traces thereof. Instead, we found lysergol (formula VII) 
in the last mentioned seed, an alkaloid absent from the 
seeds of Ipomoea violacea. Lysergol was produced syn- 
thetically “ in our laboratories (as were d-lysergic acid 
amide, d-isolysergic acid amide and ergometrine) before 
it was discovered as one of the active principles of a 
Mexican magic drug. The compounds corresponding to 
spots KE and F are present in such small quantities that 
they have hitherto not been identified. 
In Plate NN XIV, the structural formulas of the six 
alkaloids now isolated from ololiuhqui and badoh negro 
are depicted. These formulas clearly show the close 
relationship between ololiuhqui’s active principles and 
the most active hallucinogenic agent known thus far, the 
synthetically produced LSD (formula I). 
As has already been pointed out, the discovery of ergot 
alkaloids in the higher plants is amost unexpected phyto- 
chemical discovery. In view of the uniqueness of these 
findings, other investigators found it necessary to ascer- 
tain whether these alkaloids were actually produced by 
plant tissue or whether they were produced by fungi or 
bacteria present in the seeds. Before publishing our re- 
sults, we examined our seed samples for attack by fungus 
and found that they were healthy and had not been in- 
fected. Furthermore, we had detected the alkaloids in 
fresh leaves, stalks and roots of Ipomoea violacea and, to 
a very small extent also, in the leaves of Rivea corym- 
bosa.”” These were results that showed that ergot alka- 
loids were in fact produced by tissues of Rivea corymbosa 
and Ipomoea violacea and not by fungi infecting the seeds. 
Our results were confirmed by the detailed investiga- 
tions of W. A. Taber and R. A. Heacock who ascertained 
that the alkaloids are concentrated in the embryo of the 
seeds and are absent from the shells that had occasion- 
ally been attacked by fungi.” The occurrence of small 
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