Mythobotany, Pharmacology, and Chemistry of Thujone-Containing Plants and Derivatives Author(s): Michael Albert-Puleo Reviewed work(s): Source: Economic

Botany, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1978), pp. 65-74 Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253892 . Accessed: 14/12/2011 07:49
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

New York Botanical Garden Press and Springer are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic Botany.

http://www.jstor.org

MYTHOBOTANY, PHARMACOLOGY,AND CHEMISTRY OF THUJONE-CONTAININGPLANTS AND DERIVATIVES

MICHAEL ALBERT-PULEO *

Thujone, CloH160, is the primary constituent of essential oils derived from a variety of plants, including wormwood, Artemisia absinthium; mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris; sage, Salvia officinalis; clary, Salvia sclarea; tansy, Tanacetum vulgare; and yellow cedar or the tree of life, Thuja occidentalis. While oils derived from the individual species may vary in the modifying constituents which they contain, the pharmacological effects common to thujone-containing plants are generally considered to include the following: 1) anthelmintic, 2) psychedelic, 3) uterine, 4) antidote to opium and other central nervous system depressant poisons. The effects delineated by modern experimentation correlate remarkably well with those ascribed to the plants in mythology, folklore, and other pre-contemporary documents.

ANTHELMINTIC EFFECT

Many thujone-containingplants have been used in the treatment of intestinal worms. Gerard, the 16th-CenturyBritish herbalist, writes: "The seed of Tansie is a singular and approved medicine against Wormes, for in what sort soever it be taken it killeth & driveth them forth..."' and "Wormewood voideth away the wormes of the guts."2 Mugwort and tree of life are also considered to be anthelmintic.34 Experiments carried out in Edinburgh in 1955 by A. Mackie et al. indicated the efficacy of thujone in eliminating the common roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides.5
PSYCHEDELIC EFFECT

In the myth of Ganymede of ancient Greece, it is by eating tansy that the hero becomes one of the gods and immortal.6 "Tansy is thought to be derived from the Greek word athanaton, immortal."7 The experience of immortality while under the influence of a psychedelic drug is common and is referred to in both modern clinical transcriptsand the ceremonial poems of certain ancient religions. For example, Soma, the psychedelic drug of the poet priests of the
*315 Cotswold Lane, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Submitted for publication September 1, 1977; accepted September 12, 1977. 'John Gerard, The Herbal (1633), p. 651. See also Harris and Levey, The New Columbia Encyclopedia (1975), p. 691. 2Gerard, ibid., p. 1097. 3Mrs. M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal (1931), p. 557. 4Grieve, ibid., p. 177. 5Mackie et al., British Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 10 (1955), pp. 7-11. 6Grieve, op. cit., p. 789. 7Grieve, ibid.

ECONOMIC

BOTANY 32: 65-74.

January-March,

1978

65

(C The New York Botanical Garden 1978 Published for the Society for Economic Botany

Rg Veda identified by Wasson as the mushroomAmanita muscaria8was thought to confer immortality. Ganymede "is compared to the Vedic Soma, who, like him, was ravished by Indra and changed into a sparrow hawk."9 Whether the similarities between the two myths lies in historical fact, in an archtype of the collective unconscious, or in a presently unappreciated fact of nature remains to be seen. Many psychedelics, including the alchemical Elixir of Life, have been considered by users to induce experiential immortality.'0 As Watts comments, "The immortality to be conferred by the elixir was not always the literal everlasting life, but rather the transportationof consciousness into a state beyond time."" Sage has also been reputed to produce immortality, as evidenced by the old English adage: He who would live for aye, Must eat sage in May.'2 Chemical analysis shows that the thujone content of sage is at a peak around
May.'3

Other writings indicate the psychoactivity of thujone-containingplants. Pliny writes that "Sage is of excellent use to help the memory, warming and quicken4 ing the sense."' Gerard states, "Sage is singular good for the head and braine."'5 Grieve, a 20th-Century herbalist, writes, The volatile oil of sage is said to be a violent epileptiformconvulsant, resemblingthe essential oils of absintheand nutmeg. When smelt for some time it is said to cause a sort of intoxicationand
giddiness.'16

