence of the wide-
Hippocrates, the “father of medicine,” recommended opi-
spread early use of the drug.18
um as a painkiller and as a treatment for female hysteria.
The process of extraction involved waiting until the milky Galen, the most prominent medical physician/researcher of
white fuid from the fresh opium poppy dried and turned Roman times and perhaps all of history, chronicled the many
amber; it was then boiled until it turned to a sticky gum, uses of opium.
which was then chewed. It was also burned and inhaled, or
mixed with fermented liquids and swallowed. Opium was “Resistspoisonandvenomousbites,cureschronicheadache,
used both for its medicinal properties of pain relief, cough vertigo,deafness,epilepsy,apoplexy,dimnessofsight,lossof
suppression, and diarrhea control and for its mental prop- voice,asthma,coughsofallkinds,spittingofblood,tightnessof
erties of sedation and euphoria.16 Because it was ingested breath,colic,thelilacpoison,jaundice,hardnessofthespleen
rather than smoked, its bitter taste and the moderate con- stone,urinarycomplaints,fever,dropsy[edema],leprosies,
centration of active ingredients limited the abuse potential.17 thetroubletowhichwomenaresubject,melancholy,andall
pestilences.”
Around 4000 B.C. the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia
Galen of Pergamon, Antídotos, A.D. 129–217
cultivated the opium poppy along with barley and wheat,
their basic agricultural crops.18 They named it hul gil, “the
In Rome the drug was so desired in A.D. 312 that hundreds
plant of joy.” Early Egyptian medical texts referred to opium
of stores sold it and the excise tax on the drug provided
as both a medicine and a poison. Parents fed it to crying ba-
15% of the city’s revenue.18 The best opium was “thick and
bies to calm their discomfort and fears. In ancient times
heavy and soporifc to the smell, bitter to the taste, easily
healers at the Temple of Imhotep administered opium to
diluted in water, smooth, white, neither rough nor full of
mentally ill patients in an attempt to cure them by inducing
lumps.”19
visions, performing rituals, and facilitating prayer to the
gods. The close relationship between drugs and mental ill- Cannabis (marijuana)
ness is referenced, researched, and utilized in treatment
Historically, Cannabis was known in many countries and lan-
throughout history.
guages: kannabis (Greek), qunubu (Assyrian), qanneb
Other ancient civilizations also employed opium to alter (Hebrew), and qannob (Arabic).20 Cannabis was prized as a
mental states (to self-medicate). In The Odyssey Homer source of oil and fber, for its edible seeds, as a medicine,
spoke about an opium mixture, called nepenthe, given by and as a psychedelic. Archaeologists found traces of hemp
Helen of Troy to Telemachus to banish unwanted feelings. fbers in clothes, shoes, paper, and rope dating to 4000 B.C.

