Valley a singular ignorance of the mushroom world, a 
lack of curiosity about it, an unwillingness to explore it, 
even a certain repugnance for the whole subject. The 
Europeans are mostly of English-speaking stock. They 
present the perfect syndrome of mycophobia as diag- 
nosed by the Wassons in Mushrooms Russia & History.” 
3. It is natural to seek a parallel between the mush- 
room madness of the Kuma and the two regions of the 
world where psychotropic mushrooms are deliberately 
consumed for their inebriating effect. In the Wahgi 
Valley there is general agreement that the feats of en- 
durance performed during the attacks of ‘madness’ by 
the ‘wild men’ of the Kuma surpass any normal physical 
activity. For hours they rush up and down the moun- 
tain trails brandishing weapons and shouting at the top 
of their lungs. In Siberia, among the Koriaki and the 
Chukchi, similar reports of extreme feats of endurance 
circulate about the men who have taken Amanita mus- 
caria. The erotic aspect of the ndaad/ condition among 
the Kuma women also has its parallel in Siberia and per- 
haps in Mexico. But the deep religious experience of the 
Mexican Indians who consume the sacred mushrooms 
has no parallel in the Wahgi Valley, although the sha- 
manistie performances of Siberia provide us with many 
parallels for the holy communion celebrated at night with 
mushrooms in the remote valleys of Oaxaca. A detailed 
comparison of the three areas in their mushroom activi- 
ties remains to be done, and we propose to give this 
further study. Whereas the Siberian and Mexican na- 
tives use psychotropic mushrooms, in the Wahgi Valley 
we found none in use, though the natives attributed 
their extraordinary behavior to mushrooms. 
" Pantheon Books, New York, 1957. 
[ 33 ] 