As Schultes has noted, Salvia divinorum, used by the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, has hitherto been considered to be the only psychedelic species of Salvia.'7 The active ingredient of this plant has yet to be disclosed; however, it seems unlikely that it would be thujone, as this could be easily isolated if present. That thujone can produce intoxication through the inhalation and absorption of volatilized molecules via the nasal passages is not unique, and deserves a brief aside. Grieve describes how the odor of fresh henbane leaves can produce giddiness and stupor.'8 The effects of the aroma of fresh marijuana, Cannabis sativa, have often been noted. The French poet Baudelaire describes how ... we have before our eyes curious examples of the intoxicatingeffects of emanationsfrom plants. Not only do childrenwho have been playing and rollingin piles of cropped lucern [ alfalfaI often experience strange
IG. Wasson, Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality.

9Guirand, Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (1959), p. 158. 'ORead, Prelude to Chemistry (1936), pp. 121-122.

"A. Watts, "The New Alchemy,"in This Is It (1960), p. 127. 12Grieve, op. cit., p. 701. 3Guenther, The Essential Oils, Vol. I (1949), pp. 715-716.
'4Pliny, Natural History.

(b. 23, died A.D. 79)

op. "5Gerard, cit., p. 766. '6Grieve, op. cit., p. 860. in "7R.E. Schultes, "The Botanicaland ChemicalDistributionof Hallucinogens," Annual
Review of Plant Physiology, Vol. 21 (1970), p. 593.

'8Grieve, op. cit., p. 398.

66

ECONOMIC BOTANY

giddiness,but it is well known that duringthe hemp harvestboth male and female workersexperiencesimilareffects; it is as though a miasma rises from the crop, subtly disturbingthe brain. The harvester'smind spins, and is sometimes oppressed with dreams.'9 One might suppose that an early mode of human intoxication occurred when people ventured into vast and virgin fields of plants whose volatilized psychedelic oils were at a peak. Affected by the spirits of the plants, in all dimensions of the word,20people might come to seek out their locales when they wanted to communicate with the powers they put them in contact with. Such events have occurred even before the tool-forming stage of man's development. Baum, in The Wizardof Oz, seems to have tuned into this millenial element of the collective unconsciousness when he depicts Dorothy being overcome by the aroma emitted by a field of poppies. This may also partially account for the custom of bringing certain plants to sit in the rooms of sick people. In earlier times this may have provided more than decoration, it may also have served to vaporize the room with the volatilized essential oils of medicinal plants with actual therapeutic value. Humans, of course, are not the only organisms affected by plant vapors: the common cat, Feline domesticus, can become intoxicated by sniffing catnip, Nepeta cataria. Magicians, witches, and other practitioners of ancient, occult science, have often utilized psychedelic drugs to induce altered states of consciousness.2' Mugwort has a history, not yet fully examined, intertwined with magic. As Gerard comments, "Many fanatical devices invented by the poets [ concerning mugwort] are to be seene in the Works of the antient writers, tending to witchcraft & sorcerie."22 The Artemisia were important celebrations of spring among the people of ancient Greece and the Mediterranean basin that involved the worship of and ecstatic union with Artemis, a conception of the Earth Mother. Artemis was also considered to be embodied in the females of the tribe, who brought forth new life from their wombs upon insemination by the males, just as the earth brought forth vegetables, grain, and fruit after being penetrated by the hoes of the farmers. Hence the Artemisia reached consummation in group sexual communion among all adult members of the tribe. Besides uniting the entire clan in a bond of love, this behavior, perhaps reminiscent of a primal, cyclical mating season, would facilitate a healthy mixing of genes. Corresponding with the union between men and women would be an experiential, mystical union between the individual and the essence of the cosmos - the procreative urge, which in spring is most evident. Artemis was considered to be concentrated in the plants Artemisia absinthium and Artemisia vulgaris,23 which were in9CharlesBaudelaire,The Poem of Hashish (1860), p. 164. (See under "spirit").