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition

This saddhu (Hindu ascetic) is making a beverage from Cannabis
indica. He grinds the leaves into a paste, flters out the remains of the
plant by pouring water through cheesecloth, then drinks the resulting
infusion. He uses the drink as part of his religious belief system for
meditation and concentration. He is a follower of the Hindu god
Shiva. Shivites believe in the use of this intoxicant though many other
Hindus do not endorse the use of Cannabis.
© 2000 CNS Productions, Inc.
in Taiwan, although it had probably been cultivated since
the Neolithic era several millennia before.20,21 According to
legend, in 2737 B.C. the Chinese emperor Shen-Nung used
Cannabis (ma-fen) as a medicine and recorded the fndings of
his personal experiment. A medical herbal encyclopedia
called the Pen-Tsao, written in A.D. 100, refers to Shen-
Nung’s study of 364 drugs (including ephedra and ginseng)
and lists Cannabis as a medication as well as a substance
with stupefying and hallucinogenic properties.22
Over the centuries Cannabis has been recommended as a
medication for constipation, dysentery, rheumatism, ab-
sentmindedness, female disorders, malaria, beriberi, and a
dozen other maladies, including as a treatment for wasting
diseases. The Chinese physician Hua T’o in A.D. 200 recom-
mended Cannabis as an analgesic (painkiller) for surgery.23
India also held a benevolent view of the psychoactive prop-
erties of Cannabis. Almost 1,500 years before the birth of
Christ, the Atharva-Veda (sacred psalms) praised Cannabis
(bhang) as one of fve sacred plants that gave a long life, in-
duced visions (hallucinations), and freed the user from dis-
tress. Other texts from India listed dozens of medicinal uses
for Cannabis, including calming soldiers’ nerves in battle.24
Initially, use of Cannabis and its psychoactive resin was
reserved for the ruling classes and the military; the
lower classes were allowed to use it only at signifcant
religious festivals.
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.11
In about 500 B.C. the Scythians, whose territory ranged from
the Danube to the Volga in eastern Europe, threw Cannabis
on hot stones placed in small tents and inhaled the vapors.25
“TheScythiansthentaketheseedofthishempand,crawlingin
underthemats,throwitonthered-hotstones,whereitsmolders
andsendsforthsuchfumesthatnoGreekvaporbathcouldsur-
passit.TheScythians,transportedwiththevapor,shoutforjoy.”
Herodotus, The Histories, 4.75.1, 460 B.C.
Around A.D. 200 writings by the Greek physician Galen de-
scribed hosts offering hemp to guests to stimulate enjoyment
and promote hilarity.26 The hemp was probably mixed with
wine to increase its potency. In most ancient civilizations,
including Greece, Rome, and England, hemp was used pre-
dominantly as a fber.
Mescal Bean and San Pedro and
Peyote Cacti (mescaline) in Mesoamerica
The availability of dozens of hallucinatory plants in North
and South America provided cultures with natural materials
for complex ceremonies overseen by shamans, who held
the same positions of spiritual infuence as did those in
Neolithic times in Asia. The psychoactive mescal beans were
roasted and eaten during sacred rites, causing a sleepy
delirium that lasted for days. Half a bean, ground, chewed,
and swallowed, is suffcient to cause the delirium.3 Later,
cacti containing mescaline (San Pedro cactus) became
another ceremonial hallucinogen of choice. Stone carvings
and textiles depicting images of this plant were found at a
Chavin temple in the Peruvian highlands and date back to
1300 B.C. Other South American cultures, including the
Nazca and Chimu peoples, boiled the cacti for up to seven
hours and drank the potion to produce hallucinations and
communicate with the supernatural.27 Evidence found in
caves in what is now Texas implies ceremonial use of the
peyotl, or peyote cactus (which also contains mescaline),
3,000 years ago.3,22
Psychedelic Mushrooms in India, Siberia,
and Mesoamerica
Sacramental use of psychedelic mushrooms dates back
about 7,000 years. Cave drawings from the Neolithic era
discovered in Algeria show shamanic fgures enmeshed in
mushrooms (possibly Psilocybe mairei), suggesting early sac-
ramental use.28 In 1500 B.C. the Vedas of ancient India sang
of a holy inebriant that proved to be an extract of the Amanita
muscaria mushroom, also called the fy-agaric mushroom.
The active ingredients are ibotenic acid and the alkaloid
muscimole. The hallucinogen was called Soma, the name of
one of their most important gods. More than 100 holy hymns
from the Rig Veda are devoted to Soma.
“Itisdrunkbythesickmanasmedicineatsunrise;
partakingofitstrengthensthelimbs,preservesthelegs
frombreaking,wardsoffalldisease,andlengthenslife.
Thenneedandtroublevanishaway.” 29,30
1.12 CHAPTER 1 
These are a few of the 200 Psilocybe mushroom stone gods that
survived the concerted efforts of Catholic missionaries to wipe out the
culture that used psychedelic mushrooms in sacred ceremonies. Some
date back to A.D. 100.
© 2008 Paul Stamets
Though the Amanita muscaria also grows in North America,
it was the Psilocybe mushroom that was preferred by Aztec
and Mayan cultures in pre-Columbian Mexico.22 There are
more than 30,000 different identifed species of mushroom,
but only 80 produce psilocybin and psilocin, the main active
hallucinogenic ingredients. Of the many psychedelic mush-
rooms, Psilocybe cubensis is the most widely used.3,28
Tobacco and Coca Leaf in Mesoamerica
The genesis of the plants containing stimulant alkaloids
(e.g., tobacco [nicotine] and coca leaves [cocaine]) dates
back 65 million to 250 million years. The bitter alkaloids
were the plants’ defense against dinosaurs, other herbivores,
and insects.
“Somescientistsjokethatdinosaursbecameextinctbecause
themajorityofvegetationthattheyusedtosustainthemselves
becameinedibleduetothebitteralkaloidsandthattheystarved
todeath,showingforthefrsttimethatcocaineandcigarettes
willkillyou.”
It was not until approximately 5000 to 3000 B.C., in the
Peruvian/Ecuadorian Andes in South America, that humans
began using tobacco. Over the centuries they drank (in solu-
tion), chewed, snorted, and smoked tobacco for religious
ceremonies and for the simulative effects.31 It was also used
This Colombian carving
depicts a user’s cheeks stuffed
with cocada, coca leaf mixed
with powdered lime.
Courtesy of the Fitz Hugh Ludlow
Memorial Library.
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
as an enema and swallowed as a jelly. Smoking was the pre-
ferred method of use for rituals, and the tobacco was stronger
than today’s milder leaves, causing intoxication.32 Tobacco
was used socially and recreationally by both the common man
and the elite. It was grown and used only in the Americas un-
til Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492
and discovered its use and brought word back to Europe.
During the same time frame, tribes in South America
chewed the coca leaf for stimulation, for nutrition, and to
control their appetite when food was scarce.33 The coca leaf
also increased glucose, glycerol, lactate, and pyruvate levels,
enabling the chewers to survive at the high altitudes of the
Andes Mountains (7,000 to 10,000 feet).33A Burial sites un-
earthed on the north coast of Peru dating back to 2500 B.C.
contained bags that held coca leaves, fowers, and occasion-
ally a wad of coca leaves mixed with guano or ash and corn-
starch. These pouches are called a cocada, and were used for
chewing. The coca was interred with the deceased to facili-
tate the journey through the afterlife. Cocada chewing was
so common in ancient Peruvian culture that it became a
standard unit of time and of distance: one cocada equaled
the distance a person could walk before the effects of a single
wad wore off (about 45 minutes). Recent discoveries in the
Andes dating to 3000 B.C. have found evidence of complex
societies that chewed coca leaves for spiritual and medical
practices.34 The use of coca persists to the present day as
evidenced by the existence (since the third century B.C.) of
hundreds of stone and wood sculptures of heads with cheeks
bulging from a wad of coca leaves.
The Middle Ages
(400 –1400)
Psychedelic “Hexing Herbs”
“Double,double,toilandtrouble;
Fireburn,andcauldronbubble.
Filletofafennysnake,
Inthecauldronboilandbake;
Eyeofnewtandtoeoffrog,
Woolofbatandtongueofdog,
Adder’sforkandblind-worm’ssting,
Lizard’slegandhowlet’swing,
Foracharmofpowerfultrouble,
Likeahell-brothboilandbubble.”
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, 1606
Centuries before Shakespeare’s witches brewed their concoc-
tion of animal parts, a number of plants were used to induce
psychedelic effects. Members of the nightshade family
Solanaceae that contain the psychoactive chemicals atro-
pine and scopolamine were the drugs of choice. These sub-
stances date back to ancient civilizations and were feared
due to their poisonous nature and their ability to cause hal-
lucinations and delirium. In the Middle Ages, the nightshade
varietals were sometimes used by medicine men and women
who were later accused of witchcraft.3
 Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.13

 Datura (thornapple) was often made into a salve and ab-

sorbed through the skin.30
 Henbane was referred to as early as 1500 B.C. in Egyptian
medical texts. It was used as a painkiller and a poison. It
was also used to mimic insanity, produce hallucinations,
and generate prophecies.
 Belladonna—also known as witch’s berry, devil’s herb,
and deadly nightshade—dilates pupils, causes inebria-
tion, and can cause hallucinations and delirium. It has
also been used to treat a number of physical illnesses and
dysfunctional mental states.30
 Mandrake, or mandragora, is a root that often grows
in the shape of a human body and was used in ancient
Greece as well as in medieval times. Its properties are
similar to those of henbane and belladonna, causing
disorientation and delirium. Mandrake was consid-
ered an aphrodisiac in the 1400s in Italy, and a century
later Niccolò Machiavelli wrote a risqué comedy called
Mandragola about seduction and infdelity.

Psychedelic Mold—Ergot (Saint Anthony’s Fire)

