BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
CamsBripce, Massacuuserrs, JANUARY 10, 1969 VoL. 22, No. 
DE PLANTIS TOXICARIIS E MUNDO 
NOVO TROPICALE COMMENTATIONES III 
PHYTOCHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF SPRUCE’S ORIGINAL 
COLLECTION OF BANISTERIOPSIS CAAPI 
BY 
Ricuarp Evans Scuuttes', Bo HoLMsreptr 
AND JAN-ErIK LINDGREN’ 
RicHARD Spruce, the humble Yorkshire schoolmaster- 
bryologist, became one of the outstanding tropical plant 
explorers of all time. On July 12, 1849, he arrived at 
the mouth of the Amazon to start his epoch-making 
botanical studies and collections that spanned a period of 
fifteen years (1849-1864) in the Amazon and the Andes. 
Spruce (Plate XXX) was far ahead of his day in 
scientific thought and method. He lived closely with 
native peoples, learned several languages and kept his 
mind ever inquisitive and his eye ever perceptive. For 
a number of plants that have later attracted extensive 
phytochemical and pharmacological attention — and 
which are still claiming serious studies —it was Spruce 
who gave us detailed, accurate, pioneer information. 
One of these plants was a jungle liana, source of an 
extraordinary hallucinogenic drink called caapz in Brazil, 
ayahuasca in Ecuador and Peru. It was in 1852, during 
' Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
> Department of Toxicology, Swedish Medical Research Council, 
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. 
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