20Oxford English Dictionary

2tMichael Harner, Hallucinogens and Shamanism (1973). Carlos Casteneda, Teachings of Don Juan, etc.

Peter T. Furst, Flesh of the Gods (1972), and elsewhere. op. 22Gerard, cit., p. 1105. 23OxfordEnglish Dictionary (See under "Artemis").

THUJONE-CONTAINING PLANTS AND DERIVATIVES

67

gested as part of the Artemisia, and in the moon.24 The Artemisia were in fact held during the time of the full moon. Earth'spartner has long been associated with altered states of consciousness, and throughout time people have believed that the full moon causes lunacy, a word etymologically related to luna, Latin for "moon." Two hundredyears ago a distinctionwas made in Englishlaw between meaningchronicallyand incurablypsychotic, those who were "insane," and thereforesusceptibleonly to aberraand those who were "lunatic" tions produced by the moon. Crimes committed at the full moon by those in the second category were considered more leniently by the
courts.25

Modem statistical studies indicate that the full and new moon coincide with an increase in the commission of murders.26 Kleptomania and arson have also shown peaks around the full moon.27 It would appear that not all effects are of an antisocial character, but that those delineated are merely the most obvious. Abel has suggested that the effect of the moon on humans may be due to the changes in the electromagnetic field of the earth caused by the movements of the moon,28however an exhaustive examination of the actual mechanism(s) remains to be made. Cotton Mather noted in 1702 that the exposed brain of one of his patients swelled in synchrony with the tides, which are of course due to the gravitational pull of the moon.29 Folklore is of course replete with accounts of the effect of the moon on the human psyche. All peoples who followed the lunar cycles celebrated major religious holidays on the full or new moons. Hence, the use of psychedelic Artemisian preparations combined synergistically with the lunar effect would have facilitated the ecstatic and orgiastic rites of the Artemisia. These were times for people to rejoice in their own instinctstowardfertility and by doing so to honor and arouse this quality in the universe. They were times for bringingdown the moon.30 It is of interest to note that the placing of a psychedelic under the aegis of a lunar deity is not confined to this instance but is in fact widespread. "Not only was Soma lord of the moon but of the Soma Tree, the cosmic plant from whose fruit came the wine of immortality and poetic inspiration.' "As in Hindu and Teutonic lore, the Chinese associated the moon with a delicious and intoxicating wine desired by everyone."32 It would appear that this connection is due to several reasons. As discussed previously, both the moon and psyche24HarryT. Peck (ed.), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities (1897), p. 136. William Hale, Ancient Greece (1965), p. 72. 25Lyall Watson, Supernature (1973), p. 50. 26A. L. Lieber and C. R. Sherin, "Homicides and the Lunar Cycle," in American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 129 (July, 1972), pp. 69-74. 2ILyall Watson, op. cit., pp. 50-51. 28E. L. Abel, Moon Madness (1976), pp. 155-166. 29Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana, Vol. I (1702), p. 356. 30Anne Kent Rush, Moon, Moon (1976), p. 55. 31Gertrude and James Jobes, Outer Space (1964), p. 32. 32Ibid., p. 36.