Another psychedelic that has persisted through the ages is
found in ergot, the brownish purple fungus Claviceps
purpurea, which grows on infected rye and wheat plants.
The active ingredient in the fungus is ergotamine, which
contains lysergic acid diethylamide, the natural form of the
modern synthetic hallucinogen LSD. Ergot and its effects are
referred to in ancient Greek (Eleusinian Mysteries) and me-
dieval European literature. It was recognized as a poison and
a psychedelic as early as 600 B.C.
“Suddenlythisnewanddevastatingairofplaguedescended
downuponthewater,oritnestedinthefruitsof
thefeld…theentirebodywasreddenedbyburningsores,
aswhenthe‘sacredfre’[ignissacer]spreadoverthelimbs.
Throughouttheinsideofaperson,sothatitburned
allthewaydowntothebones;completelyconfused
conditionwithfearandmelancholia.
Roman Poet Lucretius (c. 94–55 B.C.) (6.1125, 1166 ff., 1183 ff)
Over the centuries there were numerous outbreaks of ergot
poisoning. The population of entire towns, particularly in
rye-consuming areas of eastern Europe, went seemingly
mad, occasionally with great loss of life. In A.D. 944 in
France, 40,000 people are estimated to have died from an
ergotism epidemic. There were outbreaks as recently as 1953
in France and Belgium. Hallucinations, convulsions, possi-
bly permanent insanity, a burning sensation in the feet and
the hands, and gangrene occasionally causing a loss of ex-
tremities—toes, feet, fngers, and nose—were common. Less
dramatic was the use of ergot in small doses as a medication
in the Middle Ages to induce childbirth.
One of the outbreaks in A.D. 1039 is responsible for naming
the affiction Saint Anthony’s fre. A wealthy Frenchman and
his son became afficted with ergot poisoning and prayed to
Saint Anthony, a fourth-century saint who protects believers
from fre, epilepsy, and infection. Both recovered, and the
father was so grateful that he built a hospital in Dauphiné,
This ffteenth-century painting by Matthias Grünewald shows Saint
Anthony being assaulted by visions of sexual licentiousness and
savage animals, visions similar to those caused by the ergot fungus,
found on spoiled rye or wheat cereal grasses. Ergotism was often fatal
because it led to gangrene and extreme delirium.
Courtesy of the Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, France. Reprinted by permission.
All rights reserved.
France (where Saint Anthony was buried), for the care of
sufferers of ergotism.
From Medicine to Psychoactive Drug to Poison
Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist, charac-
terized the plant datura as a medicine at a low dose, a psy-
choactive drug at a moderate dose, and a deadly poison at
a high dose.
“Oneadministersonedrachma[ofdatura],ifthepatient
mustonlybeanimatedandmadetothinkwellofhimself;
doublethat,ifhemustenterdeliriumandseehallucinations;
tripleit,ifhemustbecomepermanentlyderanged;givea
quadrupledoseifheistodie.”
Theophrastus, Inquiry into Plants, 323 B.C.
Datura, ergot, opium, and most other psychoactive drugs
follow this pattern. Opium sedates and suppresses pain at a
low dose, causes euphoria at a higher dose, and depresses
breathing to dangerous levels at a very high dose.
Healers and shamans were well aware of the dose-dependent
dangers of most drugs and would experiment with various

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Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
1.14 
CHAPTER 1
substances to fnd the correct dose to heal a patient or induce
a trance state. They lost quite a few patients in the process. A
similar danger exists in the relationship between the amount
and frequency of use vs. the liability for addiction. The more
powerful the psychoactive component itself, the quicker
addiction will develop.
Alcohol and Distillation
Even though techniques for distilling seawater and alcohol
had been around for thousands of years, it was not until the
eighth to fourteenth centuries that knowledge of the tech-
niques became widespread. The evaporation process was
used to raise the average alcohol content of a beverage from
14% to 40%.30 An Arabian alchemist known as Geber (Jabir
Ibn Hayyan, A.D. 721–815), called the “father of the sci-
ence of chemistry,” is credited with perfecting a wine dis-
tillation method that produced pure alcohol, which he de-
scribed as “of little use but of great importance to science.”
Further research was done by the Arabian physician Rhazes,
who described the process in his book Al-Asrar (The
Secrets). He called the substance al-koh.31 It took 300 years
for the process to become common in Europe, around the
time of the frst Crusades.
Technical advances in cultivation as well as in distillation
made a difference in consumption. In the early days,
Christians celebrated their faith at banquets featuring wine
and bread; but as alcohol use became more and more of a
problem, less and less wine was consumed until it was used
almost exclusively in rituals.
Limiting alcohol consumption became a moral cause. Saint
Paul condemned the relaxed behavior excessive drinking
caused because it led users away from God. Paganism and
the use of psychoactive substances to communicate with
the supernatural gave way to a demand that faith alone be
used to understand God.
Islamic Substitutes for Alcohol
In the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, few references are
made to wine and intoxicants. Wine is not used in any
Islamic sacraments and drinking is frowned upon. The
prophet Mohammed simply chastised a drunkard for not
performing his duties. Mohammed’s brother-in-law, Ali, set
the tone for alcohol in later Muslim societies.
“Hewhodrinksgetsdrunk,hewhoisdrunk,doesnonsensical
things,hewhoactsnonsensicallysayslies,
andhewholiesmustbepunished.”
Ali18
Muslims avoided alcohol, substituting alternative psychoac-
tive substances. Opium for the relief of pain, both physical
and mental, was seen as an acceptable substitute. It was used
in Arab society as a general tonic; it supposedly eased the
transition to old age. In later centuries tobacco, hashish
(concentrated Cannabis), and particularly coffee were em-
ployed as substitutes for alcohol to provide stimulation,
induce sedation, or alter consciousness. These substances
were also used medicinally.
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
Khat, a stimulant permitted by some Islamic cultures, was
originally cultivated in the southern Arabian Peninsula and
the Horn of Africa. It was used for long prayer ceremonies to
help the congregation stay awake (much like coffee). In A.D.
1238 the Arab physician Naguib ad-Din distributed khat to
soldiers to prevent hunger and fatigue; an Arab king, Sabr
ad-Din, gave it freely to subjects recently conquered to pla-
cate them and quell their revolutionary tendencies.35
Historically, for most religions, alcohol per se was not
shunned but rather what alcohol made a drinker do.
Through the centuries temperance gave way to prohibition,
and objections to the debilitating effects of alcohol and other
psychoactive drugs gave way to bans on any substance that
could make one forget religious and moral duties.
Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate (caffeine)
For centuries the coffee plant Coffea Arabica grew wild in
Ethiopia; by the fourteenth century, it was imported to
Arabia and widely cultivated. Initially, people simply chewed
the beans or drank bean-infused water. During the later
Middle Ages, people began to roast and grind the beans,
which made a tastier, more potent beverage. It was also used
medicinally as a diuretic, an asthma treatment, and for head-
ache relief. It was not until 1819 that caffeine, the active al-
kaloid in coffee and tea, was fnally identifed by the German
physician Friedlieb Runge.
Approximately 60 plants, including the beans of coffee
shrubs and the leaves of tea bushes, contain caffeine (e.g.,
the cacao, maté, kola, and yoco trees and the seeds of the
guarana plant).
Tea brewed from the leaves of the Thea sinensis (chinensis)
bush was supposedly used in China 4,700 years ago, in 2700
B.C., but the frst written evidence of it dates to approxi-
mately A.D. 350. The cultivation of tea in Japan and the de-
velopment of tea ceremonies occurred about A.D. 800. Today
tea remains at the heart of social and religious ceremonies in
Japan and in a number of other countries.36
Chocolate, refned from cocoa beans that grow on the cacao
tree, can be traced back to the Olmecs of Mexico (1500 to
400 B.C.). The Mayans (1000 B.C. to A.D. 900) were the
second people to cultivate cacao on plantations throughout
Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula, followed by the Toltecs
and then the Aztecs. The beans were ground and used to
make a stimulating, highly desirable though bitter chocolate
drink (with foam). They were prized and used for barter: 4
beans would buy a squash; 8 to 10, a rabbit. The average
daily wage of a porter in central Mexico was 100 beans.37
The Renaissance and the
Age of Discovery (1400 –1700)
As exploration, trade, and colonization broadened in the 15th,
16th, and 17th centuries, Europeans encountered diverse
cultures and unfamiliar psychoactive plants which were
collected and brought home. Some of the most notable sub-
stances were coffee from Turkey and Arabia; tobacco, cocoa,
 Psychoactive Drugs: Classifcation and History 1.15

and coca from the New World; tea from China; and the kola
nut (chocolate) from Africa. To a lesser extent, these European
explorers, soldiers, traders, and missionaries in turn carried
their own culture’s drugs and drug-using customs to the rest
of the world; e.g., tobacco to China from Portuguese sailors.
Urbanization, wealth, personal freedom, and fewer religious
taboos also increased the use of these substances.

