Vot-2hy No.1 
THE ‘MUSHROOM MADNESS’ 
OF THE KUMA 
BY 
RoGcer Hem! ann R. Gorpon Wasson? 
Few have heard of the ‘mushroom madness’ that strikes 
at irregular intervals some of the natives of the Wahgi 
Valley in New Guinea. Even in New Guinea itself those 
of European race are often not informed about this puz- 
zling behavior. But for us who had long been studying 
the role of wild mushrooms in primitive cultures, the 
first intimation of the mushroom madness to reach us, 
early in 1958, arrested our attention: we seized on it and 
both from published sources and by private correspond- 
ence tried to inform ourselves about it. The more we 
learned, the more we were baffled. At last cireumstances 
permitted us to visit the Wahgi: in 1963, accompanied 
by Dr. Marie Reay, anthropologist of the Australian 
National University, we spent about three weeks on 
the scene. 
Mount Hagen and the Wahgi River are in that por- 
tion of New Guinea administered by Australia under 
mandate from the United Nations. They are in the 
Western Highlands. The river flows eastward through 
‘Member of Académie des Sciences, Paris; Director of the Muséum 
National d’ Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Director of its Laboratoire de 
Cryptogamie; Editor of the Revue de Mycologie. 
* Research Fellow, Botanical Museum of Harvard University. 
[1] 