68

ECONOMIC BOTANY

delic drugs are known to alter consciousness. Also, the moon has long been thought to be the controller of vegetation, which was thought to wax and wane in vigor in harmony with the phases of the moon. H. S. Burr of Yale University has shown in extensive experiments that the electrical potential of trees is at a maximum at the time of the new and full moon.33 Professor Frank A. Brown of Northwestern University has discovered that the respiration rate of potatoes reaches a maximum shortly before the full moon and a minimum directly after the new moon.34 So it seems that the old ideas may not be far from the mark. Finally, analysis of precipitation patterns indicates that rainfall is greatest on the days around the full and new moon.35 This last bit of data is particularly significant in regards to Soma, Amanita muscaria, since it is well known that the growth of mushroom fruiting bodies is most rapid after rain, especially when it comes in the form of thunderstorms.
THUJONE-CONTAINING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Many thujone-containing plants have been used in the formulation of psychoactive alcoholic beverages. Gerard writes, "No man need doubt of the wholesomeness of Sage Ale, being brewed as it should be, with Sage, Scabious, Betony, Spikenard, Squinath, and Fennel Seeds."35 Waller(1822) states that CommonClary,Salviasclarea L., was employed in this country IEngland] as a substitute for Hops, for sophisticating considerablebitternessand intoxicatingproperties, beer, communicating of which producedan effect of insane exhilaration spirits,succeeded by severe headache.36 The word "clary"is itself related to the word "clarity,"and may refer to the plants' psychedelic, eye-opening effects. The leaves of wormwood have also been used in brewing. "The principal bitter in England... is derived from the hop plant... in Italy, it is from absinth."37 The beverage once marketed as "absinthe"is made by macerating wormwood leaves and/or angelica, calamus root, dittany leaves, star anise fruit, cinnamon, peppermint, hyssop, fennel, and other plant drugs in high proof alcohol (up to 85%). This mixture is allowed to digest for a period of time whereupon it is
33H. S. Burr, "Moon Madness," in Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Vol. 16 (1943), pp. 249-256. 34F. A. Brown, "Endogenous Biorhythmicity Reviewed with New Evidence," in Scientia, Vol. 103 (1962), pp. 1-6. E. L. Abel, op. cit., p. 99. 35D. A. Bradley and M. A. Woodbury, "Lunar Synodical Period and Widespread Precipitation," in Science, Vol. 13 (September, 1962), pp. 748-750. 36Grieve, op. cit. See also Timbs, "Things Not Generally Known," in Lady Rosalind Northcote, The Book of Herbs (1912), p. 55. 37 Oxford English Dictionary (See under "absinthe").

THUJONE-CONTAINING PLANTS AND DERIVATIVES

69

distilled, bottled, and aged.38 Variations on this basic technique are of course legion. As the name absinthe indicates, the primary psychoactive component is Artemisia absinthium, though calamus root, Acorus calamus, has been shown to have psychedelic properties,39and certain of the other ingredients, including alcohol, are not without pharmacological effect. Grieve considers absinthe to be "a direct stimulant of the cortex cerebri," and adds, "Wormwood, as employed in making this liqueur, bears also the name 'Wermuth' -preserver of the mind - from its virtues as a nervine and mental restorative."40 In fact, many vermouths of today contain minor amounts of absinthe oil. The user of absinthe would drink to experience exhaltation, auditory and visual hallucinations, exci'4tion, and other symptoms typical of the psychedelic state.4' Some people have also considered the drink to be an aphrodisiac. Whether this effect would be due to the psychoactive properties of absinthe alone, or might also involve a localized excitation of the sex organs, remains to be shown experimentally. Too frequent or excessive use could produce unpleasant hallucinations, convulsions, paranoia, acute mania, headache, and hyperesthesia.42 The alcoholic content alone would tend to make absinthe harmful if abused. The injection of absinthe liqueur into the jugular veins of rabbits has been shown to be more toxic than the injection of alcohol alone.43 Aside from the alcohol, and the herbal ingredients, the toxicity of absinthe has often been considered to be due to the widespread adulteration of the product with artificial colorants such as copper sulfate, tumeric, and indigo.44 Both France and Switzerland produced vast quantities of the liqueur at one time, although laws were passed in Switzerland (1908), France (1915), and the U.S.A. (1912) making the manufacture and importation of absinthe illegal.45 Imitation absinthes, such as "Pernod,"mentioned in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, replaced the psychoactive thujone-containingproduct. In 1878, before this prohibition, 2,000,000 gallons of absinthe were imported into the U.S.A.46 Many artists have used it, perhaps with the intention of enhancing
38Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1910), p. 75. J. F. Thorpe and M. A. Whiteley, Thorpe's Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Vol. I

(1937), p. 5.
The Columbia Encyclopedia (1935, 1950), p. 9. Anthony Standen (ed.), Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (1963),

pp. 501-507. 39A. Hoffer and H. Osmond, The Hallucinogens(1967), pp. 55-56. 40Grieve,op. cit., p. 860.
41,

42Ibid.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th ed. (1878), Vol. I., p. 57. Stedman's Medical Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (1972), p. 6.