Alcohol
Laws passed during this period that limited the use of alco-
hol were the result of the effects of overuse, particularly of
high-potency beverages. Those in power wanted to limit
alcohol’s toxic effects and confront the moral consequences
of lowered inhibitions. Switzerland and England passed
closing-time laws in the thirteenth century. Scotland and
Germany limited sales on religious days in the ffteenth cen-
tury.15 These laws were aimed more at temperance than at
prohibition because controlled sales of distilled beverages
produced hefty tax revenues.
Europeans were not the only ones with well-established
drinking patterns. Many African cultures brewed wine from
palm trees or beer from maize and used it in rituals, as a
foodstuff, and for social interaction. When slavers ripped
Africans from their villages and sent them to America, start-
ing in the 1500s, the tribes of Whidah, Ebo, Congo, and
Mandingo brought many of their brewing techniques and
drinking rituals with them.38 Some rituals remained, but
more often the changed power structure disrupted those pat-
terns. Slave ships and ships transporting missionaries to Following a centuries-old tradition, this coca chewer carries his
non-Christian countries brought rum to cultures used to leaves in a pouch on his shoulder. The poporo gourd in his right hand
drinking only beer and wine. Rum’s higher alcohol content contains powdered lime that is mixed in his mouth with the coca to
often led to a disruption in the drinking patterns that had increase the absorption of cocaine.
evolved over centuries and had rarely led to alcohol abuse. Courtesy of the Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library

Colonists in the New World found alcoholic beverages made

from maize (corn), cacti, tree bark, and pulque (maguey or
agave plant) and in turn facilitated the widespread use of
rum and whiskey, creating severe alcohol-induced health
problems for Native Americans.
Coca and the Conquistadors
The interaction between the Spanish conquistadors who
colonized Peru in the 1500s and the native tribes’ use of the
coca leaf is one example of how the economic and political
needs of a country transformed the way a substance was
used. When the explorers/invaders arrived, coca leaf was
used as a mild stimulant and as a reward; it was also consid-
ered a divine substance, a gift from the gods. Some people
chewed throughout the day, much the way Americans drink
coffee. The leaf was only 0.5% to 2% of the alkaloid cocaine
and not especially toxic. Coca use was restricted by the elite,
but under the conquistadors it became a commodity and its
production increased more than 50-fold, as did its addictive
liability.39,40
“Theycarrythem[cocaleaves]fromsomehighmountains,to
others,asmerchandisetobesold,andtheybarterandchange
themformantillas,andcattle,andsalt,andotherthings.”41
Monardes, 1577
The conquistadors supplied their subjugated labor force
with coca to keep them hard at work in the felds and in the
silver mines located high in the Andes. They controlled the
Incas’ coca plantations and planted new ones to ensure a
steady supply of leaves to keep the natives chewing—and
working—throughout the day. Production from so many
coca shrubs occasionally caused a glut in the market.42 As
coca chewing increased, so did revenue from the trade.
About 8% of the Spaniards living in Peru during the six-
teenth century were involved in the coca trade, and they had
their own lobby back in Spain.43
Although the tax revenues from coca helped fnance the
colony, many Spaniards opposed its use on moral grounds.44
Even the Catholic Church was conficted because although
the revenue was necessary to pay for missionary activities,
the Church was repulsed by the exploitation of the Incas and
questioned how chewing coca could convert anyone to
Christianity.45
Tobacco Crosses the Oceans
In 1492 Columbus crossed the Atlantic and reached the
islands of the West Indies, including San Salvador and Cuba.

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:

Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
1.16 CHAPTER 1 
He noted the natives’ use of tobacco or, as he referred to it in
his journal, “certain dried leaves.” Natives chewed tobacco or
placed chopped leaves or powder on the gums. Eventually,
they learned how to smoke it in pipes, cigars, and ciga-
rettes.46 In North America straight pipes (war pipes, peace
pipes, and pleasure pipes later called calumets) were common.
The Quiche Mayans and the Cuban natives preferred cigars.
Tobacco was widely used in rituals for planting, fertility, fsh-
ing, consulting the spirits, and preparing magical cures.
Shamans in South America used the toxicity of tobacco to
induce trancelike states to awe their tribesmen.47 Tobacco
was also used as a medicine for a wide variety of ailments,
including headache, toothache, snakebite, skin diseases, and
stomach and heart pains.
“Thepeopletookcertainherbstotaketheirsmokes.Theylit
thematoneendandattheothercheworsuckortakeitinwith
theirbreaththatsmokewhichdullstheirfeshandasitwere
intoxicatesandsotheysaythattheydonotfeelweariness.”
Bartolome de Las Casas, editor of the journal of Columbus’s travels in 151448
The Spaniards and the British exported tobacco from their
North American colonies to Europe, where it was received
enthusiastically, originally as a medicine and later as a
stimulant, mild relaxant, and mild euphoriant. Sir Walter
Raleigh introduced “tobacco smoking for recreation” to the
court of Queen Elizabeth I.47 In France tobacco was called
nicotiana after Jean Nicot, who described its medicinal prop-
erties. Portuguese sailors introduced tobacco to Japan,
where its cultivation began in about 1605. The Portuguese
also introduced tobacco to China, where it was highly re-
garded as a medicine. It was carried throughout China by
soldiers, then banned, and then taxed. It was in vogue at the
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders:
Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, 8th Edition
emperor’s court, then among the people, and then actively
propagated throughout Asia. Rulers, governments, and
churches believed tobacco to be harmful to society and
mounted sporadic attempts at prohibition, but its use spread.
“Theuseoftobaccoisgrowinggreaterandconquersmenwith
acertainsecretpleasure,sothatthosewhohaveoncebecome
accustomedtheretocanlaterhardlyberestrainedtherefrom.”
Sir Francis Bacon, 1620
The danger of fre, large gatherings in tobacco houses dis-
cussing radical political ideas, and the abuse of tobacco by
the clergy led to vigorous attacks by various authorities in
Europe, including King James I of England.
“[Smokingis]acustomelothsometotheeye,hatefultothe
Nose,harmefulltothebraine,dangeroustotheLungs,and
theblackestinkingfumethereof,neerestresemblingthehorrible
Stigiansmokeofthepitthatisbottomless.”
James I, 1604
The king’s crusade against tobacco had as much to do with
his contempt for the indigenous peoples of the New World
as it did with the immorality of smoking. He regarded smok-
ers as no better than Devil-worshipping savages.31 He did,
however, understand addiction: “As no man likes strong
heady drink the frst day…but by custom is piece by piece
allured.”
Pope Urban VIII forbade Catholics from smoking under the
threat of excommunication; the use of tobacco was, at one
time, also forbidden in Turkey under pain of torture and
death; and it was banned by Czars Michael and Alexis in
Russia with equally dire penalties.47 Widespread covert use
The use of tobacco in a
number of forms predated
the 1492 arrival of
Columbus in the Americas.
This drawing of reclining
Aztec smokers who seem to
be getting high from their
cigars was done by Ariel
Baynes based on the
originals reproduced in
Lord Kingsborough’s
Antiquities of Mexico
(1843–1848).
Courtesy of the Arents Collection,
New York Public Library
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Fig. 5
SCALE 40
265 REVS. PER MIN.
11¹⁄₄″ × 16″ PORTER-ALLEN.
Fig. 1
Fig. 4
SCALE 40
265 REVS. PER MIN.
4.416 „ „ SEC.
Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Apparatus for Graphically Showing the Acceleration and Retardation of the

