The chemistry and psychopharmacology of nutmeg and of several related phenylisopropylamines.

Our report today has been divided into two separate portions. The discus sion of nutmeg and its composition, and of the possible involvement of its chemical components. The psychotropic intoxication has a natural division into two areas of presentation. The first is a brief description of the plant; a presentation of the methods and procedures for the isolation and the identifi cation of the many components in the oil from the plant, and a careful defini tion of those components that are most probably involved in the intoxicative syndrome. The extension of these components in to the corresponding amphetamines, their effectiveness in humans, and the likelihood of their being an acceptable explanation of the effects of the total nutmeg, will constitute the latter part of this report. In the previous paper there was presented some of the history of nutmeg, and a description of the style and extent of its usage in various cul tures. In the reports that will follow, specific descriptions of the human syn drome of intoxication, and some of the pharmacological ramifications of its study, will be presented. At this point we would like to present a factual description of the various chemical materials that have been found to make up the volatile (and pre sumed active) fraction of nutmeg. On the hypothesis that one or more com ponents may be appropriately assigned the responsible role for the nutmeg intoxication, there is a need for an exact chemical definition of nutmeg. But even before this, we must define in botanical terms just what is meant by the name nutmeg. Properly the nutmeg tree is any plant found in the Genus Myristica. Two species are known to be native to India. M. malabarica produces a seed some four centimeters long and elliptically shaped, and M. canarica produces a small spherical seed about two centimeters across. Both contain primarily fats and myristic acid, and being virtually without odor or volatile oil have achieved no position of importance. In the East Indies the seeds of M. suecedanea, known as "Pala Maba" in the Indonesian areas, are also small and quite elongate in shape, but they have proven valuable as rich sources of the nutmeg essential oils. Another species, M. argentea, has actually been used