Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 51 — page 105: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION under the influence of the drug are of such a nature that they defy adequate description. Strangely enough all the clinical symptoms of the men- tal illness knows as _ schizo- phrenia are duplicated by mescalin, but the hallucina- tions do not appear to be identical. Osmond and Smy- thies have published a com- paritive chart showing schizo- phrenic symptoms and the effects of mescalin. A close parallel can be seen. Essentially the subject is aware of visual hallucination as the major part of the ex- perience. Reactions vary according to personality, so that a standardised descrip- tion cannot be given. Some people were aware, within a short period, of the appear- ance of grotesque figures, or in other cases of geometrical designs. These have been described as being highly coloured and may sometimes be seen as modifying the walls of the room so that they appear to be covered with coloured materials. SPACE SENSE Another reaction is the dis- tortion of the sense of space. This may be simply the modification of the geomet- 104 rical lines of the walls and ceiling of the room so that they become eccentric. For example the corner of the room where walls and ceiling meet may appear to be ex- tended outwards and away from the observer to form a cone. Similarly pieces of furniture take on an interest and a beauty which have never been seen previously. Mr. Huxley grows rhapsodic about the appearance of a chair in his room. In a conversation with a volunteer at a controlled ex- periment the distortion of the concept of space was illus- trated by the illusion of dis- tance. He explained that he lay upon a bed and with delight stretched his arm across the ten feet distance to a table on the other side of the room to pick up a cup of tea which was made available. In fact the table was less than three feet away. Then there is a loss of the sense of time continually men- tioned by subjects. Thus a sound which may last only a few minutes may appear to continue for several hours. On the other hand the passage of several hours may appear to be compressed into the ap- parent space of a few minutes. comiclooks.cormn