Reciprocating Parts of an Engine.

Let the motion be in the direction from the crank. The crank now
begins insensibly, by pulling through the spring e, to arrest the
motion of the weight h. This pull will increase in intensity to the end
of the stroke, when the weight is brought to rest, and the spring will
become correspondingly elongated. Then, by a continuance of the
same pull, the crank puts the cross-head and this free weight in
motion in the reverse direction. This pull gradually relaxes, until at
the mid-stroke it has ceased. The weight h has acquired its full
velocity again; all stress is off the spring, and the spring and weight
are back in the positions in the box d from which they started. This
action is repeated during the opposite half of the revolution, but in
the reverse direction, the pull being changed to a push, and the
spring being compressed instead of elongated. Thus at every point
the position of this free weight shows the amount of the accelerating
or retarding force that is being exerted upon it at that point,
elongating or compressing the spring.
This varying accelerating or retarding force is recorded as follows:
A paper b, Fig. 2, is stretched on the surface ff. This surface is the
arc of a circle described about the center j, and is secured on the
lath B, so that as this lath vibrates by the motion of the cross-head
the different points in the length of the paper pass successively
under the pencil. This is set in the end of the long arm a of the right-
angled lever-arms 4 to 1 seen in Fig. 2, which is actuated by the rod
e passing centrally through the spring and secured in the head c.
This pencil has thus imparted to it a transverse motion four times as
great as the longitudinal motion of the weight h in the box d. The
pencil is kept lifted from the paper (as permitted by the elasticity of
the arm a) by the cord m. By letting the pencil down and turning the
engine by hand, the neutral line x, Fig. 2, is drawn. Then when the
engine is running, on letting the pencil come in contact with the
paper, the diagonal lines are drawn as shown on Fig. 2.
 Edwin F. Williams

If the rotation of the shaft were uniform and there were no lost
motion in the shaft or connecting-rod, this diagonal line would repeat
itself precisely, and would be a straight line modified by the angular
vibration of the connecting-rod. On the other hand, these lost
motions and the variations in the rotative speed must be exactly
recorded, the latter being exhibited with a degree of accuracy not
attainable by computation and plotting, and their correctness would
be self-demonstrated. For this purpose this instrument must be
found highly valuable, if it is really desired to have these variations
revealed rather than concealed. Fig. 5 represents the inertia diagram
drawn by this instrument applied to a Porter-Allen engine running in
the Boston Post Office at the speed of 265 revolutions per minute.
Fig. 4 shows the same diagram with the transverse motion of the
pencil enlarged to correspond with the scale of the indicator, so
exhibiting the force actually exerted on the crank-pin at every point,
which is represented by the shaded area, and from which the
rotative effect on the crank can be computed. The steam pressure
absorbed at the commencement of the stroke by the inertia of these
parts is represented by the blank area above the atmospheric line
xx. This is not all imparted to the crank at the end on account of the
compression.
I have myself had no experience in the use of this instrument, but I
do not see why it might not be so made that the diagonal line or lines
in Fig. 4 would be drawn at once. The variations of motion would
thus be shown much more accurately than they can be by the
enlargement of these small indications. This would require the spring
e to bear the same relation to the inertia of the weight h that the
spring of the indicator bears to the steam pressure on its piston area.
The steam diagram and the inertia diagram would then be drawn to
the same scale. A separate instrument would be required for each
scale. It would seem desirable that this instrument, which is not
expensive, should be brought before the public in this practical
shape.
The 16″×30″ engine exhibited at this fair of the American Institute
was sold from the exhibition to the Arlington Mills, at Lawrence,
Mass. For a reason that will appear later, I have always regarded this
sale as the most important one that I ever made.
 CHAPTER XIX

Boiler Tests in Exhibition of 1871. We Lose Mr. Allen. Importance of Having a

Business Man as President. Devotion of Mr. Hope.

he next year we were not exhibitors at the Institute

fair, but our boiler remained in its place and was run by
the Institute. This boiler and its setting are shown
correctly in the accompanying reproduction of a
drawing made about that time, except that it consisted
of nine sections instead of six. At the close of the
exhibition a boiler test was made by the Institute, through a
committee of which Professor Thurston, at that time Professor of
Mechanical Engineering in the Stevens Institute, afterwards until his
death Director of the Sibley College of Mechanic Arts, in Cornell
University, was the chairman. Five boilers, including the Allen boiler,
were tested, one on each day, in a continuous run of twelve hours.
The four besides our own were all different from the boilers exhibited
the year before.
A week was spent in preparation for this test. A large wooden tank
was constructed, in which was built a surface condenser, consisting
of a pile of sections of the Root boiler, laid horizontally, having a total
of 1100 square feet of cooling surface. The steam was exhausted
into the pipes which were surrounded by the cooling water, thus
reversing the construction of surface condensers.
Professor Robert H. Thurston
 ALLEN BOILER.
OF
80 HORSE POWERS.
Area of Effective Heating Surface 810-Square Feet.
Area of Grate 24-Square Feet.
scale-1 inch-1 foot. Allen Engine Works.
July-1872.