A. Trousseau,Treatise on Therapeutics(D. F. Lincoln, trans.) (1880), p. 211.

N. L. Hoerr (ed.), Blakiston's New Gould Medical Dictionary (1956), p. 6.

"Experimental Convulsionsin the Rat," ChemicalAbstracts,Vol. 33 (1939), p. 3884. 43"TheAction of Ethyl Alcohol in the Organism," ChemistryAbstracts, Vol. 15 (1921), p. 898. 44Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th ed. (1878), Vol. L, p. 57. 45Columbia Encyclopedia, p. 9.
4'Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th ed., p. 57.

70

ECONOMIC BOTANY

their artistic perception. Vincent van Gogh and the poet Ernest Dowson are two examples.47'48 The exact origin of absinthe manufacture has yet to be disclosed. Cordialswere knownto be in existence duringthe days of the Pharaohs and the ancient Athenians,but commercialproductionof cordials dates back to the Middle Ages when the alchemists,physicians,and mystical monks were all searchingfor an elixir of life. The art of distillationwas first carriedout in monasteriessince churchmenwere the only scholars treatises on distillation. The discapable of readingand understanding covery of "ardent"spirits...was looked upon with great awe. It was hoardedand secreted and made known only to a select few for many centuries. By 800 monks were producingsubstantialamounts of fermented liquors in Europe.49 The liqueurs Chartreuse and Benedictine were originally monastic products,50 and it is possible that absinthe was another medieval monastery'sapproximation of the elixir of life. It is equally possible that absinthe was first marketed by a school of physicians, or an alchemical guild. Further research may clarify this point.
UTERINE EFFECT

While the actual biochemical mechanism has yet to be disclosed, thujone appears to have a definite stimulant effect on the muscles of the uterus. In 1753 Chambers termed Artemisia vulgaris "of great efficacy as an uterine.' The Greek deity Artemis, "Mother of Herbs,"was the Greeks' goddess of childbirth. Lucius Apuleius, a 2nd-Century poet, calls Artemis "the physician sister 52 of Phoebus Apollo, reliever of the birth pangs of women." It would appear that one of the agencies through which Artemis relieved birth pangs was mugwort. Chambers writes, Artemisia vulgarisis more esteemed among midwivesthan among physicians. It is much used in female complaints,both internaland external: it is held...a cleaner of the uterus, a promoterof the menses, and of delivery.53 Greek science was in fact consistent. Just as the twin agencies of Artemis, the thujone-containing drugs and the moon, had the effect of altering people's consciousness, so these same agencies influenced labor. In many cultures the moon is considered to be "The Great Midwife." Anecdotes by doctors and nurses concerning the increased frequency of births under a full moon abound, and statistical studies have shown that more babies are in fact born in the
47The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, Vol. III. N.Y. Graphic Society (1960), p. 60. [ Van Gogh lived from 1853 to 1890. 1 48Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night (1940), p. 135. [Ernest Dowson lived from 1867 to 1900. 1 49Anthony Standen (ed.), op. cit., pp. 501-507. 50Ibid., p. 518. 5 Chamber's Encyclopedia (1753), under "sage." 52Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass (Robert Graves, trans.) (1950), p. 269. 53Chamber's Encyclopedia (1753), under "Artemisia."

