The History of Hyoscine

As a g roup these a lka lo ids exer t t w o qui te s e p a r a t e effects on m a m m a l s exposed to t h e m — an an t i cho l ine rg ic effect, a n d a c e n t r a l ne rvous s y s t e m d e p r e s s a n t effect. This combina t ion of p roper t ies , t he i r po t en t effects w i t h very sma l l dosage, a n d the i r w i d e s p r e a d d i s t r ibu t ion h a s m a d e t h e m f a m o u s in t h e h i s t o ry of all r e c o r d e d cu l t u r e s . We rev iew h e r e t h e h i s to ry of hyosc ine (or scopo lamine ) u n d e r t h e head ings of