Each boiler was tested by setting its damper and its steam-valve
wide open, so burning all the coal that could be burned by it under its
draft, and delivering freely all the steam that it made. This latter
entered the condenser at the top, and the water formed by
condensation was drawn off at the bottom, while the condensing
water entered the tank at the bottom and was drawn off at the top,
the currents of steam and water being thus opposite to each other,
which was an ideal construction. The condensing water at a
temperature of 45.5 degrees flowed in under the pressure in the city
main and was measured in a Worthington meter, and the
temperature of the overflow taken. The condensed steam was drawn
off into a barrel and weighed, 300 pounds at a time, and its
temperature taken. This method was an excellent one.
 Not having high chimneys, no boiler had a strong draft, as shown
by the coal burned per square foot of grate. Our draft was the
strongest of all. Only the Allen boiler and the Root boiler gave
superheated steam, and the competition between them was very
close. The valve being wide open, giving a free current into the
condenser, the superheat of our steam fell to 13.23 degrees
Fahrenheit. Root’s superheat was 16.08 degrees.
Root’s boiler, the trial of which occupied the first day, blew steam
from the open try-cock, from water at 46 degrees Fahrenheit, in
sixteen minutes from lighting the fire. Next morning our boiler blew
steam from water at the same temperature, in twelve minutes, and
Mr. Root holding his watch could not resist the ejaculation,
“Wonderful boiler!” The Allen boiler, burning 13.88 pounds of coal
per square foot of grate per hour, evaporated one cubic foot of water
per hour from each 17.41 square feet of heating surface. Root’s
boiler, burning 11.73 pounds of coal per square foot of grate per
hour, required 23.59 square feet of heating surface to evaporate one
cubic foot of water per hour.
Our stronger draft, 13.88 against 11.73, accounted for 3.2 pounds
of the above superior evaporative efficiency, leaving 3 pounds to be
accounted for by the more rapid circulation in the Allen boiler. The
great value of the inclination of the tubes was thus established. The
report contains this sentence: “The Committee desire to express
their appreciation of the excellent general arrangement and
proportions which gave to the Allen boiler its remarkably high
steaming capacity.”
The reader will observe in the plan of this boiler the pains taken to
maintain as far as possible parallel currents of the heated gases
through the boiler, and taking the flues off at the bottom, thus
bringing all the heating surfaces at the same distance from the
furnace into approximately equal efficiency.
RESULTS OF THE COMPETITIVE TRIAL OF STEAM BOILERS AT
THE FAIR OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, NOVEMBER, 1871.

Name. Ratio of Ra
Square Feet. heating Total Weights. wa
surface pri
 Grate Heating to grate Coal. Com- Feed. Steam. Primed to w
surface. surface. surface. bustible. water. eva
ra

A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H.
Root 27 876¹⁄₂ 32.5 3800 3185.5 27896 27896 0. 0.
Allen 32¹⁄₄ 920 28.5 5375 4527 39670 39670 0. 0.
Phleger 23 600 26.1 2800 2274 20428 19782.94 645.06 3.2
Lowe 37³⁄₄ 913 24.2 4400 3705 34000 31663.35 2336.65 6.9
Blanchard 8¹⁄₂ 440 51.8 1232 1047.5 10152.5 9855.6 296.9 3.