THUJONE-CONTAINING PLANTS AND DERIVATIVES

71

period centered on the full moon than in other periods.54 Determination of the exact mechanism awaits scientific experimentation. It would appear that the secrets of Artemis were confined to her priestesses, who were also the culture's midwives. Assisting delivery, though, was only one aspect of their capacities as healers. As a healing divinityArtemis was scarcely, if at all, second to Apollo, both having received their gifts from their mother Leto. She knew the medicinal propertiesof plants and was skilled in their use.55 This knowledge was handed down largely, though not exclusively, through female healers. One exception is Soranus, the ancient Greek gynecologist, who prescribed vaginal suppositories containing wormwood or its oil and other drugs, as efficacious in producing abortion.56 Other Greeks, notably Pliny and Dioscorides, also describe mugwort as useful in the treatment of women's diseases, the latter stating that it "bringeth down the termes, the birth, and the
57 afterbirth."

Oils of tansy and thuja have also been used to produce abortion, although in the hands of unskilled persons the results could be harmful or fatal to the mother, or ineffectual.58 Grieve terms tansy an emmanagogue,59and the 1854 United States Dispensatory considers mugwort of a like class.60 Grieve views tansy as valuable in the treatment of hysteria,6' a disease long thought to be associated with the uterus. Experiments have shown that thujone does cause contractions of in vitro uterine muscles,62but more experimentation is in order. It has been previously noted that many of the psychedelic drugs with indole type structures are also stimulants of the uterine muscles.63 While the chemical structure of thujone is unlike that of indole, it is possible that the biochemical mechanisms through which each influences the organism are not dissimilar.
THUJONE AS ANTIDOTE

Through stimulation of the heart and the central nervous system thujone may counteract the effects of certain depressant poisons. Gerard states, "Pliny saith... that mugwort is drunke against opium, or the juices of the black poppy."64and "Wormewoodhelpeth them that are strangled with eating Mushrooms, or Toadstools, if it be drunk with vinegar."65 Wormwood was also
54Walter Menaker, "Lunar Periodicity with Reference to Live Births," in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (August 1, 1967), pp. 1002-1004. E. L. Abel, op. cit., also lists good bibliography on the subject. 55W. A. Jayne, The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations (1925), p. 311. 56Soranus, Gynecology (Owsei Tempkin, trans.) (1956), pp. 66-68. 57Dioscorides, in Gerard op. cit., p. 1104. 58 George B. Wood and F. Bache, The Dispensatory of the U.S.A., 10th ed. (1854), p. 1400. "Experimental Contributions to the Study of the Action of Popular Abortifacients," in Chemical Abstracts, Vol. VI, pp. 1181-1182. Virgil L. Vogel, American Indian Medicine (1970), p. 367. 59Grieve, op. cit., p. 790. 60Wood and Bache, op. cit., pp. 4-5. 61Grieve, op. cit., p. 790. 62Chemical Abstracts, Vol. VI, p. 1181-1182. 63A. Hoffer and H. Osmond, op. cit., p. 217. 64 65Gerard, op. cit., p. 1098; pp. 1104-1182.

72

ECONOMICBOTANY

thought to remedy the effects of poisoning by hemlock, and the bite of the seadragon, a poisonous fish.66 In 1937 thujone was shown experimentally to have antagonistic effects to poisoning by narcotics.67
MISCELLANEA

Two simplifications of the preceding sections now deserve modification. The first, that the only pharmacologically active agent in each of the plants is thujone, is obviously untrue. While thujone is the main constituent of all, each species contains a variety of other chemicals with pharmacological activity of their own. Hence, the second simplification, that all of the plants have identical effects, is true only to a point. The modifying chemicals in each, and the percentage of thujone therein, make each plant and its derivatives unique, though not dissimilar, in effect. However, a realization of the similarities between the different species predates the age of chemical analysis. Gerard describes a type of sage which "in smell and tast hath some affinity with Wormewood."61 It should also be made evident that the four pharmacological effects delineated herein are not the only ones which the plants have been shown to possess. Some, or all, of these plants have been used as tonics, carminatives, appetite stimulants, astringents, and in the treatment of rheumatism, dyspepsia, and epilepsy. The last may be an example of the old theory "like cures like." Studies on animals have shown that thujone is also a heart stimulant.69 Tests carried out by Pinto-Scognamiglio et al. in Rome are provocative: of The results indicated that the chronic administration 10 mg/kg of thujone does not qualitativelymodify either the spontaneous activity or the conditionedbehaviorof the rat but influences its behavior only through a better coordinationof its activities.70 One of the most common uses of thujone by researchers has been to induce experimental convulsions in animals so that the anticonvulsant activity of other drugs can be tested.7' Finally, the application of thujone to wounds has been shown to increase the rate of formation of DNA and RNA.72
CHEMICAL BRIEF

