A Century of Mescaline

Mike Jay

Mescaline was first synthesized in 1919 by the chemist Ernst Späth in the laboratories of Vienna University, from the organic base of 3,4,5-trimethoxy-benzoic acid, an oil found in eucalyptus. It was the first of the compounds that we now call “psychedelic” to be created in the laboratory, and, over the next century, it would make a distinctive contribution to Western science, medicine, art, and literature... continue reading.