The boiler had one defect, seen in the front view, cross-section. A
straight passage 2 inches wide was given to the gases between
each pair of tubes.
The boilers having all had a preliminary trial during the first week, I
observed the vapor arising from the exposed surface of the water in
the tank, and that this unmeasured loss of heat differed considerably
in the different boilers, and was enormously greatest on the trial of
the Allen boiler. I said nothing, but went down early on next Monday
morning and on my way bought a common tin cup about 3 inches
deep and 4 inches in diameter, and secured it in one corner of the
tank, immersed to a quarter of an inch below its rim, and filled even
full of water. This was completed before the arrival of the Committee,
and was at once approved by them. I made it my business every day
to note the fall of the water level by evaporation from this cup. On the
trial of the Allen boiler only the water in the cup was all evaporated,
and I had to fill it again. The temperature of the water in the cup was
always 8 degrees below that of the surrounding water. It was thus
obvious that the evaporation from the tank was greater than the fall
of the level in the cup would indicate. The Committee considered
that this should be increased as the tension of the vapors. The result
was that the report contained the following item: Units of heat carried
away by evaporation at the surface of the tank:
 Root boiler 721,390.8 units
Allen boiler 1,178,404.5 „
Phleger boiler 378,371 „
Lowe boiler 692,055 „
Blanchard boiler 268,707 „
The same Bulkley pyrometer was used in all the furnaces to
indicate the temperature of the escaping gases. On Tuesday
morning, when my boiler was to be tried, I saw that before my arrival
the pyrometer had been set in the brick chimney, where the readings
could be conveniently taken by a person standing on the brick
surface of the boiler chamber. Its readings averaged 260 degrees
Fahrenheit. I did not believe this to be true. At about half-past two
o’clock, when seven readings had been taken, one each half hour,
having got ready some bricks and mortar and tools, I pulled the
pyrometer out and filled up the hole. I then knocked a hole in the
side of the brickwork at the bottom, in front of the flue, and set the
pyrometer there. The reading rose to 405 degrees, which was the
temperature at which the gases then entered the flue, and averaged
about 385 degrees during the remainder of the sixteen readings.
Root’s average was 416 degrees, and Phleger’s (also tubular)
averaged 503. Obviously the readings taken before the pyrometer
was moved should have been rejected; but the boys who did this
kind of work added them all together, and our average temperature
is printed 345.87 degrees, giving the boiler more credit than it was
entitled to by about 40 degrees. I lost a little by this operation. While I
was bricking up the hole the fireman came around and told me I was
spoiling his fire. When I got the figures of water evaporated and coal
burned, I found that in that half hour I had only 900 pounds (three
barrels) credited to the boiler, instead of 1800 pounds (six barrels)
during every other half hour, being a loss of about .023 in water
weighed in the barrel, 38,400 pounds, instead of 39,300 pounds,
while, curiously enough, the coal burned was rather increased.
The point of interest in this incident was the fact that the gases
had lost 125 degrees of heat in traversing a distance in flues and
chimney of less than 20 feet. This seems difficult to believe, but they
did. There was no leakage as the excellent draft clearly proved, nor
any other way of accounting for the discrepancy. The length of the
pyrometer tube exposed to the heated gases was the same in both
positions. The heat had been lost by radiation through the brickwork.
I have been waiting ever since for a chance to turn this knowledge to
useful account, but it has not come yet. I will content myself with
suggesting to somebody else the idea of facing the boiler setting,
flues and chimney, not only outside but inside also after leaving the
furnace, with white encaustic tiles, which will neither absorb nor
radiate heat appreciably. This will pay in maintaining the temperature
in a large degree to the top of the chimney, so increasing, perhaps
doubling, the strength of the draft. An enormous amount of heat
must be lost through the extended surface of the brick boiler setting.
It is always observed that the hotter a boiler-room is kept the greater
the efficiency of the boiler becomes. This is a slight indication of the
great gain which might be effected by the plan I propose.
Before this boiler trial we had lost Mr. Allen. He had conceived the
idea of the pneumatic riveter and the high-speed air-compressor to
furnish this riveter with power. In the latter he utilized the inertia of
the reciprocating parts, including two pistons, the steam and the air
piston. This he did with my cordial consent, and indeed there was
nothing patentable about that feature anyway. Mr. Allen thus became
the originator of the important system of pneumatic riveting, in its two
methods, by percussion and by pressure. Mr. Allen sold out his stock
in the engine company to Mr. Hope and Mr. Smith, and built a shop
in Mott Haven for the manufacture of the riveters and compressors.
He took the boiler in the fair in part payment, and sold it directly to a
party who had erected a wood-working shop at some point on the
Harlem River.
The Croton water which had been fed to the boiler contained no
lime, but some sediment. Mr. Allen had the boiler taken down and
brought to our shop for inspection and cleaning. I determined to
improve the opportunity to observe the effect of the circulation on the
deposit of sediment, and the result of the examination proved most
interesting. Each inclined tube had been provided at the end with a
brass plug, by removing which it could be cleaned by the running out
of the water which it contained. This had not yet been done.
 I took out the tubes on one side of one section, ten in all, five over
the furnace and five behind the bridge wall, and planed them in two
longitudinally, and had the following revelation: The tubes over the
furnace were entirely empty. In those back of the bridge wall a
deposit of sediment appeared, only about an inch deep in the first
one, and increasing regularly to a depth of 18 inches in the last one,
which was not the tube receiving the feed-water. So the water fed
into the last tube of each section deposited its sediment most largely
in the first tube it reached, in which the circulation was least active,
and had deposited it all before reaching the tubes over the furnace.
The remaining long tubes were then cleaned, the tubes cut in two
were replaced by new ones, and the boiler delivered to Mr. Allen.
The next stage in its history was very funny. The purchaser, to save
the cost of Croton water, fed his boiler from the Harlem River, and
within a month it was found to be filled solid with salt. What was
done about it I never heard.
I thought I could sell the boilers where, as in New York City, they
could be fed with water free from lime, and I made a few such sales,
but the inspiration which led me to employ the second drum for
superheating the steam had deserted me.
I came to the conclusion that by making the first drum a large one,
and not extending the nipples into the drum to trap a puddle of water,
as I had done, I could superheat the steam in one drum. That was a
blunder. I had underestimated the furious circulation, which carried a
large amount of spray into the drum. I was misled by the quiet
position of the water-level, as always shown in the glass gauge.
Instead of superheated steam, I found the boiler to give very wet
steam. That fault, of course, I could have remedied by returning to
my first design. But I was discouraged by other things. The first, of
course, was the impossibility of removing scale by any mechanical
means. The most serious discouragement was a cracked header.
The inclined tubes, on any plan for their use that I could then design,
made cast-iron headers necessary. I had taken great pains to obtain
perfect castings, making them of the best iron in baked molds in iron
flasks, of uniform thickness, ⁵⁄₈ in., and ³⁄₄ in. where threaded, with
cores held perfectly central and remarkably well vented, and felt that
I could rely on their soundness; but this defect showed that I could
not. So reluctantly I abandoned the manufacture of the boiler.
I believe, however, that there is yet a future for the inclined boiler
tube, with independent circulation in each tube, the whole made
entirely from forged steel; and that better results will be obtained
from it than any other form of boiler has as yet given. I have been
told by Chief Engineer Melville that all water admitted to the boilers
in the United States Navy is made pure enough for pharmaceutical
purposes. If this can be done in the navy, where sea water and the
mud of harbors have to be used, it can be done anywhere. Cooling
towers make it practicable to return all water to the boiler even from
non-condensing engines. Then only the waste needs to be made
good, and any water can be purified for this purpose. Oil or grease
with the feed-water is readily avoided. Only electrolysis remains to
be provided against, which can be done by avoiding the use of any
alloy of copper in contact with the water. We may then have boilers
of the most durable character and safe to carry any desired
pressure.
The following incident near the close of my experience in Harlem
would be too ridiculous to print except for its consequence. One day
Mr. Smith sent me word that he would like to see me in his office.
When I entered he asked me, “What do you pay for the castings of
your governor arms and balls?” Of course he knew perfectly well, as
he had the bills and the books, but that was his way of introducing
the subject. I replied, “Forty cents a pound.” He held up both hands
in affected amazement, and exclaimed, “Forty cents a pound! Well,
sir, I can assure you of one thing, no more of this company’s money
is going to be squandered in that way.” I overlooked his insulting
language and manner, and said quietly, “Are you sure, Mr. Smith,
that you have all the information you need to form a correct judgment
in this matter?” “I am sure,” he replied, “what the market price is of
copper and tin, and that I can get castings made from our own metal
at a price that will bring the cost to not more than 25 cents a pound.”
“This, then, I presume, is all you know about the subject,” I said,
“and you ought to know a great deal more, which I will tell you. It is
necessary that I can rely upon getting a pure copper and tin alloy, in
the proportion known as gun-metal, on account of its strength, its
rigidity, and its wearing qualities. The latter is of especial importance,
because the governor joints are in continual motion under the weight
of the heavy counterpoise. Experience shows that this purity cannot
be relied upon where it is possible that any inferior metal can
become mixed with this alloy in even the smallest proportion. This for
us, not making our own castings, must be wholly a matter of
confidence.
“Another risk must be avoided, that is, of getting bad castings. The
castings must not have the least imperfection. The time lost, through
finding defects that make it necessary to reject arms after more or
less work has been put on them, would soon wipe out all the little
gain you look for; as these castings, at 40 cents a pound, only cost
about five dollars a set, as an average of all the sizes.
“I made a careful study of this subject when I commenced the
governor manufacture about fifteen years ago, and found David
Francis, who had a small gun-metal foundry on Vestry Street, to be
just the man I wanted. No inferior metal ever goes into his place. He
enjoyed the entire confidence of manufacturers. He has made my
governor arms and balls ever since. I have never had a bad casting
from him, and always got the pure metal, and have paid him the
same price that everybody pays him for small castings. I consider
the security that I have had respecting this metal to have been
fundamental to the great success of my governors, and that I would
be crazy to make any such change as you propose.”
He made no reply, and I left him, supposing my statement to have
been perfectly satisfactory. What was my amazement when, a few
days after, he informed me that he had made a contract with a brass
molder on Rose Street for casting our governor arms, “subject to
your approval, sir,” and he asked me to visit the place and see what
its facilities were.
I told him I would go, but that my position on the subject was
already well known to him. I found the place on a little lane, and that
the business done in it was making brass castings for plumbers. The
proprietor told me he had never made gun-metal castings, but he
could make any kind of composition, and I could rely on getting them
of just the metal I furnished him.
 I reported to Mr. Smith that such an arrangement would be
ruinous, that his plan of furnishing the metal was most
unbusinesslike. “What do you know about business?” he shouted
with a sneer. “I know,” said I, “that if you should propose this plan to
any well-informed, practical man, he would laugh in your face, and
tell you if you wanted to ruin your business this would be as good a
way as any to do it.” He replied, “That is not the question, sir; the
only question is, will you, or will you not, approve the contract I have
made?” “I will not,” I replied, and walked out of his office.
A few days after I received a note from Mr. Hope, asking me to call
on him. I called next day, and he told me that Mr. Smith had been to
see him, with a bitter complaint of my insubordination and defiance
of his authority, which he would not endure, and he asked me to tell
him what the trouble was about. I told him substantially as above
related. “Is that all?” said he. I assured him that it was all the trouble
that I knew of. Mr. Hope replied, “I cannot express my amazement at
his interference with your management. That must be absolutely
entrusted to you, and he ought to see it. He is a rational man and I
can easily show him his error, and that you must take the stand you
have done. I don’t think you will have any more trouble.”
I did not hear again from Mr. Hope for a fortnight, during which
time I had no occasion to meet Mr. Smith. Finally a letter came from
him, telling me that I must prepare for the worst; he had exhausted
all his efforts on Mr. Smith, and found him absolutely immovable,
declaring that I must go, I was of no use there, anyway. Mr. Hope
said he told him his conduct was outrageous and suicidal. If I went,
that I would be the end of the business. He snapped his fingers at
that, saying, “Mr. Goodfellow can make the engines, and I can sell
them; what more do you want?” He declared that no business could
succeed unless the will of the president was law. They had several
very disagreeable conferences, which Mr. Smith always closed by
saying, “Repay me my investment in this company,” which he figured
at $24,000, “and I’ll give you my stock.” He had announced to Mr.
Hope his determination to call a meeting of the directors to discharge
me, and as he had a majority of votes, having some time before
given to each of his two sons qualifying shares and had them elected
members of the board of directors, he held the power in his hands to
do it.
Directly after, I received a copy of a notice of a regular meeting of
the board, convened strictly according to law. I could see no ray of
light. The night before the meeting I walked the Third Avenue bridge
half the night. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Smith at the
appointed hour. Mr. Hope was absent. Mr. Smith said Mr. Hope had
sent word to him the day before that he might be detained, but if so
would come up on the next boat, which ran hourly, and asked Mr.
Smith to wait that time for him.
So the meeting was adjourned for an hour, when Mr. Hope arrived.
Mr. Smith prefaced the resolutions discharging me from my
position as superintendent and electing Mr. Goodfellow in my place,
by quite an oration, setting forth the solemn sense of his Christian
duty which left him no alternative, and the necessity of proper
subordination in any business, if it was to be successful, and the
especially aggravated character of my offense, and the demoralizing
nature of my example.
He was about to put the question on the adoption of the
resolutions, when Mr. Hope said, “Before you put this question to
vote, Mr. Smith, I would like to say a word. I have concluded to
accept your offer. Here is my certified check for $24,000 to your
order, and I demand from you the transfer to me of the stock in this
company standing in your name and the names of your sons.”
When the Smiths were gone (they left by the next boat) Mr. Hope
and I sat down to confer on the business of the company. When
these matters were concluded, I said to him, “Mr. Hope, if you had
determined to make this grand proof of your confidence in the engine
and in myself, why did you not tell me sooner, and save my wife and
myself a great deal of distress?”
“My dear fellow,” he replied, “I did not know till this morning that I
should be able to do it. That is why I was late.”
 CHAPTER XX