Thujone, a terpene-like ketone, is termed 3-thujanone or 3-sabinone in IUPAC nomenclature. Absinthol, tanacetone, and salviol are terms which have been applied to the thujone extracted from Artemisia absinthium, Tanacetum
66Grieve,op. cit., p. 858. 67"Antagonistic Effect of Thujone in Poisoning by Narcotics,"in Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 32 (1938), p. 8557. op. 68Gerard, cit., p. 764. ChangesObservedduringArtificiallyProducedConvulsions," 69"The Electrocardiographic in ChemicalAbstracts,Vol. 36 (1942), p. 1670-1671. 72"SomeHistochemicalStudies during the Medical Treatment of Infected Wounds by Plant Antibiotics," in Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 67 (1967), p. 62610f. in 73A.G. Shortand J. Read, "Researches the ThujoneSeries,"in Journalof the American Chemical Society (1938), p. 2016, article 382; and (1939), p. 1040, article 223.
70Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 70 (1969), p. 76275j. 7'Ibid., Vol. 29 (1935), pp. 3037-3038, Vol. 33 (1939), p. 3884, Vol. 45 (1951), p. 5829c.

THUJONE-CONTAINING PLANTS AND DERIVATIVES

73

vulgare, and Salvia officinalis, respectively. Thujone is a colorless oil with the following physical constants: B.p. = 199-200 C.; M.W. = 152.23; Specific Gravity = 0.915-0.919 at 20 C. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform, and insoluble in water. The odor of thujone is said to resemble that of menthol. It is isomeric with camphor, another CNS stimulant, although its chemical structure is rather unH like that of camphor. Thujone can be 3 isolated from the natural oils with bisulfite, or via fractionaldistillationand crystallization, and has been synthesized by 0 man. In nature, thujone exists as two forms, levorotatorya-thujone and dextrorotatory,-thujone, the former occurring in thujaand sage, and the latter in tansy and wormewood. The work of Short and Read has shown that a-thujone and 3Thujone thujone are in fact mixtures of the diastereomers 1-thujone and d-isothujone in dynamic equilibrium. CH3 CH3
CONCLUSIONS

Thujone may or may not prove to be pharmacologically valuable in human or animal medicine. It may or may not be included in the pharmacopeias of foreign countries - the author lacked the references to determine this. Certainly this drug deserves more study and experimentation than hitherto has been afforded it. Perhaps more important than thujone itself is the approach taken by the author, which of course owes much to the pioneering efforts of Freud, Schultes, Wasson, and others. A thorough examination of the myriad medical, herbal, and mythological literature of the past, with an eye to pharmacology, in tandem with modern biochemical data and actual experimentation, might prove a gold mine to researchers seeking "new" therapeutuc agents. Rawoulfia serpentaria, the source of reserpine, and Digitalis purpurea, the source of digitalis, are both described in precontemporary, "nonscientific" literature as having the effects which modem experimentation and use have proven they do in fact possess. Who can say what other potentially valuable drugs have been forgotten? If "nonscientific"sources can point the way to scientific discoveries, true science will follow the lead. There are many reasons why mythobotanically oriented research should be carried out. I offer two examples: 1) Most herbally derived medicines have been in use for centuries if not millenia and have well known effects which make them safer and more predictable than certain newly created synthetics, whose long-term effects are unknown; 2) Most synthetics are created from petroleum, a rapidly disappearing commodity with a rapidly escalating price. Plants, on the other hand, are a renewable and inexhaustible resource.

74

ECONOMIC

BOTANY