New-York tribune., 1898-01-23

of the Indians, who keep Il fire burning brightly
throughout their mescal rites.
The visions continued with undiminished brill
lance for many hours. and as | felt somewhat
faint and muscularly weak | went to bed as
| undresSed being greatly impressed by the red.
scaly. bronZed and pigmented appearance of my
limbs whenever | was not directly gazing at
them. | had not the faintcst desire for sleep;
there general hyperTsthesia Of all the
senses as well muscular irritability and every
slightest sound seemed magniiicd 10 startling d-
mensions. l may also have been kept awake by
n vague alarm at the novelty OF my condition
and the possibility Of further developments.
THE PHENOMENA CHANGED BY LIGHT
After watching the visions in the dark for
some hours | became little tired of them and
turned on the gas. Then / found that ] was
able to study new series OF visual phenomena,
to which previous observers had made no refer
ence. The gas jet (Gn ordinary hickering
burncr) seemed to burn with great brilliance.
sending out waves of light. which expanded and
contracted In IN enormously exaggerated man
ner. | was even more impressed by the shad-
ows. which were In all directions heightened by
nuShcs uf red green and especially violet The
whole room with its whitewashod but not very
white ceiling thus became vivid and beautiful:
| wished to ascertain how the subducd and
steady electric light would influence vision and
passed into the next room; but here the shadows
were little marked although walls and floor
seemed tremulOus and unsubstantial. and the
texture of everything was heightened ana en-
richcd
About $50 a. m. ! folt that tho phenomena
were distinctly diminishing though the visions.
now chiefly Of human figures. fantastic and
Chinese in character. still continued and | was
able to settle myself to sleep, which prov"d
y, ace ful and drcamloss. 7 awoke nj the usual
hour and experienced no sense Of fatigue nor
other unpleasant remnsccnc" ~ the experience
! had undergone. only my cy"S seemed un-
usually sensitive to cOHr. especially To blue ana
violet: | can. ind cod. gay that eyer since this
experience | have been more asthctically sensi-
tive than ! was befor" 10 tn" more delicate
phenomena Of light and shade and color
1t occurred to me that it would be interesting
to have the experiences Of an artist under the
intiuf nee of mescal and I induced an artist
fri. nd To make a similar experiment tnfortu-
natrlV no effects whatever were produced at the
first attempt. owing. as have since discovered.
TO the fact that the buttons had only been sim
ply infused and their virtues not extracted. TO
make sure Of success the experiment was re-
pcated with four buttons. which proved to be an
excessive and unpleasant dose. There We're
paroN ysmal attacks Of rain at the heart and n
scrse Of imminent q. ath. which naturally
alarmed the subject while so great was the
dread of light and diatation Of the pupils that
the cyelids had to be X, pt moro or less closed.
though il was evident y AZ n certain amount OF
vision still possible. The symptoms came on
very suddenly. and when | arrived they we're
already at heir height. The experiences Of THIS
subject were in many respects very unlike mine.
MrsrAI. DOES NOT CAUSE OBLIVION.
next made experiments on two poets. whose
names arr both we" known. one is interested
in mystical matters, an excellent subject for
visions and very familiar with Nlslon-producihS
drugs. and processes His heart. however, iS not
very strong While he obtained the visions. he
found the effects Of mescaI on his breath
ing somewhat unpleasant; he much prefers
haShiSh. though recognizing that its effects are
much more difficult to obtain The other en-
joys admirable health. and under the influence
Of mtscal hc experienced scarcely IN" slightest
unpleasant reaction hut. on the 'ontrary
very marked state Of wrl-bcing and bcatitude.
He took somewhat less than three buttons 80
that the results Were rather less marked than
in my cas-. but they were perfectly drhniie,
II would be gu; " place here 70 discuss the
obscure question as 10 the underlying mechan-
ien by which mescal eXerts It's magic powers
r. is clear from the foregoing descrl pilons mar
uicscal infnxic ltion may b" described as chiefly
"A Safurraiia OF tn, Sp .cliic senses. and above
all an orgy Of vision. II reveals an optical
fairyland. where all the senses now ana again
i0in iho play. but the mind itself remains
self osscssed spectator Mescal intOxication thus
diners from the other artificial paradises Which
drugs procure. The mescal drinker remain.
calm and collected amid the sensOry turmoil
around him: his Judgment is rs clear as IN IN
normal state; ne falls into no Oriental condition
Of vague and voupiuous reverir. The rcas,I
why mcsral * of all this class Of iruRs tH
m, st purely intellectual in its appeal is 'vldent
~ b,raus il affects mainly the most int"ll"clual
of the senses. Further. unlike the other CHIEF
sui starccs To which II may be compared. meSca
doe. not wholly carry us away from the actuai
world or plunge MS into oblivion; a large part
" its charm lies IN the nalo Of beauty wnich "
casts around the simpl 81 and cOmmoncst things
1t is thr most democratic Of the plants Which
lead men To IN artificial paradise
At the same time IT must be remembered that
At present are able to speak on basis OF
hut very small experience. 50 FAR as ciVlil2"d
men are concerned. The few observations re-
corded IN America and my own experiments IN
Ergland do not crabl" US 10 say anything re-
rartling the hlbitual consumption of ncscai III
large amounts. That such consumption would
be cravclv injurious | cannot doubt. Its safe
guard seems to lie i'm the fact that certain
degree of robust health is required I" Obtain
NAV at least be- claimed that for healthy
person to- ho once or twice ADM TED 30 the rltrs