Close of the Engine Manufacture in Harlem. My Occupation During a Three Years’

Suspension.

n the autumn of ’72, following the above incident, we

had a proof of the sagacity of Mr. Smith in rejecting my
plan for the establishment of works for the
manufacture of the engines, and taking a five years’
lease of an abandoned shanty. The property had
changed hands, and we received a note from the new
owner, saying that he had purchased the property with a view to its
improvement. He should therefore be unable to renew our lease, and
he gave us six months’ notice, that we might have time in which to
make other arrangements before its expiration.
Here was a situation. To move and establish the business in a new
locality would require a large expenditure, and we had no money.
The natural thing to do would be to enlarge our capital. On
consultation with several parties, Mr. Hope found the financial
situation at that time would not warrant this attempt. The Civil War
had ended between seven and eight years before. Hard times had
been generally anticipated after its close, but to the surprise of
capitalists these did not come. The country continued to be
apparently prosperous. The best observers were, however,
convinced that a financial reaction was inevitable, and the longer it
was delayed the more serious it was likely to be; an anticipation that
was more than realized in Black Friday in September, 1873, and the
collapse of values and years of absolute stagnation that followed.
For some time before that eventful day capitalists had felt anxious
and there had been a growing timidity and indisposition to invest in
any enterprise, however substantial it might be, so there was nothing
for us to do but to wind up our business and wait for more propitious
times, when we might attempt its revival.
In the winter of ’72-3 I had a call from my friend, J. C. Hoadley,
accompanied by Mr. Charles H. Waters, manager of the Clinton Wire
Cloth Company. Mr. Waters wished to obtain one of our engines. I
told him I was very sorry, but we should not be able to make one for
him. I then explained our situation. Our lease would expire in a
month or two, and could not be renewed, and we had made
arrangements then to close our business, had sold all our tools
deliverable before that date, were rushing two engines to completion,
but absolutely could not undertake another order.
“Never mind,” said he, “one of your engines I must have.” He then
told me that he was about to introduce a new feature in weaving wire
cloth. This was then woven in various narrow widths, according to
customers’ orders, having a selvage on each side. He had satisfied
himself that this latter was unnecessary. The wire, being bent in
weaving, had no tendency to ravel, and he had planned a loom to
weave the cloth seven feet in width, and slit it up into narrow widths
as required. In this loom the shuttle alone would weigh a hundred
and fifty pounds, besides the great weight of wire it would carry; it
had to be thrown nearly twelve feet, and he wanted to make as many
picks per minute as any narrow loom could do. In order to make
these throws uniformly, he required absolutely uniform motion. From
a careful study of slow-moving variable cut-off engines, he had
satisfied himself that none of them could give him the uniformity of
motion he needed. They were driven by a succession of violent
punches, these excessive amounts of force at the commencement of
each stroke were absorbed by the fly-wheel, the velocity of which
had to be increased to do it, and at the end of the stroke its velocity
had to be reduced in the same degree, to supply the total failure of
the force of the steam. This involved a variation of speed which in
ordinary business would not be regarded, but which would ruin the
action of this new loom. In the high speed of my engine, and the
action of the reciprocating fly-wheel, which compensated the
inequalities of the steam pressure without affecting the uniformity of
the speed, he found just what he needed, and that engine he must
have. I was astonished at the man’s penetration.